Plumb Oyster Bar

Heidi Knoblauch has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. Whether it involved her invention in third grade of the “table top meal mover” that incorporated robotics, or selling Pixy Stix on the back of the school bus in sixth grade. It is this drive that led her to make the leap from working in academia to opening an oyster bar in 2016.

Knoblauch spent her childhood in upstate New York and attended the Emma Willard School in Troy before moving on to the University of Rochester. After enrolling, she decided to shift gears for a year to work in public health in New York City prior to beginning her pursuit of a PhD in the history of science and medicine at Yale University. After graduation, she secured a position teaching history at Bard College, which she loved, but eventually had the itch to do something different.

“I loved academia because it gave me time to learn how to be a critical thinker,” Knoblauch says. “I loved academia because I like teaching. The things that were hard about it was that it was slow. People talked in decades when I wanted to think about the first quarter of the year.”

As she pondered her next move, she found out that the building her mother bought in 2010 had a vacancy. She knew the time was right to exercise those entrepreneurial muscles and began the process of opening her restaurant. Why oysters? Knoblauch and her wife, Kelly, began developing their love for oysters and one another by checking out $1 oyster nights at various spots in their Brooklyn neighborhood. Then, they progressed to more exclusive oyster bars to expand their knowledge and palates. “Oysters are the only thing that tastes like what they consume,” Knoblauch says in describing what makes oysters so unique. “You can tell where an oyster ate salt water.”

Thus, on December 6, 2016, with a generous loan from the City of Troy, Plumb Oyster Bar opened with Knoblauch as the sole owner. Choosing to have her business in Troy was a homecoming of sorts and a way for Knoblauch to contribute to the community. Troy, for Knoblauch, has an “essence and energy about it...that’s a little rough around the edges.” She notes that the city itself contains a varied mix of people; those who have lived here their entire lives and others who choose to come into the city just for the night.

Regardless of clientele, the menu at Plumb offers something for every palate, not only those looking for fresh oysters. Plumb boasts an array of small plates, such as beet tartare served with Maplebrook Farm’s ricotta, arugula and hazelnut, as well as local cheeses. Sandwiches feature chicken, a beef or veggie burger, and entr.es run the gamut from mussels and bacon-wrapped scallops to traditional steak frites. The beverage accompaniments offer a thoughtfully curated selection of craft cocktails, wines from small producers and a selection of both local and international beers. As with Plumb’s food purveyors, such as Adventure in Food and Island Creek Oysters, Knoblauch has developed close relationships with her spirits providers as well, which include Albany Distilling, Chatham Beer, YesFolk Tonic, Ravines Winery, Ryan’s Rye, Smaltz and Paradox.

Of course, Knoblauch would recommend trying the oysters, of which there are five to seven varieties offered daily. Plumb tries to offer a good mix of East and West Coast options to satisfy every taste. Knoblauch’s favorite used to be West Coast oysters, but now her go-to is a Prince Edward Island oyster like the Pink Moon. However, her absolute favorite is the Hog Island Atlantic, an East Coast oyster grown out West.