OYSTER-ology

Episode 34: Shuck Hard, Wander Far: Rutvik Patel and The Wandering Shuckers Co.

• Kevin Cox • Season 2 • Episode 34

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From the raw bars of New York to festivals across the country, Rutvik Patel has built a life around the half shell and built The Wandering Shuckers Co. A kid from India – and not an oyster in sight – Rutvik shares how, thrust into the US, he stumbled into shucking, found community through oysters, and turned his passion into a profession. With his “superhuman” partner Mahnaz Damania keeping the ship steady, Rutvik travels coast to coast bringing oysters—and their stories—to pop-ups, private events and national competitions. He explains the art of shucking, the significance of storytelling in serving great shellfish. Our conversation reflects on the camaraderie within the oyster community,  craft, and how oysters have a way of connecting people everywhere.

00:00 Intro

00:23 Meet Rutvik Patel: The Wandering Shucker

00:55 From India to America: Rutvik's Early Life

02:37 Adapting to Life in the US

05:06 Entering the Food Industry

06:20 Discovering a Passion for Oysters

08:41 The Art and Community of Shucking

13:30 Competing in Shucking Competitions

16:42 The Perfect Shuck: Techniques and Challenges

17:58 Competition Oysters: Selection and Strategy

18:26 The Art of Not Flipping Oysters

19:46 The Wandering Shuckers: Origin Story

20:34 Business Model and Events

20:59 Catering vs. Popups: A Shucker's Perspective

22:11 Innovative Techniques for Grilled Oysters

23:42 Experimenting with Oyster Additives

28:29 The Importance of Oyster Stories

31:01 Memorable Shucking Experiences

35:12 Future Plans and Acknowledgements

Links:

Credits:
Guest: Rutvik Patel, The Wandering Shuckers Co
Host: Kevin Cox, Creator & Host of OYSTER-ology
Digital Deckhand: Chet Gipty

Photos courtesy of The Wandering Shuckers Co.

Please be sure to Like and Follow OYSTER-ology wherever you listen to podcasts, and tell others about it. Every positive mention of it helps more people find the podcast!

Kevin:  Have you shucked for people whose names we might recognize? 

Rutvik: It's funny you say that. I am such an oyster nerd. I was at the Masters recently and there was someone famous there, but I don't know who they were. They were football player, a quarterback for some team. And I'm like, how many oysters do you want? And the person behind me is pinching me going that blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, does he want oysters or not? 

[bubbles] 

Kevin: Welcome to OYSTER-ology, a podcast about oysters, aquaculture, and everything from spat to shuck. I'm your host and the Foodwalker, Kevin Cox. Today on OYSTER-ology I'm hanging out with a guy who's turned oyster shucking into both a calling and a way of life. 

My guest is Rutvik Patel, founder of the Wandering Shuckers Company, a New York based oyster pop-up and catering business. Known for bringing fresh oysters and the stories behind them, to festivals, events, and raw bars across the country 

with a background that spans restaurants, photography, and a lifelong love of people. Rudick has turned shucking into both a craft and a community. Born in India, he moved to the US as a teenager, haphazardly navigating the culture shock of suburban New Jersey and a blur of odd jobs across bars, restaurants, photography, and fish deliveries.

 Somewhere in that mix, root Vic discovered oyster shucking, a skill that would take him from catering gigs to competitions, festivals, and eventually a full-time life built around the half shell. Along the way, he reconnected with Mahnaz de mania, a girl he met in India and was later drawn back to 

Together they've turned their lifelong friendship into a loving marriage and business partnership where Mahnaz is the superpower who keeps the show running while Rutvik keeps shucking. In our conversation we talked about how oysters transformed Rutvik vi's life and how he and Mahnaz turned their respective dreams, hers, of acting his of shucking into a life that is as much about people as it is about shellfish.

 So grab your bucket belt and shucking knife and wander toward the crowd as we hear about how a kid from the dry heat of. Gujarat became a certified oyster specialist. 

The kindness of oyster people. Why competitive oyster shucking should be a sport.

What defines a perfectly shucked oyster? The allure of humility and the magic of. Torch kissed oysters, and why every restaurant serving oysters needs a real shucker front and center with certified Shucker Social Genius and Wayfaring Wanderer Rutvik Patel.

 

Kevin: Rutvik Patel of the Wandering Shuckers Company. It is so awesome to have you as my guest on OYSTER-ology today.You know, I have heard so much about you. and it seems like at some point during almost every conversation someone mentions you. So I finally, get to talk to you live and find out who you are and what this is all about.

So, welcome. 

Rutvik: Thank you, Kevin. Thank you for having me. I am just, I'm fortunate these people have kind words to me. 

Kevin: I wanna know a little bit about you and who you are, what your background is, where you were born, that kind of thing.

And I'll just let you tell me that story. 

Rutvik: I was born and raised in India in a place called Ahmedabad. . I like to call it the Midwest of India. And kind of mentality wise too, it's probably the Midwest of India. very landlocked place. Dry hot summers, pleasant winters, not much, seafood going on.

Hmm. so it's, I didn't, grow up around oysters at all. it was a fun childhood. I had a lot of, a lot of fun growing up. my dad was, A GM at a textile, industry, like a textile, company. My mom was a teacher. and I grew up around a lot of animals. 'cause my dad was, he was part of the WWF, but not the wrestling, the worldwide world.

Kevin: wildlife World. Wildlife fund, yeah. Right. 

Rutvik: Yes. He was involved in starting the first zoo in our, city. Really. And he was also the first director of a snake park that, that existed in our city. 

And my dad was adventurous. So we went on a lot of road trips. We went exploring a lot. I saw a lot of India with him. And, mom was, a firecracker. She, I didn't realize until much later in life how we were getting fed because she cooked every single. She went to work every single day and it just, it was insane.

We had breakfast, we had lunch, we had dinner. And she worked a full-time job. And it was, it was, yeah. I didn't realize that was much later in life what she was pulling off. 

 My sister's another one. She lives in Hong Kong now. And, she takes on characteristics of both parents too.

Little firecracker over there. 

Kevin: What was your childhood like? 

Rutvik: I, I moved here when I was 14. So before 14, I, I had a very carefree childhood in Ahmedabad. I loved it. I have distinct memories of my dad doing, snake shows where he would, handle snakes and he would talk to the audience about, about them.

 I used to help him with them, like the non vem snake. They would let me handle the sandbars and they would have to hand it to them. So, it was not the most, traditional Indian childhood because, it's not things that a lot of Indian kids end up doing.

Kevin: What kind of, educational background do you have? 

Rutvik: I went to a Catholic, school in India, Saint Xavier's, Loyola High School. amazing institution. It's been around for a hundred some odd years now. and I left at 14, so I left right before schooling became serious over there. And, I finished my 10th, but I barely passed 'cause I knew already I was moving to this country. So my last year there was just party. 

Kevin: What brought you to the US and where did you go? 

Rutvik: I had no say in that. It was my parents, uh, they took an opportunity for immigration that came up and, they moved to the States. They, we came to. Cherry Hill, New Jersey is where we landed up first. 

Kevin: I used to live in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. 

Rutvik: Seriously? 

Kevin: I did. 

Rutvik: I went to Cherry Hill East. 

Kevin: Yeah. No kidding. What a small world. 

Rutvik: That was a shocking introduction to, a life in the States. 'Cause it was very different than what I had just come from in India. And that was my first time leaving the country. So. My parents just took me from India and plopped me to suburban America. And I think they might have regretted that a little bit.

Kevin: Really? Why do you think that is? 

Rutvik: I'm a friendly guy. I get along with most people, so I did exactly that. I made friends and I started hanging out and, the best way to assimilate is to probably get along with the wrong crowd. So I, I did just that and my parents, I don't think they expected that level of, craziness once I got over here. Right. It went from, going 20 miles an hour to 120 very quickly. I didn't know what racial profiling was, unlike him to Cherry Hill, so, Early two thousands was probably not a, not a great space to be a brown kid in, near New York, New Jersey area.

Kevin: Yeah. Did you experience a lot of that when you, got there? 

Rutvik: Uh, quite a bit. Yeah. Quite a bit. Mm-hmm. there was a lot of, random stuff, but it is what it's, we deal with it. 

Kevin: Did you go on to college 

Rutvik: I tried my hand at college. I believe I've gone to seven different colleges. 

Kevin: Mm-hmm. 

Rutvik: It wasn't for me. Um, I think, the restaurants ruined me.

Kevin: Did you get into the food business at that point? 

Rutvik: Yeah, once I moved to New York I used to deliver fish. So I used to take my motorcycle ride out to Long Island at like three in the morning, pick up a delivery truck and drive around New York delivering fish to restaurants. I had no idea even then that this was where it was gonna end up, but that turned into knowing people in the restaurants and, kind of understanding what's going on there. And, eventually walking by a place that had just opened and said bar back needed. and I was like, oh, that's my in, I, I'll start as a bar back. And I broke my back working as a bar back in Queens. and from there it just, kept rolling onto more stuff and school just got sidelined. I, I, I'd seen bartenders walking away with cash. I'd seen servers making money, you know, so I just wanted to get in and the bar back was, I had no idea what I was doing, but hey, I'll clean, I'll do whatever. So that was my in. 'cause it was money. So I would just go pick up a truck that was pre-packed and go whatever number the restaurant was and go give them their delivery. That's it.Right. But it, it got me into the restaurant. Like I got to see what was going on for the first time. I'd never known that world. So that was my first experience with restaurants. 

Kevin: So then I have to ask: why oysters? Like how did you get involved in oysters? 

Rutvik: When the pandemic happened, the restaurant I was working in at that point closed. And, this strange feeling of relief swept over me. Mm-hmm. And I kind of promised myself I'll never work in a restaurant ever again and. I've done exactly that I just couldn't handle it anymore. chasing that tip, right? always. And that is the culture I grew up with. I was 36 or 37 at that point. And the pandemic hit. So it gave me a little time off to think about what I wanted to do, how do I wanted to go on, I was a photographer for 10 years. I was working in restaurants and, I was dog walking. And at a wedding I was shooting the florist, Amanda from, Dumbo Flowers. she pointed me out and she just asked me if I liked oysters and I shrugged my shoulders. I said, yeah, I do. that conversation led into her daughter working for a catering company that was looking for someone to fill a shucking spot that Saturday. I didn't know much about it at all. I had no idea what it involved. I just seen them at some restaurants here and there, but no knowledge of it at all, actually. So, I was trained for one hour and, then I went to a gig on my own. 

Kevin: Wow. what happened in that one hour? 

Rutvik: Sydney's an excellent teacher. She taught me how to shuck oysters. She did her best to get me out there and I got out there. So, I massacred oysters for a while, but, uh, that was my introduction to oysters. it felt right. it was so much fun. I was in a crowd. Oh yeah, by the way, the catering company I worked for used to do bucket shucking. So we walked around, shucking, oysters at, at events. 

Kevin: That holster sort of around your hips So you were one of those people.

Rutvik: That's how I started shucking. And I think if I would've found shucking as a restaurant shucker, I'm not sure if I would've ended up in the same spot because I got introduced to “shucking light.” Like most people end up in places where they have to do a lot of shucking. I ended up in a spot where I had to shuck a hundred oysters, 200 oysters at an event, like very, very light work. yeah. And that just kept rolling. I realized the company was something that I could, work with and kind of contribute to her. So I took on a more managerial role and, that got me more involved with oysters. the switch really turned on when Oyster Master Guild somehow found their way to my Instagram and, I clicked through, found what they were doing, got involved took the first level. and the community is what got me going. that's the main thing. Like I didn't know the community. 

Kevin: You are, as I understand it, a level two Certified Oyster Specialist with Oyster Master Guild. Is that right? 

Rutvik: I, yeah, that is, that's correct. Yeah. 

Kevin: Which is quite an accomplishment. So congratulations on that. 

Rutvik: It's something that I kind of tread lightly upon because I've met true specialists now, and I've been doing this since 2021, right? My first racer I ever shucked was in 2021. But there are people out there who are doing some crazy work and Yeah, I know my stuff, but I tread lightly upon that. 

I was in the oyster industry for three years before I knew that the oyster industry existed beyond my little world, you know? Yeah. And once I found out they were there, there was no option for me but to go and work with them and shuck with them and get my game up to their level. 

Kevin: You went to these folks and you said, “Let me shuck with you?”

Rutvik: Essentially. I just made myself available. I went everywhere. I, I, once I quit, the catering company, me, my wife and our dog, we took the van and we went on a 8,000 mile road trip. We went all the way down South Texas and back and, met a bunch of folks along the way and just shucked everywhere. 'Cause I wanted to do, that I wanted to meet everyone. I wanted to hang out with people who were in the same mindset as I am about this and kind of just get better at what I'm doing. 

Kevin: I think about my horrendous shucking abilities, it's just an embarrassment.

Rutvik: No, no. Everyone should just keep shucking. That's all it is. I massacred oysters for three years. I really thought I was great at my job. I wasn't. It took someone to show me. And not every shuck is gonna be perfect, right? You just can't. It's not, that's not practical. So the knowledge of knowing what to do is more important than actually getting it done every single time. Because once you know what you have to do, you work towards it, and eventually you get to a spot where every shuck just becomes perfect.

Kevin: If you started, shucking with the little holster belt set, that means that you were hand shucking. So you learned the hard way, which probably was an advantage for you, right? 

Rutvik: I had no idea. I just learned the way they taught me. And, I don't think it's harder or easier. I think, table truckers are just as efficient and faster and I mean, they probably won't stab themselves more, I guess, but I've only stabbed myself once, knock on wood.

Kevin: Do you wear a, cut proof glove or something?

Rutvik: That's funny. I stabbed myself 'cause I was shucking an oyster at 6:00am, drunk, trying to shuck an oyster for a friend. 

Kevin: That'll do it! 

Rutvik: That's when I used to wear a glove and I was shucking without a glove and I cut myself. Now I don't wear a glove and, I have not cut myself since then, so I don't wear a protective glove. the way I've learned to shuck is using my fingers and my thumb a lot. And I think the gloves kind of come in the way of doing that.So I don't use a glove, 

Kevin: How do you shuck an oyster? Because I know there are different styles of shucking. You know, there's table shuckers, like you mentioned. There's hand shuckers, there's hinge, shuckers, side, shuckers, bill, shuckers. Describe how you shuck oysters. 

Rutvik: I'm what you would call, a hinge shucker. I shuck in my hand and traditionally, hand shuckers will either go from the hinge or the side. The knife that I use, the Déglon, it's supposed to be a side-shucking knife. And I just go through the hinge. I've been fortunate enough to have traveled and hung out with enough people that I've learned all those styles. During JazzFest, I was forced to use essentially all styles 'cause I was so tired by then. I’d just done the Masters and then a week after that we went to JazzFest. We did 23,000 oysters. 

Kevin: My God. 

Rutvik: And I had to pull out everything 'cause my hands just weren't working at one point. So I started table shucking. Then I started bill shucking, which is by far the easiest sort of shucking oysters if you know what you're doing.

Kevin: Is it really? 

Rutvik: Yeah, they wanna open from that side. 

Kevin: It's just finding that little spot, to get the blade in there so you can then open it.Right? 

Rutvik: Yeah. You've seen Gardner shuck, right? Gardner Douglas?

Kevin: Yeah. And Gardner has also been a guest on OYSTER-ology and he's a wonderful guy and I love his podcast as well. 

Rutvik: He's a fast bill shucker, too. I learned how to bill shuck from Kelly Keith. at the Masters. And she actually is so nice. She sent me a knife and a block that she makes. So I could learn how to bill shuck, and I figured it out. Thank you, Kelly. We recently, went to the PEI Shellfish Festival, as a team, Shuck Team, USA. it was six or seven of us. And, we actually won the Raspberry Point, shucking competition. Brian Clark from Florida, he shucked 12 oysters in 58 seconds, then Quincy from, Maryland came in third. So it was amazing going there with these guys, getting in the Airbnb, staying with all them, hanging out for the festival. meeting Jason Woodside from Banjo Knives. The experience was brilliant. I'm so glad we drove up there. It was, yeah. And thank you to all the sponsors who came through. 

Kevin: An Airbnb full of oyster nerds. That sounds like an absolute blast. As a matter of fact, it almost sounds like you and the other shuckers are like pro golfers on the tour. You go to different events on different weekends and you see each other and you talk about it. And sometimes somebody shucks a little faster than another and vice versa. And it sounds as much as a sport, as it does as a culinary event, Does it feel that way to you?

Rutvik: Now we're talking. It should be, I think it should be viewed as a sport. It is intense. It's a lot of fun. a lot of us have had these conversations about this. I think there is something here. It would be a lot of fun 'cause quite honestly, I'm not a fast shucker. Like, I'm getting better as a shucker because I compete, I hang out with these guys who are just trying for perfection all day long.

Kevin: So how do you get into a shucking competition? Are these things that you need to qualify to get into, or how does that work? 

Rutvik: So most of them you have to apply to and they look at your background. I got lucky, guess, I think, the Philadelphia one, which Gary had put together a very well organized, shuck fest there that one he invited me to shuck in because of, again, I think just, me being involved in the oyster community and just being present everywhere. So, thank you for that invite, Gary. From there on, I just kept rolling. I just kept looking for competitions to go into, so I found a couple of smaller ones and then I applied to nationals, when they accepted me I was just over the moon about that. That was a wild card over there. So, that's where I met, like Jay Gillet. I met him for the first time at Masters. such an awesome human being. I'm just looking lost like a puppy over there trying to figure out what to do. And randomly he just walks up to me and goes, “Hey man, I'm Jay. How can I help? Like what can I do? What anything you can need, like, let me know.” And yeah, just walked me through practice, walked me through a few, a few boxes and helped me out with that. So that's, that's the gist of this community there. Like everyone is just so nice. I love it. So I wanted to just be more involved. So started getting, going to more competition. Then after nationals, harvest on the Harbor in Maine. I think Virginia, you've had her as well. 

Kevin: Virginia Shaffer, The Lady Oyster. Yes.Yeah, she's wonderful. 

Rutvik: She's thrown another brilliant event in Maine. So yeah, just kept looking for more stuff to go to and got more involved. 

Kevin: So you've now shucked at events in the United States and in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Have you shucked other international, events yet? 

Rutvik: I went to TFA in, Maastricht Netherlands. So that was the only other place. 

Kevin: So, what defines a well shucked oyster? 

Rutvik: A perfectly shoved oyster will look like it hasn't been touched. No cuts, no stabs. the full oyster there with all this liquor there. Yeah, that's the perfectly shucked oyster placed perfectly on the plate. 

Kevin: Do you find when you're doing shucking competitions that the quality of the shell and the development of the oyster is good for shucking? Or is it just sort of a random thing you don't know what you're gonna get?

Rutvik: Should I go here? Alright, let's go here, 

Kevin: Let's go here. 

Rutvik: I was just in Baltimore for an event and we had a shucking competition there. I was supposed to plate 12 oysters. I plated five, I think, or six. Hmm. again, maybe because I don't shuck those oysters every day. Sure. But also because seven of those oysters decided just the hinge just blew out. So the bottom of the oyster just fell out. 'cause there was a lot of boring sponge. Now this is a competition. why are we using these oysters? Why aren't we using, I know they're local wild oysters and all that, but I think competition should be, where you have some decent oysters to shuck, you know. I don't care if they're wild or farmed, but it's shuckable at least 

Kevin: When you do a competition, do they have a big batch of oysters and then you, the shucker selects from that batch? Or do they select the oysters and give you, the tray that you're going to shuck? 

Rutvik: No, they give you a box. So different competitions have with different ways. So in PEI we got 14 oysters and we had to pick 12. So yeah, essentially you get a box and you pick your 12 or 24 out of that. 

Kevin: So what is your view on the flip? Okay. 

Rutvik: I don't do it. I learned not to do it. I know it's cultural some places, if you're in Australia, I guess flip it, but they look so pretty. If you don't flip it But again, I don't flip it. I'm not, I'm not a flipper. No. Flipping. 

Kevin: And indeed you can be penalized if you flip, right? 

Rutvik: Yeah. because they think it's to hide anything, so at nationals I had a, an oyster fly outta my, like the, I opened the oyster and it went away with the top shelf. Oh, right. I had nothing in my hand, just an empty shell. And that's a 20 second penalty. That was my first time competing at Nationals. I was nervous too. I didn't know what to do, so I just played in the empty shell and took a 20 second penalty, but I walked off stage and someone tells me, “why didn't you just cut another oyster in half?” And I'm like, “what?” He goes, “yeah, you should just cut another oyster in half and put it on that oyster, and that's less of a penalty.” And I'm like. How do you think of that on stage, right? But these guys are thinking of everything. Like when I walked up on stage at Nationals, I had one knife in my hand and I saw Onerat walk up, I think, and he had a pouch with like five knives in it. And that's when I was like, oh shit. What if my knife snaps? Yeah, these guys are serious about this. and they're so good at it. It's amazing. 

Kevin: So let's talk about the wandering shuckers. What was the genesis of, of that, that company beginning? 

Rutvik: it was, for me it was shuck more essentially. so I was doing one hundred, 200. Once we got involved with OMG and I saw what people were doing out there, I just wanted to shuck more. So, the Wandering Shuckers was my way of getting into that. the name, my name on Instagram has always been The Wandering something. So I just changed it to Wandering Shuckers and the Co because I didn't want to shuck alone, I wanted people to be with me. So the Wandering Shuckers Co.and I started shucking oysters at bars in my neighborhood, doing tasting the classes, just to be more involved, essentially. Just do more, shuck more,

Kevin: So that was your vehicle to formalize who you are and the fact that you're available for shucking.Yeah. what is the business model for The Wandering Shuckers? 

Rutvik: So we do catering events.We do a lot of popups. And, now festivals. So the main moneymaker is catering. Of course. We want more catering events, more weddings, more corporate, you know. Yeah. But, the popups are where the fun is. I love doing popups. It's just the most interactive, free flowing way of shucking oysters, I think.

Kevin: So what is the difference between a catering event and a popup? 

Rutvik: Catering events. One, it's already paid for, so I don't really have to sell anything. I go there and I'm being a certain way at an event that the event needs me to be whatever that is.  But a popup is different. I have to sell the oysters, right? So I have to talk to people more, and I have to interact and get them to try oysters, So I get to be myself more. I get to do my bartender serving gig. that's really helped me with this because as much as I don't wanna work in restaurants, I have a set of skills and a bunch of experience doing this. and I do enjoy it. I just don't wanna do it for eight hours for somebody else. So the popups are my favorite, but I would love more catering events for whoever's listening. 

Kevin: Oh, I'm sure there will be more coming. 

Rutvik: With popups, I get to decide how many oysters I take, what the pricing is, if I wanna mess around with, torched oysters, or if I wanna serve them raw. traveling has also opened me up to the kind of oysters I serve, the kind of Mignonette I serve, the kind of cooked oysters I serve. So, I mess around a lot and I have a lot of fun with oysters when I'm doing my popups.

Kevin: So what's your setup? Especially if you're doing, grilled oysters in addition to half shells. What equipment do you bring with you? 

Rutvik: It's funny, I realized the amount of work you had to do to set up the pop-up was insane. Like, you had to take a grill, you had to take the raw bar as well if you're doing raw. So there's a lot of stuff you had to do. And in New York that's just not possible. I can't carry a grill around everywhere. Right. So I decided to use a creme brule torch. I also tell people the oyster is not cooked all the way. It's just getting. The cheese and the butter and everything is getting nice and hot. Mm-hmm. And that's the, that's the gist of it. But that's my, loophole here, creating a little torch oyster industry. 

Kevin: It actually makes total sense to me both logistically just from, moving around and trying to, bring everything you need. But also my biggest criticism of grilled oysters, is that the oysters are often overcooked. And to me, a cooked oyster tastes and feels very different It's a different kind of eating experience.

Rutvik: Whole different experience. Yes. Yeah. And man, if you wanna do cooked oysters, go to New Orleans. That's the, they are epicenter of cooked oyster is amazing oysters there, But again, yes, you're right. If you overcook an oyster, it doesn't matter what all you put on there. The meat's always gonna be a little chewy. You know, it's not fun to eat. I'd much rather eat a raw oyster. I do appreciate cooked oyster a lot, and I do them because I think people love them. It's a lot easier for people to see something with cheese and garlic butter and be attracted to that.

Kevin: There are varying schools of thought, on what kind of additives you add to a perfectly shucked raw oyster, or a torched one. And that is, the cheese or too much mignonette tends to mask the flavor of the actual mollusk itself. So how do you deal with that when you are serving cooked oysters or raw ones that people want to add, spoonfuls of mignonette 

Rutvik: For the cooked ones, I have a very specific recipe which was, uh, so, Brooklyn Kura is a sake, brewery in industry city. They gave me a tour of their, brewery, and I saw kasu, after you. You're making sake.

Kevin: Okay, real quick. When Rutvik says “Kasu,” he means the leftovers from making sake. A thick aromatic rice paste squeezed out after brewing in Japan, it's just too tasty to waste. People pickle fish in it. They stir into soups, they even snack on it. Think of it as sake's flavorful footprint.

Rutvik: So I whipped that up with some butter, put smoked soy and yuzu in there, and plopped that on an oyster and torched that, and it tasted amazing. So that was added on our menu because I was like, can we eat this? Yes you can. Okay, let me try something with it. So mainly I'm just experimenting with what goes well with oysters? what I'm working with right then and there. and it sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. 

As far as oysters are concerned. Don't put anything on there please. But if you are gonna put something on there, a little bit of lemon, pepper, light mignonette. I like how Spoo does it down in, Sidecar in New Orleans. He gives you very little mignonette, like he gives you just a tiny amount of mignonette because he is like, that's all you need. 

Kevin: Have you experimented much with, alcohol as additives to a raw oyster? 

Rutvik: Yes. I love doing that. recently, I, ESCO Spirit sent me a bottle of their gin that's made with, oysters. And I've been spraying that on my, oysters in my Wandering setup. Gin on oysters is brilliant, and their gin on oysters actually takes really good.

Kevin: I agree. Manya Rubenstein was a guest also on oyster OYSTER-ology from ISCO in, Rhode Island. And I tried it with Manya's, oyster gin, and I was humbled by it because it was a beautiful combination. 

Rutvik: You have to try that with a very brand new oyster now. I recently picked up a bunch of oysters from, my friend Dan down in, Maryland.

He runs the Fallen Pine Oyster Company. Yeah. And he's got the saltiest oysters that know from down there, and you put that gin in there, it almost feels like you're eating a martini. 

Kevin: You are making me hungry. It's, I haven't even finished my coffee yet. So, what's the geographical reach that you have with The Wandering Shucker's Company?

Rutvik: I mean, I'll go anywhere. Yeah. if you know the oyster community, if you're involved in it, you know that you can essentially get oysters anywhere nowadays, fresh oysters. And, I'm fortunate that I know these people so I can show up anywhere to do an event. And I've done events across the country so far. Yeah. 

Kevin: I'm trying to picture you at an event, especially at a popup now you have a partner as, Mahnaz Damania. Tell me about her and tell me what role she plays in The Wandering Shuckers Company. 

Rutvik: Oh man. Someone just referred to her as Superhuman and that's what she is she was just on Broadway recently with Life of Pi. 

Kevin: Really? 

Rutvik: Yeah, She's done a Bollywood movie. She’s been in the acting industry for a while here. She’s been a dog walker. She's shucked oysters with me for the last four years. 

Kevin: Let's be clear. Rutvik's spouse and business partner, Mahnaz Damania isn't just the organized powerhouse behind The Wandering Shuckers. She's an accomplished actress who trained at the Stella Adler studio in New York and has appeared on Broadway in Indian films, web series’ and stage Productions. She brings that performer's discipline and storytelling instinct into the oyster world, turning each shucking event into a culinary performance that blends craft theater and hospitality with outstanding oysters. 

Rutvik: She is the master puppeteer in the back. She is the head of catering. She's head of popups. She is doing all the outreach. I do the social media and I do shuck oyster, then I do all the sourcing and everything, but without her This is not a thing I can do. Not possible. 

Kevin: What a team. I will definitely link Mahnaz and whatever social media link she has in the Show Notes so that listeners can learn more about her as well. How did the two of you come together? 

Rutvik: So we met when she was 13 and I was 14. She was playing basketball and I'd never actually seen a girl play basketball in my city, so I was just drawn to her and I wanted to talk to her. So we spoke, we became friends. it's been 1998 that we met, 

Kevin: Did you, did you meet in the United States or did you meet in India?

Rutvik: In India, right before I left, 

Kevin: so. How did you guys reconnect after you left India? 

Rutvik: So in 2009 I was living in New York, bartending somewhere in the city. And, I just needed to get out. My head was just not right, so I needed to go home. So I bought a one-way ticket to India and I landed up at her doorstep. And I stayed with her for six months, We weren't dating or anything, we were just friends. She wanted to go to acting school, which was in New York. She applied, she got through, we got the funding together and she moved to New York and we started dating right around that time. She's amazing. 

Kevin: Dude, you're a romantic at heart! I can see it and I can hear it. That is an amazing story. Now, one of the things that I understand she helps you do is described as a storytelling aspect of the oysters and that sort of thing. Tell me a little bit about that. 

Rutvik: It's, you gotta sell stuff, right? And what sells, or what's important about what we're serving here is the story. Of course, the the anatomy is important. The perfect shuck is important. All that is very important. But the most important part, according to me, is the story of the oyster. For example, I'll refer to Hamma 'cause that's been my most amazing experience 

Kevin: Hamma Hamma Oysters is one of my very favorite places in the planet. Yeah. I love them. 

Rutvik: I love them. I can't wait to be back there. But I was on my 40th birthday. I had arranged for a lunch and I was expecting to hang out there for half an hour, maybe an hour, eat a few oysters and be on my way. I wasn't, really expecting much else. I spent 10 hours. I swam in the blue pool with Adam. It was so special. And to know that that oyster, that Blue Pool, if I'm serving them in New York to someone. To tell them about that place, to tell them about that story, about that family. I think that's what makes this special. and when I serve oysters, I want to tell people where they're from. It's not an East coast, West coast thing. It's Hamma Hamma from Hood Canal. Adam, Melissa, Adrienne, Lauren. You know, people who work in there. Those matter. So those are the stories I wanna bring across the community is what I'm here for. 

Kevin: I find, that people want to know the background of the food that they're eating these days increasingly. Do you find that as well? 

Rutvik: Yeah. Yeah. Especially with oysters. Especially with raw food. 'cause you wanna know the source. You wanna know where they've come from. You wanna know the harvest date. 

Kevin: They want to get wet, they want to get muddy, they want to get dirty, and they wanna hold those oysters right off the cage or off the bottom in their hand and shuck them while they're still standing in the water. And that story fills in everything behind the flavor. 

Rutvik: Yep. And especially in a place like New York where people are so disconnected from everything else. Like I say this all the time, like, oysters literally introduced me to the rest of America. 'Cause I get to meet people and know people who I would never, ever have come across in New York. I was in a nice little bubble and it was fine. But getting out and getting to meet these people, getting to know the oyster community and beyond has really enriched my life in New York, because when I serve up an oyster, I get to do something and say something and be a way that not a lot of people can.

Kevin: What would you say is your most memorable oyster shucking experience 

Rutvik: That question? All right. That was, this was an easy one. JazzFest, New Orleans. Oh man. Oh, I love that place. JazzFest was my “I can't believe that happened to me” moment. 'Cause when I was younger, I used to joke around with people that I'd give my left arm to watch Pearl Jam Live. And I couldn't believe that I was sitting there shucking oysters, watching Pearl Jam live. A full circle moment for me. And shucking with amazing people: Justin, Lindsay, Jeffrey Spoo, Julian, Corey, Peyton, just the best crew and amazing oysters and the atmosphere. I I, and we're gonna go there again next year. I can't wait for it. 

Kevin: Have you shucked for people whose names we might recognize? 

Rutvik: It's funny you say that. I am such an oyster nerd. I, I was at the Masters recently and there was someone famous there, but I don't know who they were. They were football player, a quarterback for some team. And I'm like, “how many oysters do you want?” I just, I not know. And the person behind me is pinching me going that blah, blah, blah. And I'm like, “does he want oysters or not? “

So, I might have, I, I'm sure I must have, 'cause the masters, there's a bunch of people I'm sure at JazzFest, there must have been someone.

Kevin: It sounds to me like, the oyster is the great equalizer. And it doesn't matter if you're a quarterback or anybody else. Maybe you even shucked for one of the band members in Pearl Jam. who knows, right?  

Rutvik:  I kept  asking. So I hope a plate reached them, 

Kevin: So if you could select any place on the planet to do a shucking event, where would that be? 

Rutvik:  Galway, 

Kevin: Ireland. 

Rutvik:  Ireland. I wanna go there. Yeah. I don't wanna compete. I just wanna go there. Right. I mean, if I, if I was out there for the competition sick, that would be amazing. But I'm not, I'm not sure if that's a reality. But going there, hanging out with all those people, shucking with them would be, that would be the dream. I'm living the dream. 

Kevin: You are living the dream, I have to say. But that dream will continue and expand. So, you know, there's no limit to that dream. 

Rutvik: I'm really glad I found oysters. 'cause the restaurant industry is something where people do a lot of, work for very little. And, a lot of times oyster shuckers are not, front and center at a restaurant serving oysters. And I think that's a disgrace. if you're serving oysters, at the very least have someone who knows how to shuck them, who knows what they're doing, because the oysters deserve it and the customers deserve it, and the price point you're paying for them, so just do the right thing. Once you have an oyster in your hand, all you gotta do is Find out where it came from and figure out how to get more and then get your stuff going. If you're serving food, raw food - oysters, you wanna make sure that it's being served the correct way, the right way, and the best way possible. So having someone there who knows what they're doing, who understands what a bad oyster is, versus a good oyster who understands if there's shell in there, or no shell, like, it's just, it's simple stuff. But at the end of the day, you need someone to look at what's going on and either fix it or do it the right way. When people ask me, where would you go for oysters in New York? I make it very easy. And I tell them, come find me at my pop-up. 'Cause consistency is an issue. 

Kevin: So how do I find you at your pop-up? I can go on your website, the Wandering Shuckers company, and we'll have a link to that in the show notes. But if I'm coming into New York for a day or two how do I find you?

Rutvik: We have popups almost every weekend. So we're either somewhere in Brooklyn or somewhere in Queens. some days we have multiple popups, so I'll be doing a popup in Queens, Mahnaz as will be somewhere in Brooklyn. We'll have someone else doing someone somewhere else. So, all this information's always on Instagram. We put it up right on our, profile page. We're, we're always popping up somewhere. 

Kevin: How many people do you have working with you? It's you and Mahnaz and any others?

Rutvik: We have a few freelance oyster shuckers with us. who helped me with the popups. Great shuckers to all of them. 

Kevin: So what's next for The Wandering Shuckers Company? What's the rest of that dream? 

Rutvik: Long term, I don't know. Keep wandering, keep shucking around, finding out. That's the plan. I just want to keep shucking. So I'm glad Mahnaz is there in the background to actually hold things together. 'Cause I just wanna shuck around.

Kevin: That sounds like a damn good plan to me. So just keep doing what you're doing. 

Rutvik: Thank you, Kevin. Can I call out a couple people real quick? 

Kevin: Please do. Yes. 

Rutvik: Some people who've affected this whole thing that I do, Andy Rogers in Maine running Jolly Rogers, Jeffrey Spoo in, in New Orleans with Sidecar Lindsay Aldey, Jay Gillet, Julian in Texas is doing a great job. My friend Dan Worrell, Fallen Pine Oyster Company and Dan Wrangler with The Seafood Dude. All of these people are the reason I'm able to do this at the level I am.

Kevin: People that you just identified, are on my list. So fair warning to any of you hearing this, I'm coming for you, 'cause I want you to be guests on OYSTER-ology too. 

Rutvik: Can't wait to hear all them. 

Kevin:  Rutvik, I am so grateful that you've taken the time to be my guest on OYSTER-ology.And I'll be tracking you down at Oyster South. 

Rutvik: Thank you so much for having me, Kevin.

Kevin: That's it for this episode of OYSTER-ology. Thanks so much to my guest, Rutvik Patel of The Wandering Shuckers Company. From New York's raw bars to national shucking competitions, his story reminds us that when you chase your dreams with humility and heart, happiness follows, and if those dreams involve oysters, you soon learn it's not the shellfish that matter most, but the community of people shucking beside you. 

Thanks so much for listening to OYSTER-ology, and if you enjoyed this episode, be sure to follow the show, share it with a friend, and leave us a review so more people can discover the world of oysters, too. And please be sure to join me again next time when I pry open the shell of another interesting OYSTER-ology topic.

 (transcript created by Chet Gipty, Digital Assistant)


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Kevin Cox

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