[upbeat funky music] - Jettie Rae's is, it's something I wanted to bring to the community and bring a lot of what I grew up with.

I grew up on the northern shore of Long Island, and I grew up with incredibly fresh seafood.

Most of our oysters come from the Northeast, from Boston North.

We have a beautiful partnership with a company up there called Island Creek Oysters.

We order oysters every day, and they come down to us the next day.

So that was sort of the concept for me to make sure everything was very curated and everything was the freshest possible product we could bring here to Asheville.

We have everything from probably the best fish and chips you'll ever have in your life to oysters bienville, which is a very famous dish you get out of New Orleans, which is a cooked oyster.

Executive chef Will Cisa brings his grandmother's recipe for crab cakes to the table.

- So something we've done that I'm really proud of is, you know, our crab cake recipe here is based on my my grandmother's crab cakes.

Whereas she used a lot of green bell pepper, I can't find green bell pepper a little distasteful.

We use shishito peppers as the accompaniment to the dish.

That's kinda the way that we think here.

It's not trying to be too crazy outta the box, not trying to be too cheffy about things, but really trying to demonstrate those traditions and cultures and primacy of those ingredients as best we can to the guest.

- The food is wonderful.

We love oysters.

So this is a one place that we can get superb oysters.

Normally we'll go to Charleston, but, hey, we've got it right here in the mountains.

- Right now, I have this special, it's a blood orange margarita.

I really like that it's tart but also sweet.

His cocktails fit perfectly to what you're looking for, and that's what really makes this place great.

- So the bar itself is, it's got a really nice neighborhood vibe, just kind enough outside of the downtown hustle and bustle to get a awesome mix of regulars and tourists as well, people visiting the city.

As far as our offerings, really just try to kind of do seasonal twists on like classic cocktails, stuff that complements the menu but also kind of, you know, stands on its own.

And as far as wine and beer offerings are concerned, we really just try to again complement the light faire we have with really nice like dry French minerality and like light floral options.

Cheers.

- All the wooden spoons here at Jettie Rae's and the bowls that are in the caviar service are made by me, a special privilege I've been given to display my work here and even have it be part of the service.

All the designs are unique, made without a template or anything like that.

So they're completely 100% unique.

We're not merely opening the oysters, and then putting them on the table.

We consider ourselves like the last standing barrier between this very long process that the oysters have been through from seedling to a finished product.

- We truly strongly believe that the Atlantic virginica oyster is the best oyster in the world.

And that's what we celebrate here at Jettie Rae's.

- My background was in fine dining when I opened my first restaurant here in Asheville 24 years ago.

And so I sort of come out of that fine-dining experience and texture when it comes to restaurants.

And so when we did Jettie Rae's, I didn't want to go white tablecloths and that level of fine dining.

But what we really wanted to do is elevate everything we did here.

We made it feel like it was sort of nautical in some ways here but not overtly nautical.

So there's this beautiful blue tones and coral tones in the room, nice warm bar, you know, but we wanted to make sure you felt like you were in a place that was welcoming you but was also a bit elevated as you came in.

- You know, our tagline is "honest food - done well."

And really that's what we try to focus on is just technique, treating good ingredients as simply as we can and with as much respect as we can.

- You know, Asheville's been very good to me.

I've been a very blessed and lucky man living here and being part of the community.

I couldn't have done what I'm doing now in my life if I wasn't in Asheville.

It lends itself to those that want to be entrepreneurs and really push themselves and any profession that you do in this town and really try to create perfection and bring something special to people in this town.

So I'm very blessed and lucky for that.

- Jettie Rae's Oyster House is at 143 Charlotte Street in Asheville, and they're open Tuesday through Sunday, from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

For more information, give them a call at [828] 505-4499 or check them out online at jettieraes.com.