Brine Oyster Bar
First conceptualized to showcase New England and West Coast area oyster farmers, Brine Oyster Bar (17 State St., Newburyport, Mass., 978-358-8479, brineoyster.com) is also known for its uniquely composed steak and seafood dishes in a casual setting. The downtown eatery is part of the Caswell Restaurant Group, which also owns the Oak + Rowan restaurant in Boston’s Fort Point Channel Historic District. Dinner is served five nights a week, featuring a seasonally inspired menu of small plates, larger entrees, soups, salads and a la carte sides, plus a full bar with classic and specialty craft cocktails. Butchered meats and fresh seafood are the stars of the menu, with options like filet mignon, prime rib-eye, grilled tuna and seared bluefish, to name a few. Oysters on the half-shell are sourced from multiple farmers in Massachusetts and Maine, as well as across the country off the coast of Washington state. The Scene recently caught up with Nancy Batista-Caswell, proprietor of Caswell Restaurant Group.
How long has Brine Oyster Bar been around?
Brine has been in business for nine years. Originally it was a 45-seat restaurant, but then during Covid we actually moved into a new space right next door and built out a new restaurant that is now 120 seats. … We hibernated during the New Year and then we reopened on May 14 of this year.
What makes Brine Oyster Bar unique?
It’s a steak and oyster bar that’s intended to be a really low-key experience, focused on the quality of the food and service. … Being that we are in a coastal community, it was really about having a New England oyster bar that focused on different oyster farmers. … Our initial point was to have three to four of them from the East Coast and then to celebrate oysters potentially from the West Coast, so that we could educate our guests on the different varieties of oysters. But then we realized that a lot of people who went to oyster bars would start there and then [go] somewhere else for dinner, so then we added in the steak piece.
What is your favorite thing on the menu?
I love our crudos, which is essentially our raw bar menu. I also love the B and E [bacon and egg]. … It’s our house smoked bacon, with fried oysters and a poached chicken egg. The interesting thing about the egg is that all of our oyster shells are used as a feed at a local chicken farm, and then we get some of their chicken eggs in return, which is super cool.
What is something everyone should try?
They have to try our oysters with habanero sauce. … I think people for a while thought oysters would just be a passing trend, but they’ve stuck, and it’s fun to watch both kids and adults who have never tried a freshly shucked oyster realize how much they like it.
What celebrity would you like to see eating at Brine Oyster Bar?
My husband wants me to say Tom Brady. … I’d say a local actor, maybe someone like Ben Affleck or Matt Damon, would just be really awesome for the community.
What is an essential skill to running a restaurant?
I feel like we’ve learned so many lessons, especially in the last 18 months. … I would say patience is one, and the other is not to let failures that happen get to us. Whether it’s the loss of an employee or an instance of bad service, it’s important to learn from those experiences and move forward.
What is your favorite thing about being on the Seacoast?
The community is incredible. We wouldn’t be able to do a thing without them giving us the opportunity to thrive. … Then for me personally, it’s really got that sense of comfortability, being so close to the water and the area so accessible and easy to get around.
— Matt Ingersoll
Photo by Dawn Rabinowitz.
