Chef Rob McDaniel’s ah-ha moment came at Swan Oyster Depot in San Francisco, after he and his wife, Emily, stood in line for two hours waiting for barstools at the tiny fish counter. “I told Emily that we should know what we want when we sit down so we don’t take up too much time,” McDaniel says. “A lady overheard and turned around and said: You do not rush yourself here. Take your time and enjoy it.”
Inspired by that unhurried luxury, McDaniel recently opened Bayonet, a fifty-four-seat raw bar adjacent to his celebrated restaurant Helen in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The vibe is clean and bright, with colorful oyster plates decorating one wall in the entryway and a massive mirror tilted over the counter so guests can watch as the staff prepares the iced “situations”—Bayonet’s creative take on a traditional seafood tower.
Menu highlights have already included a cobia Reuben, bone-in swordfish, and striped bass with buttermilk and mushrooms, along with caviar, ceviche, and plenty of oysters from the Gulf—the chef and his team are tapped into the local shellfish scene. “Auburn has a shellfish lab on Dauphin Island, and we raise oysters in Alabama, so we wanted to be as sustainable as possible,” he says. “But I don’t want to have blinders on to the other awesome stuff that’s out there.” Those other highlights might include tuna from Hawaii and Dukes of Topsail Sound oysters from Hampstead, North Carolina.
And no meal at Bayonet is complete without a martini stirred tableside with a plump, salty oyster at the bottom of the glass. “An ice-cold martini and French fries and a dozen oysters,” McDaniel says. “It’s one of the best meals you can have.”
