Salt & Rind, a 20-seat cocktail and oyster bar, opened at 40 Foundry Street in downtown Waterbury in July. Co-owners Britt Thompson and Luke Williams ran a local catering business for a year before deciding to open a brick-and-mortar location as its complement.
The menu features “classic, well-executed bites,” Thompson said, such as deviled eggs and hot ham-and-cheese dip. The cocktails are twists on classics, including a brown butter bourbon old-fashioned with black walnut bitters.
“We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel,” Thompson said.
Oysters are the star of the show, at half a dozen for $14 or a dozen for $26 — or you can order them “dirty” with caviar and lemon crema for an extra $1.50 each.
Every day, the bar receives a shipment of about 200 fresh oysters from Duxbury, Mass. Williams said he and Thompson try to speak to customers about where the oysters come from and the effects of sourcing on flavor.
“Oysters can get different brininess, different sweetnesses, different flavors … from different locations, even if it’s in the same area,” Williams said. “One side of Cape Cod tastes different than the other side of Cape Cod.”
For those who are not “oyster experienced,” Thompson recommends the oven-roasted cioppino butter oysters.
“People who don’t like sushi, you tell them to order an avocado roll,” Thompson said by way of comparison. “It’s a way to get people a little bit outside of their comfort zone.”
Open Thursday through Saturday, 3 to 10 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 7 p.m., Salt & Rind is currently a two-person show, though the owners are looking to hire a dishwasher, an oyster scrubber and help with their catering business.
