Max's Oyster: Seasoned By The Sea

Robert Cooke’s love of seafood flavors from the deep was honed as a kid on the Connecticut shoreline. “My mother was a fantastic cook, and I learned a lot from her,” he says. “I spent most summer weekends fishing in the Sound.” At 15 he started lobstering after he realized it was a great and inexpensive way to enjoy a wonderful delicacy.

Now Bob feeds that passion for seafood in a different way as managing partner at Max’s Oyster Bar. First opened in 1999, Max’s Oyster Bar was the fourth Max restaurant — today Max Hospitality has 10 restaurants spread across the greater Hartford area and into Massachusetts.

The establishment has survived the turbulent seas of the restaurant industry for a quarter century and thrived thanks to its innovative approach of mixing classic seafood with modern culinary techniques and offering it all in a convivial atmosphere.

“A lot of what we do is classic 1900s [dishes] elevated,” says Matt Burrill, the restaurant’s executive chef. “An example of that would be a Clam's Casino or an Oyster Rockefeller, that we try to bring up an extra notch, but also has name recognition that guests know.”

Some of Matt’s most popular dishes include seafood classics like tuna tartar, New England Clam chowder, and Max's Paella, the restaurant's acclaimed take on a seafood paella with shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels, chorizo, calamari, chicken, and saffron rice. One of his personal favorite is the furikake crusted tuna. “I do a lot of French Asian fusion. My wife is from Okinawa,” he says.

“I do like an Okinawa-style soba noodle that's stir-fried with a bunch of vegetables and have a furikake crusted tuna slice over the top — super rare — and then a little pickled ginger radish garnish.” The restaurant is also known for its extensive raw bar. “We feature at least eight different raw oyster varieties every day,” Bob says. “In a typical week, we shuck over 4,000 oysters. We source as much local and sustainable seafood and fresh fish as possible.”

Pouring a refreshing Cucumber Rhubarb Collins Cocktail

Fresh seafood platter from the raw bar; Friendly smiles & cold cocktails; the entrance to Max’s; guests at the bar; freshly shucked oysters

For Matt this means sourcing menu items from a variety of vendors including Gulf Shrimp Co. in Southington and John Nagle Co. in Boston. In addition, of course, the restaurant offers plenty of non-seafood items for the landlubbers out there, including burgers, steaks, and chicken.

Beyond food, the restaurant is known for its offerings behind the bar. “Our Max Espresso Martini is legendary. We sell gallons of that a week,” says Shawn Jones, the restaurant’s general manager. The vodka, espresso, and coffee liqueur cocktail has enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, but it’s been a feature of the bar menu at Max’s for a long time and gets it signature frothy head and true coffee flavor from a real espresso machine. “We actually steep off at least two gallons a day,” Shawn says.

For wine, the restaurant has an ample wine list, but Shawn recommends the restaurant’s signature Max Family Cuvée, a red blend, and Max Family Chardonnay. These wines, which are available at Max Hospitality’s other restaurants as well, are made from California grapes selected specifically by the Max team. “Our beverage director, Brian Mitchell actually goes out to the vineyards and picks the grapes that he wants for them to use for our vintages,” Shawn says.

Asked about how Max’s Oyster has thrived for over 25 years in the always-turbulent-but-particularly turbulent-of-late restaurant industry, the team says it has been all about finding the right balance between staying true to what works and evolving with the times.

“At all times we try to change and stay current because obviously, food trends and patrons’ tastes have changed throughout the years,” Matt says. “So, we try to stay on to trends and capitalize on them and make sure that we're following them and seeing what's going on in the market.”

One example, he says, is that over the years this restaurant has become much more protein-driven in the dishes it offers. But throughout it all the restaurant has stayed true to that love of fresh seafood that inspired Cooke as a teenager. And many regulars at the restaurant today don’t have a favorite food item. Instead at each visit they opt to go where the tide takes them.

“We have a lot of guests who come in and just order off our specials menu because we try to rotate that frequently and keep everything super fresh and interesting and seasonal,” Matt says. 

• Max’s Oyster Bar is located at 964 Farmington Avenue in West Hartford. www.maxsoysterbar.com IG @maxsoysterbar

Native scallops dish paired with a Cucumber Rhubarb Collins Cocktail; Managing Partner Robert Cooke at the bar