These are tough times for restaurants all over the city; recession menus and deals abound, and every day another restaurant announces it’s shutting down. So it wasn’t a huge surprise when a friend forwarded me an e-mail yesterday from the owner of Shaffer City Oyster Bar and Grill, pleading for the restaurant’s fans to help save his place. “It is with humility that I pen this note and once again request your assistance for the preservation of Shaffer City,” the e-mail opens, and ends with, “You may have forgotten all the fun we’ve had in the past together, you loved us once and we now are reaching out to reconnect, come on back and see what you’ve been missing.”

It would be a real tragedy for this place to shut down, because it has one of the best – if not the best – selection of raw oysters in town. I’m not kidding. You’ve probably never been to or even heard of this restaurant, but it’s been around for more than 10 years, a true sleeper sitting unobtrusively on 21st Street in Manhattan. I believe the esteemed Oyster Bar in Grand Central may have the only list that comes close to rivaling Shaffer City’s; at any given time, the menu boasts more than two dozen varieties from the East and West coasts, from the well-known Wellfleets and Kumamotos to more unique Cape Anns from Nova Scotia or Whale Points from British Columbia. The selection changes according to availability and seasonality, and the extremely knowledgeable servers can describe each oyster in detail and help you select the best ones, much like sommeliers. The oysters come out with the appropriate condiments – mignonette sauce, horseradish, lemon – and are always impeccably fresh and pristinely shucked.

The rest of the seafood-heavy menu is also very tasty – personal favorites include the fried oysters (naturally) served over a spicy creamed spinach and seared diver scallops over a luscious mushroom risotto. The owner is often on hand and is as friendly and jovial as can be. Shaffer City is a regular haunt for me and my friends when we get oyster cravings, and it would be shame to see this diamond-in-the-rough close. So please – help save the best oyster place in town!

Shaffer City is located at 5 W. 21st Street, between 5th and 6th Avenues.