Sisters Jaz, left, and Aluxa, right, owners of Petaluma's The Shuckery and The Oyster Girls
Pearls of Petaluma
When you traffic in oysters, the world is yours. And with that, comes a responsibility and an opportunity to help make your world a better place.
At least, that’s how sisters Jaz and Aluxa Lalicker look at it. Owners, respectively, of Petaluma’s The Shuckery and The Oyster Girls, Jaz and Aluxa take every opportunity to support COTS.
Jaz and her sister cherish that as independent business owners they can focus their time and efforts on causes they care about. “I live in Petaluma. I love it and I want to support it,” Jaz says. She sees the need for help on the streets right outside her restaurant and within her circle of family and friends. “Sometimes, you can get frustrated by how big the problems are. COTS is easy to work with, and they’re getting things done.”
Always a community booster, the pandemic has only increased the sisters’ commitment to community.
In the beginning, Jaz provided customers with basic goods they couldn’t find in grocery stores, preparing care packages of toilet paper and produce from her restaurant suppliers. More recently, in gratitude for their continued support of her restaurant and her staff, she’s taken to changing up her menu to cook whatever her customers want.
And in addition to her own contributions to COTS, she’s connected her customers with us. “I know the type of people who come into my restaurant. They’re looking for ways to help and I can connect them,” Jaz says. Recently, Jaz ran a food drive for COTS, offering discounts to customers who contributed. She also talks about COTS with customers and shares our needs with them.
The sisters arrived in Sonoma County by way of Oklahoma by way of Mexico. They learned what it takes to start and run a business by watching their mother, who, herself, started and ran several businesses. “She really drove that spirit in both of us,” Jaz says.
The oyster focus came about because of Aluxa’s love of the ocean and a trip the sisters took to New Orleans. To Jaz, oyster bars were boisterous and unpretentious and each one was its own animal. “They were welcoming and honest. That’s the kind of place I wanted to open,” Jaz says.
We are grateful to have the Lalicker sisters’ support and advocacy and wish them luck as the world re-opens. Thank you, Jaz and Aluxa!
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