Nurturing a Dream - Oyster Cracka's
Jamie Marks' fascination with fish and fishing started at an early age. "When I was little, the trucks used to sell their catch on Main Street. I'd stand
there watching as long as my mother would let me...My father always said
that it's hard to make a living at fishin' but my mother had a hard time keeping
me out of the water." By the time he was 19, he was setting out, handlining
for cod. "My father would go down to the jetties with binoculars, watching
out for me." Salt water was in his blood, and Jamie continued to fish and
scallop.
Mary Marks, Jamie's high school sweetheart and now wife and partner,
also grew up around fishing and scalloping: "When I was young, my mom told
me to stay out of the shanties. I thought it was because of what went on in
there, but one day I went and there were huge piles of scallops in front of me
that had to be opened—mom put on her apron and helped me, and that was
when I realized it was the hard work she was warning me about...but it's what
every Nantucket kid did back when—we all knew how to open scallops—
that's how we made money for gas."
Over the years Jamie discovered his father was right: fishing is a hard way
to make a living. He turned to other ventures, but never gave up his dream.
After more than 20 years in the excavating business, he decided to try his
hand at aquaculture. "I wanted to be on the water." He started researching,
reading, and helping cousin Richard Holdgate at his island oyster farm. It took
three years of study and endless paperwork for Marks to find the perfect location
for his farm and obtain all of the necessary federal, state, and local
approvals. "A litany of approvals," Mary added. "It was a labor of love," Jamie
said with a smile and a shrug.
He constructed his oyster farm using reclaimed wood and repurposed
docks, and powers it with solar. "There's nothing else man-made out there,
and not another soul around." He takes great pride in what he has built and
in the fact that his farm actually helps the water quality. Oysters are filterfeeders, "an oyster can clean 50 gallons of water in 24 hours... Since I've been
farming, marine life has returned...I love to be out with the wildlife as see it
coming back."
The work of an oyster farmer is 365 days a year in all weather conditions—
no matter how hot or cold or rough it is, he has to go out—but Jamie
Marks is passionate about his farm and his oysters. He's there every day, sorting,
sizing, pruning, and harvesting. Marks starts with thousands of seed
from a nursery, each one smaller than a grain of sand, and nurtures them for
years until they grow to harvest size. "It's all how you prune," he explained "you want to prune as they grow so they get a deep cup...then the meat is
plumper with more liquor."
It is the location of his
Coskata Shellfish Farm, "a natural
oyster growing area surrounded
by a 500-acre salt marsh," to
which Marks attributes the high
quality of his oysters and their distinct
and appealing flavor: "They're slightly salty with a clear
finish—everyone who has them
comes back for more, they're like
no other in the world...they're like
wine, oysters grown in a different
area of water around Nantucket
will taste completely different."
The final step in his endeavor
was to share his bounty. Last
November—at 11:11 a.m. on 11/11/11, to be exact—Jamie and Mary, opened
Oyster Cracka's, the island's newest seafood market, at 2-1/2 Toombs Court. "This was the last excavating job he did," Mary explained. "Afterwards, he
drove the excavator to the end of the driveway and put a For Sale sign on it." "I always wanted a fish market," Jamie added.
Marks built their market himself using reclaimed wood: "When they razed
the White Elephant, we salvaged some materials...some is from dead stand ing trees...every bit of wood in here was reclaimed...the floors, the roof...all of
it..." The pilings by their entryway were reclaimed from the docks when they
were rebuilt, and the lamppost is an original from Main Street. "We wanted it
to look like Nantucket used to be as we remember it...My whole
childhood...my love of the water...we put it all togther."
Their goal is to run Oyster Cracka's like the Nantucket shops from their
childhood days: "We want to give people what we remember: the old mom& pop shop that is fresh and clean... and we like to get to know our customers
and take care of them...we love to spend the time to explain to them what
they are buying...the fish we sell here was swimming less than 24 hours ago."
In addition to the oysters from their Coskata Shellfish Farm, they also sell their
own littlenecks, lobsters, and scallops, and they offer a range of sushi grade
fish, that usually includes salmon, halibut, tuna, and cod. They had planned
to open earlier on November 11, but Jamie wanted to go scalloping to have
the freshest catch for his customers.
The whole family is involved in Oyster Cracka's: their daughter Heidi created
the logo and their daughter Catryn set up their Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/oystercrackas. Several of their prepared foods—the
clam dip, the stuffed quahogs, and the chowder—are made using family
recipes. Mary Marks runs the market and makes much of the prepared food
they sell, with Jamie as Official Taster, a role he heartily enjoys. "My wife is a
beautiful cook," Jamie commented, "Her lobster rolls are the best in the universe." Mary smiled and shook her head: "He gives me the products, and I just
put them together." Occasionally Mary helps Jamie at the farm, "but only if
he's no more than a gaff's length away...he floats, I sink."
As the business grows, Jamie and Mary plan to expand their prepared
products. This summer they introduced Dinner for Two to Go, and their
smoked salmon and smoked bluefish patés (made with a special smoking
method Jamie developed) have become customer favorites.
It's no surprise that one of Oyster Cracka's most popular specialties is
their Raw Bar to Go. Opening close to the holidays last year, they noted that
many customers came in for holiday platters: "they were asked to bring an
appetizer to a party, so they brought our oysters...then people who tasted
them at the party came in for more."
It's clear that the oysters are Jamie Marks' favorite. He loves to introduce
customers to this delicacy that he expertly opens with a flick of his knife. "You
see that? The meat, the liqueur...that is gold."
Oyster Cracka's is open this fall on Friday 1-7 pm, and Saturday,
Sunday, and Monday from 11 am to 7 pm. To find them at 2-1/2 Toombs
Court, turn off of Old South Road onto the road between Espresso to Go
and Tugboat Tim's, then take a left onto the shell drive.
