Best of Boston

2011 Best Seafood Restaurant, Upscale

Island Creek Oyster Bar

Some places are just right for producing certain kinds of edibles—the right soil, the right temperature, the right weather. It turns out Massachusetts’ Duxbury Bay has the perfect tides for oyster farming, as Island Creek Oyster Company’s fresh and briny shellfish have masterfully shown. They’re shucked daily at the company’s happening new restaurant, which also showcases seafood dishes created by chef Jeremy Sewall that are as fresh in concept as in ingredients—for example, pan-roasted monkfish in lobster broth with white-bean ragout and fennel.

500 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, 617-532-5300, islandcreekoysterbar.com