The World Is His Oyster Bar

Mike Garvey Heads One of New York's Landmark Restaurants

By John Mooney

Located "below sea level" in the country's most famous train station, the world renowned Grand Central Oyster Bar is truly one of Manhattan's landmark eateries. Established in 1913, the same year that the railroad station opened, it is a New York institution that you have to try at least once.

The restaurant could easily be called "Oysters R Us." The establishment serves 2 million mollusks each year a number of different ways: raw, fried, broiled, pan roasted, and in chowders and stews.

Featuring a legendary raw bar and specialties including Imperial Balik Salmon, Oysters Rockefeller and traditional New York Cheesecake, the Grand Central Oyster Bar has been a destination restaurant since it first opened its doors more than 90 years ago.

At the helm is Mike Garvey, president and general manager. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Garvey attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, and pursued his undergraduate degree at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania. While studying for a degree in business management and finance, Garvey paid his way through school by waiting tables at restaurants. During this time, he discovered that the hospitality industry was his calling, rather than in the world of finance.

After college, Garvey was hired as manager of Mumbles, a casual dining restaurant in Manhattan. In 1996, he set his sights on greater things, and landed a position as floor manager at the world famous Grand Central Oyster Bar, with its 120 employees and 450-person capacity.

Under the tutelage of legendary restaurateur Jerry Brody, who built Restaurant Associates into a powerhouse of eateries, Garvey was soon promoted to general manager. The move paid off handsomely, as sales at the restaurant rose by more than 50% during his first two years in the post. Simultaneously, Garvey took on the responsibility of Beverage Director. A trained sommelier, he revamped an already strong wine list and focused on seafood-friendly wines. He upgraded the reserve list, which he appropriately dubbed, "Pearls of the Vine."

Garvey also focused on selections offered by the glass (about 80 different types). In fact, he boasts that his establishment sells more wine by the glass than any other restaurant in New York City. The wine list contains over 200 bottles.

One would think that commuters would make up the majority of the clientele. In actuality, business travelers, tourists, local business people, pre-theatre diners, celebrities, dignitaries have made the restaurant a culinary destination, thanks to its reputation for fresh seafood and informative, friendly service.

"Commuters actually are a small percentage of our business. Most people have blinders on as they race to catch their train and go home," said Garvey, who has lobbied the management of Grand Central for better signage to make it easier to find the Oyster Bar since it is not located in a high traffic corridor. "Mondays are always busy days because business travelers will stop in for a meal before they head home."

The restaurant's atmosphere is unique: it is 27,000 square feet, features a vault-like white tile ceiling, massive columns, ship's wheel lighting fixtures, and a 23-seat, old-fashioned raw oyster bar. New menus, which were handwritten until just a few years ago, are printed daily and usually feature 25 to 30 different varieties of oysters. The restaurant serves an estimated 400,000 annual customers, who consume more than 1.7 million pounds of fresh seafood each year.

First Taste

Part of the reason Garvey feels a strong sense of connection to the Oyster Bar is because he grew up eating there. His grandfather used to take him for special occasions as a child and fondly recalls the excitement he felt as a small boy at being in the center of this enormous, thrilling place.

When he's not working, Garvey is an avid hunter and, not surprisingly, a fisherman. He enjoys almost all sports, has little time to play them, and describes himself as "mediocre at best." His favorite teams are the New York Islanders, Brooklyn Cyclones (minor league baseball) and the NFL's Cleveland Browns. Garvey and his wife have been talking about making their first trip to Ireland, where he'll undoubtedly pair Guinness and oysters ("a classic match").

For the record, Garvey agrees with the legend that oysters are a great aphrodisiac. He may indeed be right; in 2005 at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego, a team of American and Italian researchers analyzed the shellfish and found they were rich in rare amino acids that trigger increased levels of sex hormones.

Destination Dining

Celebrities come in periodically. Sometimes they make an entrance so that it's known they have arrived. Other times, they will sit quietly at the back of the restaurant or at the raw bar to avoid notice.

"One time, a server pointed out Meryl Streep and her daughters were in the restaurant. He told me which table, and I realized I was the one who seated them. I guess I'm not good at noticing such things," said the manager, adding that singer

Tony Bennett and baseball manager Lou Piniella have eaten at the restaurant. Part of the Oyster Bar folklore is that it was the place where leading Protestant bishops met in 1960 and agreed to endorse John F. Kennedy for the Presidency.

"Kennedy needed their backing, and the deal was worked out here," explained Garvey, whose Irish roots date back to the Famine era.

A number of the notable names to visit the restaurant are other chefs, including Food Network star Bobby Flay, Daniel Boulud, who runs top-ranking Restaurant Daniel, and Michael Lomonaco, the former executive chef at 21 Club and Windows on the World. They sometimes discuss cooking techniques with the Oyster Bar's executive chef, Sandy Ingber, who orders fresh seafood every day from the Fulton Street fish market.

The general manager is proud of his landmark restaurant and how it is able, after all these years, to meet and exceed the demands of its clientele.

"People keep coming back. The menu is extraordinary, the seafood is the freshest you can find, and the dining room is spectacular," boasts Garvey. "This place is a legend. I'm more of a caretaker than a manager."

Jerry Brody

In the late 1960s and early 70s, when New York City's popularity as a tourist destination slipped, the Oyster Bar went through a rough period. In 1973, Jerry Brody took over the establishment, restored some of the previous grandeur, and recreated it to be a completely seafood restaurant. It was a novel idea at the time to focus only on fish and to offer such a vast selection of menu items.

Mike Garvey credits the legendary restaurateur with teaching him patience and with letting him run the Oyster Bar the way he thought it would work best.

"He liked that I wasn't a 'yes man' and had my own ideas on how to do things. I saw mistakes and worked quickly to correct them," said Garvey, whose boss gave him two weeks to have the Oyster Bar running again after a massive fire in 1997. "The biggest challenge was getting the smell out."

"This was before you could rely on the Internet to find everything. I had to get on the phone and start calling around to get the right equipment," said Garvey who brought in ozone machines to ionize the air. He ran them day and night for over a week. "The machines worked."

Menu Favorites

Despite its location in a New York City landmark, the Oyster Bar's creamy New England clam chowder out-sells Manhattan style chowder by a 2-to1 margin. With swagger, Garvey says his restaurant makes the best chowder in the land and challenges any restaurant in Cape Cod or anyplace else to a taste test.

He also stated that the Oyster Bar sells more wines by the glass than anyone else in New York City. A wine bar challenged his assertion, but couldn't prove him wrong.

The raw bar features oysters from Prince Edward Island, Virginia, British Columbia and Oregon, which supplies extra large Yaquina oysters. By far, Blue Point oysters from Long Island are the most popular overall, and are used in the restaurant's famous Oysters Rockefeller, which are served using creamed spinach in its recipe. Garvey believes his offering is equal to that of the legendary Antoine's in New Orleans, which is credited for creating the dish. A

mong the lunchtime items, the Po Boy oyster and popcorn shrimp sandwiches are favorites. She Crab Soup is a big seller, although it may be too salty for some folks. The fried oysters served with home-made tartar source are also quite popular. The restaurant makes all its desserts, including ice cream and cheesecake, and recently hired a new pastry chef.

The World Is His Oyster Bar

Garvey is more than willing to share his secrets with others. He teamed up with two other restaurant pros to write Running a Restaurant for Dummies, published by Wiley. He also brought the Oyster Bar excellence elsewhere through franchising. The first Oyster Bar located outside Grand Central Station opened with big fanfare and tremendous customer support at Shinagawa Station in Tokyo in March 2004. Sales at the new restaurant have almost doubled initial estimates.

"We sought and found a great operator. Together we make our guests in Japan feel like they're in Grand Central without taking the 14 hour flight."