We were wandering down the street and my nose suddenly perked up:
fried clams?! I asked. So we went in, and it turns out my senses
had deceived me but not altogether too severely - it was fried 
oysters, part of the Oysterfest at Stoic & Genuine, another of the 
aforementioned Jasinski's ventures. One thing I have to say for Lilli, 
she doesn't bat an eyelash when I get seafood, even though she won't 
eat or even touch anything that has ever lived in the ocean. Having 
eaten well the last days, we "split" an oyster po'boy plate (fried 
Goosepoints, basil aioli, togarishi, toasted hoagie, fries) - she 
got the fries, a massive serving, and I took everything else, which 
included tomato and red onion rounds and a bit of lettuce. Goosepoint 
oysters come from Willapa Bay, not my favorite style or flavor, but 
cooking minimizes the meloniness and concentrates the naturally 
somewhat wussy flavors. They're from brackish water, so I didn't feel 
guilty about the sodium hit, but the cornmeal coating had been 
seasoned with both salt and a decent Parmesan not from a green can, 
so my heart got its sucker punch anyway. I don't care for cheesy 
shellfish, but for the past couple decades at least it's been the 
fashion to do this to oysters. Color me uncomprehending. The hoagie 
was neither toasted nor a proper hoagie - more like a supermarket 
roll microwaved and chewy, but that was not a big deal, as I ate a 
bit with the vegetables, which were fresh and flavorful, and left 
the rest. Basil aioli: sour, a little obtrusive; why not stick with 
the formula and offer the silly but expected remoulade. Togarishi 
was a spicy accent that I am on the fence about but tending on the 
leave it off side. The fries had been brined and carefully 
batter-fried, crisp outside, tender but very salty inside. The 
oysters themselves (7) were nicely cooked and pretty big - big ones 
are easier to cook properly than small ones -; I ate one on bread 
the way the dish was designed and the other 6 by themselves.

I was thinking of getting more food, plus the burger is said to be
one of the best in town, but we decided to economize and abandoned
the place having spent less than a C-note, counting a couple glasses
each.

The one thing I regret not trying for is that the menu offers
various toppers for the oysters - a few grades of caviar, truffle
sauce, foie gras, uni. I haven't had a proper uni in quite a while
and mulled over the idea of asking how much a just plain uni tongue
would cost (as an oyster garnish it's 6.50, but that might just be
a half teaspoon). Back when Annie lived in the area, United had
recently started a nonstop here from Narita, with the result that a 
lot of sushi parlors started offering stuff that had been sourced 
from Tsukiji the day before, so in Denver I had some of the best 
sashimi and sushi ever, decades ago, including the rather non-Rocky
Mountain specialties uni, ankimo, miru gai. I was curious whether
the town could still uphold that standard but was either too chicken 
or too cheap to find out this day.

I submit this for Jim's edification: the signature drink of their
Oysterfest is the Oyster Vesper - oyster shell washed gin, vodka, 
quinquina, orange bitters. After gagging inwardly at the mere thought
of oyster shell washed anything, I had a quite respectable Pulpo 
Albarino 18 instead, peachy and citrusy, acid enough to go with 
oysters but fat enough to be enjoyable as a sipper afterward. I chose 
the Ercole Barbera dei Monferrato 18 for Lilli, figuring that its sour 
red fruitiness would match well with fries, which it did. As it was
part of the birthday weekend, I was hoping for seconds on the house,
but it was more like seconds through the roof.