Boyster: an oyster bar in Vieux-Lille, between warm wood, mother-of-pearl and champagne bubbles

An oyster bar in Vieux-Lille

Boyster is an oyster bar and restaurant in Vieux-Lille. Its menu is short and precise, organized in five categories: French oysters, a selection of drinks, Boyster’s cellar, the sides and a selection of caviar. On the oyster side, there are Normandy oysters, such as the Normandie – Navarre served by the dozen and offered “pour vos apéritifs FaceTime ou mode cocooning”, Breton ones, such as the Marie Morganes, and Atlantic oysters from Gillardeau.

Around them, the cellar lines up whites such as Château Simone, from the Palette appellation, a Chablis Vieilles Vignes, a Petit Chablis or a Pouilly Fumé, a “confidential” red from the Southwest and the champagne of the Haton house, by the bottle or the half-bottle. Baestri caviar completes the menu, and oyster forks even appear among the sides. The tone is set by the home page itself: “À notre comptoir, les huîtres rencontrent la chaleur du bois et les bulles de champagne.”

A home page that moves like a film

The home page unfolds like a film that advances as you scroll. It opens on Boyster’s storefront at night and on three hanging pictures that tell the journey of an oyster: the fishing boat at sunset and its wicker basket, the oysters on ice, then the blade that opens the shell. On the left, the line “Bar à huîtres · Lille” sits above the heading “Venez prendre le large.”, underlined with a small anchor.

Each gesture then moves the story forward: the midnight blue room and its mother-of-pearl shell, the counter in broad daylight, then an inset “Un verre avec ça ?” that suggests a very cold Pouilly Fumé or Chablis with the oysters, in front of a room opening onto a harbor at dusk. A chapter “Les huîtres” follows. The texts stay short and let the sea, the wood and the light speak.

On a phone, the counter in your hand

On a phone, the home page tightens around the essentials: the two buttons, Réserver and Commander, stay at the top of the screen, Boyster’s round logo sits in the center, then come “Bar à huîtres · Lille”, the heading and the platter of oysters with lemon, which fills the whole bottom of the screen. The ordering page keeps its medallion, its framed cards and its basket bar, and the booking form reads in a single column.