Josephine No.2 Oysters in Riga

Oyster Festival, all year round

At Doorsea, the Oyster Festival continues all year round, with all oysters on the menu offered at cost price. Josephine No.2 is available at a special festival price of €1.90 per oyster.

Josephine offers a particular pleasure within that selection: the meeting of a smooth, creamy impression and a gently firm bite.

Josephine No.2: A Flavour Shaped by the Sea

The crown and red diagonal stripe on Josephine’s wooden box are easy to remember. Beneath the name, a smaller inscription makes a quieter promise: La distinguée — “the distinguished one”.

At the table, that distinction is something to discover gradually: in the texture of the flesh, the balance of sweetness and salinity and the way one impression gives way to the next.

A connection with Maison Gillardeau

Josephine belongs to the range of Maison Gillardeau, the French oyster house founded by Henri Gillardeau in 1898 in the Marennes-Oléron basin.

The family’s oyster-growing knowledge has developed over generations. Josephine brings another expression of that experience to the table, with its own cultivation method and character.

French expertise, Portuguese waters

Josephine is cultivated in Portugal, where Maison Gillardeau uses specially designed oyster bags that turn naturally with the currents.

Known as poches auto-virantes, these bags allow the movement of the water to tumble the oysters. The house describes this turning as taking place twice a day.

It is a detail worth remembering when the oyster reaches the table: the sea has played an active part in its cultivation, long before the shell is opened.

Creaminess with a little more to discover

Josephine’s smooth, creamy texture gives the first impression a gentle fullness. Delicate sweetness and measured salinity keep the flavour balanced, with nuances that become easier to notice when you allow the oyster a little time.

Alongside that creaminess, there is structure. Maison Gillardeau draws particular attention to the texture of the muscle, which adds a firmer bite to the experience.

A little unhurried chewing offers a chance to discover this firmer detail within the softer impression. Texture becomes part of the experience, together with the sweetness and the taste of the sea.

Josephine at the table

At Doorsea, Josephine is served in the No.2 size, with a whole weight of 86–120 g, including the shell.

It makes an inviting beginning to lunch or dinner: a few oysters shared across the table, before the next course arrives.

Knowing a little of its story adds another layer to the experience: French expertise, Portuguese waters and a growing method that lets the currents share in the work.

The crown on the box introduces Josephine; the impression it leaves with you gives La distinguée its meaning.

Discover oysters on the Doorsea menu

Doorsea Restaurant
Antonijas iela 9, Riga
+371 28 702 317