Episode 7: Lady Oyster, a Conversation with Virginia Shaffer about Oyster Tourism in Maine.

In this episode of OYSTER-ology, host Kevin Cox interviews Virginia Schaffer, founder of Lady Oyster, Maine's first oyster-centric food tour company. Virginia shares her transition from a corporate career in luxury travel to pursuing her passion for oysters through extensive research, writing, and establishing Lady Oyster. The business offers eco-friendly oyster-related experiences, including farm tours, tastings and retreats. Virginia discusses her diverse background, her approach to gastronomic tourism and the cultural and historical significance of oysters. She also touches on the challenges of building her entrepreneurial venture, the importance of sustainable practices, and her future goals for Lady Oyster. It's a dynamic conversation which may just make you want to quit your job and rush up to Maine!

Links:
https://www.theladyoyster.com/. The Lady Oyster website.

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Transcript

Episode 7: Lady Oyster, Virginia Shaffer And Oyster Tourism at its Best

Bubbles: [00:00:00] bubbles

Virginia: I always find that wherever you grow up is the oyster that you love the most. It's sort of one of these things that, you know, people are tied to their coastline and, within that is great exploration.

Kevin: Welcome to OYSTER-ology, a podcast about oysters, aquaculture, and everything from spat to shuck. I'm your host, Kevin Cox. 

My guest this week is Virginia Schaffer, the founder of a new innovative travel company centered around oysters. Virginia entered the oyster world indirectly through her work in the corporate world of luxury travel and tourism. With a deep interest in oysters around the world and the environments where they thrive, and coupled with her love of writing, for seven years Virginia researched and wrote more than a hundred stories and articles about oysters. She's covered shellfish farmers, chefs, others involved in the oyster industry, in life along the sea, in food, and in the environment. [00:01:00] And gradually, she realized that through her immersion in all things oysters, her life and her inner quest for meaning had evolved in a way she had never expected. So, she quit her cushy corporate job, sold everything and moved with her spouse to the coast of Maine in 2024 to build her company, Lady Oyster, which is Maine's first and only oyster-centric food tour company.

Lady Oyster's purpose is to enrich people's connection to the natural beauty, taste, environment, history, and culture of oysters and the sea. Virginia does this through oyster-related gastronomic and ecotourism experiences in Maine's pristine coastal areas where most of the communities base their existence on the bounties of the sea.

Through Lady Oyster, Virginia offers a variety of eco-friendly opportunities from sommelier-guided oyster tastings, hands-on oyster farm tours, and special gastronomic events around seafood. She's even developed an extended stay Maine [00:02:00] Oyster Retreat, offering rustically-elegant hospitality, where guests dive deep into all aspects of oyster discovery such as carefully curated farming, shucking, and fine dining in an authentic, picture perfect Maine environment.

Still in its early growing stage, Lady Oyster has become almost instantly exclusive and everything Virginia does is designed to give visitors an iconic taste of Maine's oyster farming lifestyle from sea to plate. 

So, pull on your favorite lobsterman's wool sweater and slip into your rubber wellies for my conversation about leaving a career to chase your dreams; oysters and alcohol; becoming an oyster sommelier; how an oyster tasting works; oyster retreats; gastro tourism versus food tourism; the beauty and culture of Maine; oysters in the history of Native Americans; and all kinds of other stuff with my Lady Oyster guest, Virginia Shaffer.

. Hi, Virginia. Thank you so much for being on [00:03:00] OYSTER-ology today. 

Virginia: Thank you, Kevin. Thanks for having me. 

Kevin: Now, you are a self proclaimed Oyster Ambassador. What is that? 

Virginia: Right. Well, you know, for, I guess for the last seven years, I have been writing, I've written over a hundred stories about oyster farmers, culinarians, and people within the oyster industry. Um, so I think as far as ambassador goes, you know, I love just sharing stories. I think it's a part of who I am and what makes me really happy. But I did also recently go through the Oyster Master Guild training, uh, which does certify me as an Oyster Ambassador, believe it or not. So I do have a pin.

Kevin: You're the first person I've talked to who's been through the Guild process, so that's very cool.

Virginia: Oh, and I highly recommend it. Yeah. Thank you. it's the journey to sommelier. So we'll see how we go. We'll see if my taste buds can handle it. 

Kevin: I love how you put it, because [00:04:00] oysters and the tasting and flavor profiling of oysters is so much like wine 

Virginia: with oysters, I think it's really about understanding the nuances of their. characteristics and flavor to really drive how we all think and feel about them as opposed to being always correct or right about a particular taste. 

Kevin: What I'd like to talk about is you. Who are you? What's your background? Tell me a little bit about yourself. 

Virginia: God, who am I? Um, 

Kevin: I know it's a question we all ask ourselves every day.

Virginia: Well, let's see. I'm adventurous. I'm curious. I was born on the Eastern Shore in Maryland, which is, uh, as you know, Kevin, a beautiful place to live and grow up or, or just be.

Kevin: Where in Maryland did you grow up? 

Virginia: Uh, well, I was born in Easton on the Eastern Shore. So more of the Chesapeake Bay side and then just lived around the DC area. Growing up, my father was a golf professional, believe it or not. So [00:05:00] yeah, so built-in swing, I think, uh, to some degree. And, um, yeah, we, we lived between Maryland and Pennsylvania. And then I went to school in DC at American. 

Kevin: So you're an Eastern Shore girl. I love that. 

Virginia: I am. And I think those early childhood memories really contributed to me being curious later in life about oysters. I always laughed that the oysters are, were just the prop in my story. Every day growing up. I mean, um, in school, I studied in Taiwan and I studied in Spain and then I worked in Belgium for a while and ate oysters all around the world, you know, before I was even in this project. So I think, you know, I think that all of those things contributed to me later in life, loving seafood and being curious. 

Kevin: What, may I ask, took you internationally like that?

Virginia: Just studies. You know, I was big into languages when I was younger. And when I was at school, the time in [00:06:00] Taiwan and Spain were the two places I decided to study abroad. So I studied Mandarin in Taiwan and, uh, and Spanish in Spain and did sort of, uh, more immersive programs than the usual. And it was very challenging, but at a young age, I think, you know, it changes you and how you adapt to things later in life. So it was really wonderful. 

Kevin: I would say you're you're treading into Third Culture Kid territory with your experiences abroad. 

Virginia: I would love to be one. My husband is one, uh, for sure. And my dad was one growing up. He lived all through South America. He was an army brat. So, you know, followed dad around. Yeah. 

Kevin: Isn't it wonderful being able to go to different places and understand and speak some of the language when you get there?

Virginia: It is, and it's a, it's another level of understanding people, right? I mean, when you, when you learn how languages are positioned or the ways that sentences are phrased, you, you learn so much more about a culture. [00:07:00] Um, which was really such a curious part of it. 

Kevin: So you studied abroad and you traveled around and how did your journey go from there? 

Virginia: When I left school, I got into environmental consulting. So that was very much a part of my degree, was environmental economics. Went into the marketing and comms side of things. Did environmental consulting work there for a few years and then, changed tack into travel. So I, I landed at a corporate travel management company, moved into sales and, spent the better part of a decade selling global contracts for a very large company. And we managed other companies travel, which is essentially what the role was. Um, loved it because it took me to crazy places. You know, we were in Oman and Shanghai and many trips to London and Europe. So it sort of, you know, when I think about oysters, it sort of gave me an excuse and an opportunity to eat at every raw bar I could find anywhere I was [00:08:00] traveling.

Kevin: So from there, at some point you started Lady Oyster. But tell me a little bit about what Lady Oyster is. How would you describe it? 

Virginia: Lady Oyster began as a curiosity around oysters for people like me who were, maybe sort of separated from the natural world or felt that they were curious about their food and wanted to learn more. And it really became just, I think, an opportunity for people to learn about something that they didn't know much about or a lifestyle that was very different from their own. So the stories that I featured were around farmers. When I was traveling for work I'd try and tie it into a coastal opportunity to get out on a mud flat and see somebody that - that really went - I was going from boardrooms to beaches. It was just crazy, you know, it's such a stark contrast. And so Lady Oyster was just born out of a love for food, but really turned into a lifestyle component. And, and [00:09:00] what, you know, how we can value our coastlines a little bit more. So all of those stories were just an act of appreciation.

Um, I did it for fun as a hobby and I've been doing it for seven years and it really changed, I guess, about a year ago for me. I decided that, you know, I was feeling like I was living double lives, you know? So what was originally just a blog became, well, could I do something in oysters? Could I actually be a part of this community that has given me so much and made me feel so fulfilled?

So I took a year off work and went into dark mode and started plugging away on where I could fit and where I could belong with an oyster. So it's, it's sort of, um, it's in the developmental stages. Um, but we're looking at really moving into the eco-tourism and gastro-tourism world. 

Kevin: That's a pretty ballsy move to just step into the abyss from a well paying job into nothingness and not knowing exactly where it's [00:10:00] going to end up.

Virginia: Years of therapy, I'm telling you. 

I was just watching The Morning Show, you know, that series with Jennifer Aniston. There's a scene where she's like in a mountain house writing her memoir. And she says, um, In order for me to, to slow down, I had to cut my own legs off and, you know, that's a really gruesome way of looking at it, but for the way that I worked, I was in such a high pressure cook job in sales, um, traveling every single week and I needed to find a way to press pause on that and see if there was something more I could find and more, it was something more fulfilling in life. Um, I had the great privilege of doing that as well, just saving up a lot of money and, um, having a wonderful husband who is, very understanding. 

Kevin: I think more and more people are willing to take those kinds of risks than they were, say, 10 or 20 years ago, when, people just lived with the security at any cost, as opposed to really following their dreams.

Virginia: You know, there is [00:11:00] oppression in freedom. I will say that just as much as there is oppression at work. Um, I learned that early on. So there's a lot of, rebuilding and reprogramming of your own mind when you quit sort of a nine-to-five or a lifestyle like that, but so far. Yeah, I'm really excited about the future. 

Kevin: Moving from Vermont to Maine -- sounds like a new chapter in your life that you guys are doing. 

Virginia: You know, it's it's funny to say new chapter because I've been basically been sleeping on everyone's couch in Maine for the last, I would say four or five years. So it feels like, um, a homecoming really, or an investment in a place that's already home to me in so many ways.

 I was in Boston. When I started the blog. So that was a really great place to be, to go north, to go south and be a part of oyster communities all up and down the East Coast. When COVID hit my husband and I, the year before, we're debating a move to New Zealand, believe it or [00:12:00] not.

 He's from New Zealand. And we had some opportunities there we were weighing. And then when the pandemic came around, we were like, what is the closest place that looks like New Zealand that we can go and Vermont it was. Um, but I found myself sort of stuck on a mountain, a little bit and so, I loved it but at the same time, we realized, I think in our third year in Vermont that I needed to be back to the coast. And that was really important for us. 

Kevin: It's interesting that you, um, kind of associate Vermont and New Zealand. Maine is very much like that just with a whole lot more water and fog. 

Virginia: I think so, and you know, maybe we should have just taken our straight shot up to Maine and we talk about that all the time, but really Vermont was sort of an escape for us a little bit and from everything and taking that time to sort of reevaluate where I want it to be as well. So I think, I [00:13:00] think it served its purpose.

Kevin: Where in Maine? 

Virginia: uh, Bath, Maine, which is just about 30 to 40 minutes north of Portland. And we chose Bath really be for a couple of reasons. You know, one was I'd be close to where I, I plan on hosting retreats. So that was such, such an important piece of this, um, Bath sits along Route 1, which is oyster country to the max, you know, in the mid coast. So, you've got Casco Bay, New Meadows River, Kennebec, and then Damariscotta, and that track. It's just so ideal to be around for the work that I do. 

Kevin: So, one of the things that really grabbed my attention when I first saw you was the concept of Maine Retreats and these oyster retreats. Tell me what an oyster retreat is. 

Virginia: Well, it's a lot of food and drink and not that much yoga. it's, I would say mindfulness in a different way. I had for years been dreaming of hosting a retreat and I think it came back [00:14:00] to falling in love with the lifestyle of the people I was meeting in aquaculture, being out on the water. Um, this is sort of cathartic. component of eating an oyster, um, acting is a labor of love and working with something with your hands.

And I felt like I had such a privilege to be able to be backstage with these farmers and seeing what they were doing and learning from them that I wanted to be able to share that in a new way, not just by writing it or by social media, but how could I get people out who are curious just like me to really experience it firsthand?

And so when I built this retreat, I started working with a man named John Haragol. He's down in West Point, Maine. He owns Maine Oyster Company, and he owns a series of cottages, an old general store, a huge tidal dock and then that's just a jump point up New Meadows River. It just was the perfect location to bring people.

It was my paradise during COVID and all this, it was sort of [00:15:00] like a retreat of my own. So I wanted to emulate that for others. Um, what it really is, is we're getting people out on the water. We're getting them interacting, culling oysters, learning how things really work on the farm.

But we're also introducing them to, to Maine seafood. Um, it's not just oysters. I mean, you can eat as many as you want while you're there. But as far as, you know, engaging you in other ways with different seafood is really important around our home cooking. We also do other fun stuff, like you know, painting, where I've been putting out oyster shells and candles and stuff so people can just take a relaxing wine and do some painting or go hike up Morse Mountain, which is such a beautiful view of the beach there.

So we want to just incorporate Maine and showcase how beautiful this state is. But also show them this rising industry that is just so stunning and wonderful to work with and be a part of. 

Kevin: So you really are [00:16:00] highlighting more than just oysters Are people staying in these cottages. Is it like You know, you stay over a few nights and you have a multi day plan? 

Virginia: Yeah, so we only really take about 12 people per retreat because we want it to still be pretty intimate. There's also boat regulations around that as well. And with, you know, with our fleet, so they all, everyone will stay in a cottage. There's about four or five different cottages on the peninsula that work well for the retreat. It's all on one big circle, so it's easy to walk around. The general store has a kitchen and we have transformed that into a lodge so people can come in, grab coffee in the morning, have breakfast. And then we have one really long table where we service, you know, all of our meals, oyster tastings, glasses and things like that that we do with everyone. So it's just the perfect setup. 

Kevin: It sounds fantastic. And keeping a small group like that is great for everybody because they get to know each other and there's kind of more personalized attention I would think. 

Virginia: Absolutely. I think if we [00:17:00] got any bigger, it would be a little challenging, to really make everybody feel as intimate as we really could with this. So that's a really great number to shoot for. 

Kevin: Yeah. And how many have you had, uh, held so far? 

Virginia: We did a six night retreat last September. That was sort of our very first one. And it was very ambitious to do six nights. I'll tell you that, um, we've pulled it back to four because we found that, four days was really a good sweet spot for everything that we wanted to accomplish on the retreat, um, before the September retreat I also helped co-host a retreat in June last year for a restaurant group. So I did some tastings for them and supported some of the operations. So we sort of got our hands dirty already and we're ready for September to come around. I'm hosting two more in June, so we're ready to rock and roll. Very excited. And they're filling up. I think we have a couple more spots open at the moment, but 

Kevin: If people are interested. They can just go to your website and there's information there to sign up? [00:18:00] 

Virginia: Yes, 

Kevin: A term you mentioned before that I hear increasingly is gastro-tourism

Virginia:  Yes,

Kevin: So tell me a little bit about gastro-tourism and how you fit that into what you're doing, 

Virginia: You know gastronomy as a definition means, you know, "the rules that govern the stomach," which is such a funny way of looking at gastronomic tourism. It really deals with everything, around human nourishment. And I think when we look at it that way, um, Gastronomic tourism is often referred to as food tourism in a sort of short form, but it actually is really different. Um, you know, food tourism, we can think of, you know, I'll give you an example.

You can go to Rome, and you can walk around, and maybe in a guidebook, there's actually going to be a restaurant for Japanese ramen. And you go, Oh my God, this is like, there's a queue out the door. This ramen place is going to be amazing. Um, it was in the guidebook. We've got to go. And that's great. That's food tourism [00:19:00] You were, you know, you found a place that was really delicious in the city and you went. 

Kevin: So different from food tourism, the way you've described it, when you have your retreats, how do you try and emphasize what you call gastro-tourism? 

Virginia: Yeah, I think it's a lot about, the background, the extrinsic information that we can provide, the story, using local ingredients and flavors. Um, we work within the foodscape of Maine, which means within the food that's available to us in Maine. Um, we talk about indigenous heritage and culture and how important that is to a lot of the coastal roots of Maine. And really give people the technique and the skills to experience Maine oysters the way that we believe they should be tasted. So I think all of that is really a part of the food culture of Maine. Um, we talk about restoration, environmental awareness. So that goes into some of the values of the ecosystem as well. [00:20:00] And I think We do that in, in not heavy handed ways, we want people to experience it on their own in so many different, experiences within the retreat, but, um, but all of that comes through really, really well in how we set up the program, and I think that's so much different, it gives so much con, more context to food than just going to a restaurant and eating something and, and moving on. 

Kevin: The way you described that completely captures my perception of I think what people really want more and more today. 

Virginia: I agree there's a growing trend definitely in gastronomic tourism, and we've seen that trend growing. We've seen the rise of platforms that give way to experience around food in a more authentic way, like, you know, there's, um, there's the Traveling Spoon, there's Eat With, there's, Get Your Guide, there's Airbnb Experiences, and I think all of that lends to, um, people just wanting to eat authentically [00:21:00] with locals and enjoying that, 

Kevin: When I think of food in Maine, one thinks of lobster and shellfish. But what are some of the other important types of food or food sources in Maine? 

Virginia: You know, there is a lot of seasonality to Maine seafood which you know again is all about when we're hosting retreats What's in season right now that we can really work with so you have? You know Pollock, you have Haddock, you have, all sorts of, clams, sea urchin. We do a lot with scallops as well. So I think the, the varying degree of shellfish is really incredible. Unfortunately, you know, Maine had a really strong shrimp industry as well that sort of faded over time.

But as far as what we do, we really focus on what seafood we have in season, and working with that. But there's a lot of great seafood to be had for sure.

Kevin: And do you only do these retreats during the warmer months or do [00:22:00] you also do them when it's really cold and snowy up in Maine?

Virginia: that's a really great question, Kevin, because we've debated, um, The the different seasons and what that brings for a retreat, I think we have focused on sort of early summer and late summer for a couple of reasons. You know, June has such an incredible amount of flavor, um, and opportunity and the color in Maine is just so beautiful that people really can enjoy what's before it's too hot, But then in the fall is really where the season for oysters comes alive. the sweetness comes back to the oysters. They're eating a lot. They're preparing for winter. So you, you get a full nuanced and new flavor that comes with the oyster at that time. So for me, you know, a September retreat is really great. We could push into October, just gets a little bit colder of getting people out on the water. You know, those farms, they really tuck in and hibernate over winter. So it's a tougher [00:23:00] month.

Kevin: So I'm trying to picture one of these retreats where you have a bunch of people and you're getting on boats and heading out onto farms. And do you have, waders or, foul weather gear, for them to don when they get on the boats or do people sort of provide whatever they have themselves?

Virginia: Yeah, we do tend to give, our retreaters a really great list of things to bring like, you know, ankle-high wellies and, things you don't mind getting dirty, but we also provide rain jackets, waders, all sorts of things that it's just fun to get dressed up to be on the water as well. And to feel like you're a part of the farm. So we do provide that for anybody who wants to, some don't want to, and that's absolutely fine as well. But, um, you know, last September, we had a massive hurricane that hit the day our retreat started, and we were really lucky to not lose power. But a lot of things were terrifying me. I was like, How are we gonna get people on the water with these rising tides and seas that were just [00:24:00] the wind that was picking up?

So we did have to hold off for two days. It was still raining. We're like, oh God, we don't have a sunny day to get people out on the water. But You know, we dressed everybody, everyone was like, yeah, this is Maine! This is the full Maine experience. This is what we signed up for. And thank God for those people, honestly, because we, we were really nervous about it, but we suited them up in rain jackets and proper attire. Off we went. 

Kevin: Got them wet and dirty. 

Virginia: Yes, we did. 

Kevin: What did you do during those two days when you were weathered out? Did you just, ply them with booze and food or how did that work? 

Virginia: Something like that, I think. You know, we, what we did is we focused more on the classes. Um, so how to shuck. we made our own mignonettes. We pulled out maps and talked about sort of maritime history. We had cooking classes. We went for a hike up Morse Mountain. So there were things that we could do while the seas were sort of [00:25:00] giving us a run for our money.

Um, but all of that actually lent well, because when we finally got them out on the water, they had so much knowledge, of the oyster and sort of what Maine was all about before they even hopped on the farm. So it did lend well to the format. 

Kevin: So they've learned all of this stuff and then it suddenly comes to life when they actually get out there, 

Virginia: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. 

Kevin: So how do you do it? Do you have relationships with specific, aqua farmers who have boats 

Virginia: So we have our fleet, uh, two, we have one skiff and one that's like a little bit nicer of a boat. We take people out on both of them. And then, you know, with the way that some of the oyster farms are set up, especially in New Meadows River is, um, many of them have floats and things that we can actually get people to hop on board and learn about tumbling or you know The oyster farm experience so we work with partners like Ferda Farms is a really strong partner for that they have such a great setup a very large float that's solar powered. They've got the [00:26:00] tumbler on board so people can really interact with the farm experience for the other farms that may not have floats We'll just drive by we'll say hi to the farmers We'll get them to pull out some oysters and talk to them to us for a little while, um, answer any questions that people might have and we'll give them some prompts as well. And so they get a little bit of a mix of the different styles of farms that are also on the water and how oysters equally grow in different environments. 

Kevin: So they really see kind of the whole spectrum of aqua farming for oysters in that area from farms to flip farms to beach farms.

Virginia: There's a lot less beach culture in Maine because we're so limited on beach. It's sort of granite shard rock, um, that these farmers are dealing with. Yeah, so they work in, you know, sometimes in deeper waters. but even if we have a farm that has sort of bottom culture, which is really where they're, you know, really casting these oysters along the estuary floor and then [00:27:00] dredging them up or going to dive for them. We can still get the farmer out on the boat to talk to them about that. Um, you know, Johns River, for example, or some of the other farms up Damariscotta, they use a dredge. So that's really cool to get people to see oysters a little bit differently. And then there are also coastal, on-land operations as well, where people will bring oysters in and then work them there. So that makes it a little bit easier for us to still do a tour in that sense. 

Kevin: And you do tastings as well. Now, do you try and do tastings on the farms or do you mix it up and have some back at the lodge? 

Virginia: So people are eating oysters all the time on this retreat. So the tastings are nonstop as far as, you know, how they're experiencing the oyster.

I think what I try and focus on for more of a formal tasting is picking at least three different farms within three different bodies of water in Maine, and I choose that. I'll, I'll taste them prior to the event. I'll pick my three [00:28:00] that I think have some contrast that give them a really cool experience where they can start challenging their own palate a little bit when it comes to oysters. We also provide them resources like the 33 tasting profiles booklet, where people can start logging their notes. It's so great - shout out to Julie Qiu She did such a good job with that booklet. So we give them those documents and then work through those oysters. Yeah, people can develop their own sense of their own palette, really, and their own taste preferences.

Kevin: So, the oysters that you're eating are all Eastern Oysters, right?

Virginia: Yes, they are. They are all Eastern Oysters, but you know, within Eastern Oysters come very nuanced flavors as well. So, we do focus on, salinity significantly, so I'll look at different oysters with different salinities and then the algae in different waters really contributes to whether something is a little more vegetal [00:29:00] or something is a little bit, you know, maybe on the sweeter side and and nutty, all these sort of different flavors that really come into, into what the Eastern Oyster can really offer. I would say that versus a Pacific Oyster, Eastern Oysters are not quite as complex in flavor. There's a big difference in terms of species there. But as far as what we can get in the Atlantic, it's almost like they're a canvas for the flavor of the sea. So we will get really varying different algal notes that I think might be a little more subtle, but they're just as delicious. And I always find that wherever you grow up is the oyster that you love the most. It's sort of one of these things that, you know, people are tied to their coastline and, within that is, is great exploration.

Kevin: And so what is your favorite oyster? If you have a specific?

Virginia: I think that's too political for me to answer, Kevin.[00:30:00] 

Kevin: You're very smart because it is one of those things that people literally get in fights about. 

Virginia: Yeah. and, you know, what I will say is it's just like wine, you know, you might have leaned towards a particular grape, but you can really enjoy all different types of wine with different foods and different pairings and appreciate such a range. And I think I, I feel that way with oysters. Definitely. 

Kevin: Do you do a lot of, experimental pairings in your tastings with, different mignonettes or different additives to the raw oyster? 

Virginia: I do. I do. I, um, you know, it's funny. It's what you've got to decide in a tasting what you're really trying to do or achieve. If it's really tasting the raw oyster, then you're going to want to limit a lot of those accoutrements or, drink pairings along with it, or you're going to want to choose if you're more food focused or you're more drink focused. if it's just a general tasting and we're having fun and we're experimenting with flavors [00:31:00] I I love to have a couple of accoutrements and I'll focus on some seasonal ingredients as well that I can attribute to Maine. Like one of them is the um, the Juneberry which is really, you know, it comes alive in June and it's actually also called the Shad Bush, which a lot of people don't know. And that relates back to indigenous culture and when the shad would come up the river and the Native American tribes would know that the shad was running when the Juneberry turned red. So there's a lot of really cool things we can do with story with an even in a mignonette. and then when it comes to drink pairings, we, you can just, there's so much to experiment.

You've got safe choices, which I always like to throw in, like a very crisp white wine, something along that line. And there's a really great array of that. There's a, a wonderful array of sparkling that comes out of Maine that I think goes really well with oysters. And then, of course, we love to throw in something that people don't expect, like a sake, or a [00:32:00] lambrusco, or something that's bubbly but different, so they get their taste buds working in a new way.

Kevin: And I understand that there are now breweries making oyster stout beer, and there's an oyster, I think an oyster vodka now being made. have you had any experience with that kind of thing? 

Virginia: I have. I have. the brewing with oyster shells actually historically has been something that's done to help, bring clarity to the beer. So, it's actually an old practice that they've revived recently, probably in the last, I don't know, 50 years or so to really bring in more flavor to beer, there's also breweries that are just throwing the oysters full body all in just to even increase those those complexities. I can see why you would love gin if you're coming from the the West Coast, it just lends so well to a Pacific Oysters's melon and cucumber notes. And that always works so well with a gin. So those aromas are really working together so well. as far as the oyster vodka, [00:33:00] again, it's just those, that, That purifying, that distilling process lends well with something like an oyster shell and the calcium and all those other components that, that help bring clarity to that particular liquor. And vodka is just, like another canvas for flavor. So you can do so many cocktails that work with oysters without being, overbearing in flavor or complexity as well. 

Kevin: I want to go briefly back to the Shadbush.you have a connection or at least you place great value in the Native American Indians and the indigenous people and the land that we're all on. Tell me about your connection to that. 

Virginia: You know, it's funny because I don't identify, with indigenous heritage. That's not a part of my family story, but as far as every place that I've really grown up or, community I've been a part of, there are some really incredible. history, and just, on the, Eastern [00:34:00] Shore of Maryland, you have, the whole Chesapeake and everything that, that seafood culture was so strong there with the Piscataway. And, you've got the, Lenape out of New York who did such an important job of teaching people how to survive in those environments through seafood diet.

I think overall, When it comes to oysters specifically, I find indigenous heritage so important because they've given us so many clues over thousands of years that this was a sustainable food resource that it was important to culture and it was important to you know survival in a very primitive way and I think The oyster hasn't changed much, you know, when we really think about thousands of years and the way we eat it and the way we enjoy it and so I do like to just bring a lot of gratitude to that culture. I'm very conscious of appropriation. I like those stories to be told by indigenous peoples as much as I can. . But [00:35:00] when I can incorporate a particular food ingredient that was indigenous, or I can give thanks to the learnings that they've provided over thousands of years I do that. And in Maine, in particular, we've got, the Abenaki, the Wapenaki. There's a really, incredible indigenous history around oysters within Maine as well. We see that up the Damariscotta River. 

So I always encourage people to, to have a look at Whaleback Midden, which is one of the largest middens in the country, where we find a lot of secrets about how oysters were consumed in middens, not only because they make up most of the midden. Um, there's also skulls and bones and all sorts of other things. So we found that middens were not only a dumping ground for food, but they were actually a sacred place where they even, um, had burials for loved ones, um, ate different foods and celebrated.

So there's a lot of culture around that that we can glean, you know, down in the Chesapeake Bay, there are some large middens [00:36:00] down there. And what we've learned by examining those is that Native Americans practiced very, sustainable, uh, harvesting with oysters. You'll find only large shells within those middens, which means that they were eating those oysters at adult size, and they were carefully watching smaller oysters and letting them grow up within the reef. So they've even shown us that there is a concept of sustainable food, and sustainable eating that we should be abiding by today. So there's just lots of cool things around it that I think bring wonderful story.

Kevin: I've heard it said that there are middens going back 10 or 15, 000 years, and it shows how an important and long standing part of Native American diets and culture oysters have been. Are you involved at all in, promoting any of the oyster and reef restoration efforts like the Billion Oyster [00:37:00] Project in New York? Do you have any involvement with those? 

Virginia: Oh yeah. I think as far as, covering some of the people doing restoration, I've done that within some stories. I've attended the Billion Oyster Party and been a strong promoter of that. The Malinowski family, you know, Pete, He was a co-founder of the Billion Oyster Project, but, I've spent time with his parents out on Fishers Island, seeing their oyster farm, and I think there's a really beautiful family story within the Malinowski family that, that lends to just this beautiful Beautiful repopulation around New York of oyster, um, and wild reefs.

I've also spoken with, Betsy Peabody out of, Puget Sound Restoration Fund and the revival of the Olympia oysters that they're doing there. And, you know, she's just such a phenomenal woman. Her story is the way that she engages with people and she's created, you know, something where we're not just looking at environmental restoration as the, as the [00:38:00] purpose for Olympias, but it's heritage and indigenous restoration that comes along with the Olympia.

 But yes, restoration is, is my heart and joy. I love to see it. I love to know what it's doing for our oceans. 

Kevin: It is interesting when you mentioned Olympia is because Pacific oysters are the most common oyster found up and down the west coast. So even now the most common oyster is not the original indigenous oyster of that area. And unlike Pacific's Eastern oysters are the true indigenous oyster to the East Coast. Is that right? 

Virginia: Yes, yes they are. And I believe when a lot of the English settlers were coming over way back in the day and they first tried these oysters, they were trying to figure out a way to get them back to England because they thought that they were such a special oyster and such a hot commodity. And it was very difficult, of course, back in the day to transport, you know, live shellfish. But [00:39:00] yeah, they are endemic, in such a beautiful oyster and one to be proud of very different from a lot of the other oysters around the world. 

Kevin: tell me about some of the challenges in developing Lady Oyster and your retreats and all of the different things. What are some of the biggest challenges that you've had to overcome? 

Virginia: I think this summer is a real proof of concept for not only continuing on the retreats, but doing, but a lot of the tour work that I'm doing. But I think a lot of it is just you know, having just trashed my corporate job in pursuit of something I truly, truly love is a very daunting feeling. Um, so the challenge comes in the unknown more than anything else. And then of course, some of the other challenges that just the entire industry faces around, climate, warming waters, acidification, things like that, that will make my job just as hard as a farmer's job to, bring people to a place that has this kind of shellfish available. So [00:40:00] I would say, Those are sort of my two heavy hitters. The third would be just the admin. you know, of running a business and trying to build all of that out is, is um, I don't think is anyone's favorite part. 

Kevin: Yeah, you're doing it all. I mean, in addition to actually holding the retreats and the tastings and the farm tours and all of the other stuff, you have admin, you have marketing, you have managing the internet, all of that stuff, right?

Virginia: Oh, yeah. You know, it's just a sort of a one woman team over here at the moment. And, you're always nervous that people will be receptive of what you're doing and hoping that they see value in it. But so far I think things have been going really well, so fingers crossed that that'll continue.

Kevin: You mentioned earlier your spouse is he involved with you in this business? 

Virginia: He's the fun of the business. He like comes in for comedic relief and he's also an incredibly good cook. He's a home cook. He's not classically trained at all, but he's [00:41:00] just phenomenal. We are serial entertainers. We're obsessed with having people over at the house. We love cooking together and so I do rope him in very often in the retreats for helping us run a lot of the food service And uh, he always tells me he's not paid enough. But he he really he loves it. He loves entertaining and he's the life of all parties. Everyone who meets him loves him and he's he's great. Just full of laughter. So he provides all of that. 

Kevin: It sounds like together you two are quite a formidable oyster power couple.

Virginia: Maybe one day. But, as for right now, we're, we're just, uh, a bunch of knuckleheads trying to create a really happy experience for other people. 

Kevin: What's your favorite part of what you do? 

Virginia: I got into oysters in general because of this lifestyle need that I had, and I think the sharing, the way that I can be, um, I wish there was another word for it, but an evangelist in a way for the Oyster community is, is wonderful. My [00:42:00] passion, you know, talking about oyster, sharing what they're doing for the world. I feel like they're the unsung heroes of today. They're hiding under the water. They're hiding in nooks and crannies and they're doing so much work, you know? So sharing those stories; really relying on other people to be vulnerable with me and come out and talk about some of their own challenges and the work that they're doing, I think, adds so much color to this industry that people don't really know or recognize.

And seeing myself as that ambassador, just somebody who really, cares about making sure that the environment and people are coming together to really make a big difference in this world. You can get as big as you want to with the passion around that. But that's what makes me tick That's what makes me happy.

Kevin: Well, you are definitely part of the oyster renaissance that's happening in this country right now. Where do you picture yourself in five years? 

Virginia: I've been thinking a lot about that lately because I think this year will be, you know, getting the tour system created that I really think is [00:43:00] successful, uh, working through, fishing charter opportunities, finding some good boat captains who are ready to diversify. To run tours other than just fishing charters, um, expanding that network. The next couple of years we'll be really building out that tour atmosphere. What I'd love to do is bring the oyster tasting experience and all of the knowledge that I have around oysters into that beyond, you know, getting the boats on the water. And I think in the fifth year or somewhere around there, it would be the most amazing thing to find a small piece of property on the water, you know, build a small center where we can run tastings, we can cook for people and also have a dock that just jets them straight out onto the ocean just so they can meet the farmers and we can have that organized tour experience. So. Five years from now, um, that's where I hope I'll be. And, then I would be very, very happy.

 Kevin: Well, I have no doubt that you will achieve that five year goal [00:44:00] and probably a whole lot more. 

Virginia, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this and how fascinating what you're doing and what you're planning on doing more of is. 

Virginia: Well, I mean, this is just such an opportunity for me, Kevin, to come on and talk to you about it. and this is such a, like a pivotal moment in my life and what I'm trying to achieve. So I think, um, call me in a couple of years, see where I'm at. But please visit me in Maine before then. You have to come. 

Kevin: I just can't wait to watch what you and Lady Oyster continue to do going forward. Thanks again.  

Virginia: Thank you, Kevin. I appreciate it. I'll talk to you soon.

Kevin: Since my conversation with Virginia a few months ago, she has operated Lady Oyster at full bore in this first season. She's held numerous tastings, guided multiple farm tours, hosted special events, launched a gorgeous new website, and even completed four-day Maine Oyster Retreats, which by all accounts were hugely successful. Bookings for next season are [00:45:00] already filling up, and at the pace Lady Oyster has grown so far, it looks like Virginia's five year plan may be achieved sooner than expected. So congratulations to Virginia and her team at Lady Oyster. 

Kevin: Well, that's it for this episode of OYSTER-ology. Thanks to my guest, Virginia Schaffer. As always, show notes can be found on this episode's page, and if you enjoyed it, please rate or review it on whatever podcast platform you listen on. I'm your host, Kevin Cox. Join me next week when we pry open the shell of another interesting OYSTER-ology topic.