Where to eat oysters:

        Washington Platform's annual Oyster Festival began Friday and continues through April 27. This is the 16th annual festival, says owner Jon Diebold. It began when he served oyster shooters at Taste of Cincinnati, and then turned that into a yearly event.

        There's something about oysters that inspires obsession, and the opportunity to eat a large amount of oysters has brought a number of loyalists to Washington Platform every April. So has the variety and number of oyster preparations.

        “Even before any kind of advertising or press, we get five calls a day from people asking when the festival starts,” Mr. Diebold says.
       

Charitable Fridays

        Fridays are for the hard-core oyster eaters. St. Francis Soup Kitchen on Liberty Street is the recipient of the $10 fees for the raw oyster-eating contest: most eaten in 60 seconds. The staff usually shucks about 60 per contestant. The record is 66. There are contests that don't involve eating raw oysters, including guessing the number of “pearls” in a jar for a pearl necklace prize.

        Each year, the restaurant donates about $500 to the soup kitchen from the festival.

        The oysters are from the Gulf of Mexico, and many of the dishes they inspire have a Louisiana touch: oysters Rockefeller, oysters Bienville, po' boys, oyster brochettes and jambalaya. There's also oyster curry, oyster stew, oyster and artichoke casserole, smoked oyster sushi — 36 dishes in all.

        Washington Platform is open for lunch and dinner 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday-Saturday and for breakfast 7 a.m.-10 a.m. Monday-Friday. 1000 Elm St. 421-0110. It also will be open two Sundays in April: next Sunday and April 21.
       

Not for everyone

        By the way, here's the advice on most menus that include raw oysters, and it should be heeded: There may be a risk associated with consuming raw shellfish, as is the case with other raw protein products. If you suffer from chronic illness of the liver, stomach or blood, or if you are pregnant or have immune disorders you should eat these products fully cooked.

        Not crazy about oysters? If crab is your seafood of choice, check out the Chart House's new April crab feast.

        The Newport restaurant will be serving crab dishes, such as crab cakes, crab Louie, filet Oscar (beef filet, asparagus, jumbo lump crab meat and bearnaise sauce) and crab-stuffed shrimp, Tuesday through April 29. Reservations: (859) 261-0300.

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