Author Interview: Oyster Society: Adventures with the Shellfishly Motivated

Earning a spot in my curated cookbook collection due to its food memoir genre and witty writing, “Oyster Society: Adventures with the Shellfishly Motivated” by Virginia Shaffer is a shucking good read. I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

An oyster is sometimes called a “treasure shell,” which is especially fitting given Shaffer’s delightful memoir. Her story starts sweet as her blog, Lady Oyster, becomes a serious passion, and concludes with a clean finish. Oyster wit aside, like pearls before swine, Shaffer’s book surprised me.

• Would I describe myself as someone interested in eating oysters? No.
• Am I continually searching for the next best oyster recipe? Also no.
• Does the very idea of eating an oyster cause me to internally cringe? No comment.

Disclaimer: This page contains affiliate links. If you choose to make a purchase after clicking a link, I may receive compensation at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.

Yet “Oyster Society: Adventures of the Shellfishly Motivated” immediately snagged my attention to the tune of “I’m baking this peanut butter coffee cake, yet not really paying any attention.” This is not your typical food memoir. Nor is it the usual “this is how I found myself” memoir either. This is the best of both genres — and an absolute must-read.

Yes, Shaffer’s husband, New Zealand-born Warwick, grumbled about the cold in a way that sounded remarkably similar to “Him Outdoors” and, yes, the mix of humor, science, and real-life situations; the aha! moment of someone not only figuring out a hobby, but discovering a real passion in an unexpected place, struck a chord.

But it’s also the way Shaffer tells her story, mixing her own growing discovery and self-doubts with the science of oyster farming. As you read, you are there with Shaffer as she fumbles her way through those early informal interviews, asking questions whose responses would later be a part of her general knowledge.

Interview with Virginia Shaffer, Author of Oyster Society

“Shucking competitions, late-night oyster binges, and now … floats? I told Warwick that night on the couch. “Oysters are so cool.”

Viriginia Shaffer, Oyster Society (2026), Page 72.

A part of “Oyster Society” involves Shaffer second-guessing her place as a corporate sales drone. Spoiler alert: She did. Since then, Lady Oyster Tours & Tastings, in Phippsburg, Maine, received 2025’s “Best Rural Culinary Heritage Experience” by the World Food Travel Association, and the Maine Office of Tourism’s Rising Star award in 2026.

Virginia Shaffer didn’t stop and slurp her oysters. She opened “The Parlor” in Bath, Maine, in May 2026. It’s a four-seat oyster bar that’s more than a bar; it’s a guided tasting experience complete with oyster flights from local farms. I sent Shaffer a few questions to learn more about the story behind her story, “Oyster Society.”

Le Cordon Bleu Paris! What is the one memory you return to most often when you look back on your time at Le Cordon Bleu Paris? What is one thing you learned through the gastronomic program that stuck with you?

It was an amazing program. Most people hear the word “gastronomic tourism” and think it’s a fancy way of saying “food tourism.” A food tour can be as simple as taking visitors around to good pizza places in Portland, Maine. This, however, isn’t a food that’s endemic to Maine, nor does it have a true connection with the heritage here. 

The most critical curriculum of the course was looking at our foodscapes through the lens of

1. What food is uniquely grown here?
2. Is it accessible in my community?
3. By sharing this food with others, am I promoting and protecting the true heritage of this place?

Answering those questions honestly and ensuring that we live by them are now a huge part of my work in oysters.

During your LCB program, did you channel more Audrey Hepburn “Sabrina” (1954) or Julia Child vibes? 

I’d say I’ve always channeled Sabrina, but I dream of Julia Child as a bestie.

Let’s talk oysters. Have you always been a fan? What led you to everything oyster?

I ate my first oyster at age six! I’m not sure I had a definitive opinion on flavor then. My first oysters were spooned out of a Ball jar, placed onto a saltine, and topped with hot sauce! Yikes! 

I’ve had the privilege of living and working overseas, and oysters were always a part of that experience of tasting a place, or exploring its food culture.

• I remember eating oysters at Huitrerie Régis in Paris for the first time and falling out of my chair; I was so happy.
• I remember my first oyster omelet in Taiwan!
• And I most certainly remember my first oyster farm when I decided to start the blog.

That present, cathartic moment on a New England beach in wintertime with an oyster farmer is when I knew that I had to learn more. That moment is the first chapter of “Oyster Society.” I love that readers get to take that journey with me and truly experience the origins of my obsession.

Oyster Sommelier: Like for Wine, But Oysters

You can detect flavor qualities like nuttiness. There are botanical notes like smells of rose, and fruity or vegetal notes like watermelon and cucumber. They can sometimes taste very metallic, and that can kind of throw some people off. There are off notes as well, like when something is too bitter in the finish.

Tim Cebula Interview with Virginia Shaffer, A Midcoast oyster sommelier reflects on joining ‘Oyster Society’, Central Maine, July 28, 2026, Updated August 4, 2026, Accessed August 5, 2026.

You’ve heard of a wine sommelier, right? Well, an oyster sommelier is much the same, but instead of detecting notes of stone fruit with a long finish, this person follows certain similar criteria in deciphering the quality of an oyster. Like wine, it, too, has its own jargon that may take a little getting used to. There is a “tasting etiquette” Shaffer shared in her book.

Virginia Shaffer is an oyster sommelier. There are four levels through the Oyster Master Guild, or OMG. Their tagline? “For those who give a shuck.”

Started in 2023 by Julie Qui, owner of In a Half Shell (an educational oyster website) and international expert on all things oyster and Patrick McMurray. He’s an educator, historian, and one fast oyster shucker, as the winner of the World Championships of Oyster Opening in Galway, Ireland, 2002 (the first Canadian to do so in 60+ years), plus three Guinness World Records in 2003, 2010, and 2017 (39 in one minute on “The F Word with Gordon Ramsay”).

And Virginia Shaffer was the first person in Maine to achieve the certified Oyster Sommelier title.

What is an oyster sommelier? 

An oyster sommelier is a certified professional trained and tested through the Oyster Master Guild (OMG). OMG is an amazing platform that has elevated oyster education and taste appreciation, carving out a unique space for raw bar professionals.

The term “merroir” was coined over ten years ago, but before the Guild, it was based on a feeling, or an argument that oysters should taste like the place from where they’re grown. Today, we have science, study, and hospitality coming together to prove that oysters do have a specificity of place, and through that work, a sommelier is born!

What did it take to become Maine’s first Certified Oyster Sommelier? 

Ah, so much! Beyond the studies through LCB and OMG, I needed to make honest, caring connections with the oyster farmers here in Maine. That took years of showing up on their docks to write stories about them, constant participation in festivals, and spending precious one-on-one time with them and their families.

Being Maine’s first sommelier is an amazing feeling, but I see it more as an ambassadorship that was needed in Maine. The work is so much more than just, “what does this taste like?” It’s a person who can bring stories to life. Our events are rewarding because they give a consumer the full context of this animal: from nature to ecology, indigenous heritage, process, and people. 

Beyond that, Maine’s first team of oyster somm’s was a financial investment! It was a pretty unique licensing pathway to host tours and tastings. I was just the first person stubborn enough to work it out.

What would you say if someone thought oysters looked really unappetizing and were slightly grossed out by the sight of them (hypothetically, you could pretend that was me haha)? What’s a good initiation dish that best highlights their flavor? 

Oysters are a pretty binary food; it’s understandable! And it’s true — we eat with our eyes first. When I look at an oyster, I see a beautiful glossy brine, delicious textures, immense superfood minerals and vitamins, and no other animal in the world with more benefits to our shorelines.

For initiation, oysters with any level of acidity are a delightful start. A spritz of lemon does the most work, but a nice mignonette, or a refreshing pairing like a Muscadet, is delightful as well.

If that doesn’t sell you, make a compound butter with chili crisp. Put a dollop on a dozen shucked oysters and top them with shredded gouda. Place them on a tray with crunchy aluminum foil, and broil them until the cheese slightly browns. That should do the trick!

Turning an Oyster Blog into an Oyster Business

This week had revealed so much about what oysters had provided us — and more deeply, me. A simple cold call to an oyster farm and an invitation to come and visit had led to the most remarkable personal discovery. It created more time for me to cherish my marriage, to be silly and present, to be romanced by a new world that was tangible and worth stewarding.

Viriginia Shaffer, Oyster Society (2026), Page 257.

Tell me about Lady Oyster Tours. What is it, how did you get the idea, and what kind of tours do you offer? 

The ethos of the business is to help curious seafood lovers more deeply connect with Maine’s fisheries. We want to be the team they turn to if they want to pull back the curtain on this incredible coastal food and lifestyle.

Lady Oyster began as a blog, a storytelling platform. So when it became a business, I asked myself how we could continue that work. I decided to divide the business into two interactive experience verticals.

• The first, a sensory dining experience. This is where we take your taste buds on a journey up the coast through oysters, and relay those stories as we go.
• The second is more adventurous and “tactile,” where guests take a tour of the oyster farm by boat, get out on the farm float and shuck some oysters!

Both are rewarding and provide insider access to Maine aquaculture.

Who is your book, “Oyster Society” for?

When I began writing this book, I knew that there were many people like me who lacked a strong connection to nature and would find inspiration through the people in “Oyster Society” who chose an alternative life path. I knew that food lovers, seafood fanatics, culinarians, coastal dwellers, environmentalists, and more would enjoy uncovering this subculture.

But what came as a surprise to me in the writing process was how much this book was affecting my own life. It was a way for me to search for greater meaning, appreciate what nature had given me at such a young age, and help me find the community I needed.

My hope is that whether you love eating oysters or not, you’ll enjoy a narrative that became a unique path of personal discovery.

The Book: Oyster Society

The knives’ sharpness, angles, grip, and grooves were completely individualized to ensure it matched the shucker’s unique pressure and technique, as well as the type of oysters it endured.

A shucker from Wellfleet once told me that he plowed through a knife almost every thousand oysters, which could be a single day of work at the raw bar. Unconditioned blades could snap under a hardy hinge, so adapting it to the shucker’s hand improved the knife’s longevity.

Viriginia Shaffer, Oyster Society (2026), Page 91.

Scant recipes appear throughout the book by Virginia Shaffer, but this is a food memoir, not a cookbook with food stories. From Chef Sewall’s Creamy Oyster Stew (page 84) to Oyster Mom’s Green Sauce (page 165), recipes sneak into pages amid relevant writing from M.F.K. Fisher, John Steinbeck, and a whole assortment of entertaining articles or advice. Really, this is well done indeed.

Shaffer skillfully writes of scenic coastlines, the oyster farmers, and the unique oyster-themed events, while casting out bits of her corporate life. Successful in terms of money, yes, but Shaffer’s career was becoming less than enjoyable. The “golden handcuffs” were wearing on her.

It’s been a while since I’ve finished a book that left me cheering. Shaffer’s story is accessible, whether or not you’ve closed enormous sales. Wanting to do something more, but that fear of letting go, or, even more so, figuring out just what “more” means, will keep you turning the page long after it should have been “lights out.”

Oyster Society: Adventures of the Shellfishly Motivated Fast Facts

• Published: August 4, 2026
• Publisher: Islandport Press
• Size: 6″ x 9″
• 280 Pages

This food memoir is best for:

• People interested in reading the unique and interesting personal lives and careers of others
• People who enjoy eating oysters and are curious about bivalves
• People looking for adventure, humor, and a little science with a niche twist

You won’t read this book cover-to-cover and then set it on a shelf, never to be thought of again. No, you’ll “mule” it over (as Steinbeck wrote in “Travels with Charley“). You’ll see the parallels to your own life and, perhaps, maybe even decide it is high time you, too, tried a raw oyster.

Just remember to put the shell upside-down onto the ice or tray. It’s not only to let staff know you’ve finished, but it’s the final part of the oyster sommelier etiquette (See, Sniff, Sip, Slurp, and Study) — it’s a pause; a moment to appreciate the shell, and find beauty in an unexpected place.

Oyster Cookbooks (By Places Mentioned in the Book)

I pick my selection and quietly taste alone. My olfactory senses are sharpest in the morning. I sniff aromas, sip brine, chew for flavor, and linger in the mouthfeel.
“Oooh, a new profile this week,” I say to myself. 
Brine. Celery. Kelp. Cashew. Oh, Maine. You’re so delicious.

Virginia Shaffer, Rise & Brine: MyMaine Media, August 15, 2025, Accessed August 8, 2026.

Read “Oyster Society” by Virginia Shaffer first (I included it below for convenience). Then dig deeper with the following titles. Shaffer mentions the following places in her book. How cool is it that some of them have cookbooks? Read about Shaffer’s life-changing experiences, learn bivalve facts, and then get cookin’.