Michael-Ann Rowe is an Emmy® Award winning food & travel journalist for her three-part documentary series, Off the Beaten Palate. Her debut series was broadcast on PBS, of which Part 1 was focused on seafood in New Brunswick, Canada, where she was born.
She is a seafood expert, an oyster specialist, and Founder of the Canadian Oyster Festival, NYC.
Known as the Fishionista®, she is a social media content creator and is in development of new series called, The Fishionista® Show that will air on a new, The Fishionista® Channel on YouTube.
As a seafood ambassador, Michael-Ann has worked with the government of Canada on cross-border missions, has been a keynote speaker and panelist; and creates seafood experiences like the Canadian Oyster Café pop-ups and Lobster Master Classes.
She is a member of Les Dames d’ Escoffier, NY; an Ambassador for Seafood Nutrition Partnership, a member of the Lobster Council of Canada and the Oyster Master Guild (OMG).
Michael-Ann sat down with me to discuss the state of the seafood industry, trends and new jobs like the Oyster Sommelier, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.
Walk us through your career track and how you found your passion for seafood.
After moving to New York City some years ago, I was hired to host and interview chefs and restaurateurs for the tv show Entrée TV. I turned that into writing and producing my first documentary series, Off the Beaten Palate, featuring my home province of New Brunswick, exploring and sharing a story about the livelihood of fisherman, harvesting seafood and its journey to the table.
When the series aired, I realized how much people do not know about seafood. I turned this into an opportunity to specialize and educate people about eating and enjoying seafood.
What many do not know, is I am a theater major. I studied at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. If you put it all together, I combine my stage chops with an education and deep passion for seafood, where my kitchen is the perfect stage to share seafood recipes!
Tell us about your experience as a seafood expert and educator.
There is constant learning as the industry changes and develops to feed the masses. There are no easy solutions but the future looks bright with innovation from every type of fishery, to add-value products.
Not to mention the uptick in women getting involved in seafood; from Fisherman, to Farmers, to Marine Scientists. Seafood can be a heavy topic at conferences, around tables, and is still labeled as the ‘mystery food’. That is all the reason to educate on a food group that endures much mis-information.
My mission and approach to seafood is to lighten up the conversation by sharing fun, factual stories, and make seafood easy to approach in all aspects. As an educator what is most rewarding is receiving a text from a friend asking what to buy for a particular recipe, how to store it, and how to cook it.
What are you producing with your company Off the Beaten Palate Productions?
I am developing a new seafood cooking series, The Fishionista® Show, teaching viewers how to buy, cook, and enjoy easy seafood recipes. Exciting news is that I will be shooting the first series at the Fulton Fish Market Cooperative where I can pull the seafood right from the fishmongers.
Industry should know there are a number of significant projects going on at the market under the direction of their first CEO, Nicole Ackerina. She has been working with the city on a large-scale undertaking to activate the waterfront to service the Hunts Point food distribution hub. It’ll be a game-changer.
They are also working on an arts program, a Fulton Fish electric fleet, revamping their waste stream, last mile logistics projects, and getting a better understanding of the seafood supply chain from port to plate.
More projects under the OTBP brand are consulting for seafood companies and creating content for their marketing and promotion; also partnering with restaurants to create seafood experiences, like the Canadian Oyster Café pop-ups.
*Sponsorship opportunity is open for The Fishionista® Show. I am quite excited to be partnering with the Cookware Company, Green Pan products, to dress the Fishionista® set.
What will you showcase on The Fishionista® Channel?
The Fishionista® Show, as well as other mini-series like, the Sunday Seafood Blitz, Sea-Sides, (what you’re eating alongside your seafood), and Just Add Oysters. The channel will be promoted once the show has started and more content is fed onto the platform. Start tuning in!
We recently heard about a new job, the Oyster Sommelier, what does the job entail?
I’ll start by saying, can you imagine the day when you are presented a menu of oysters and your waiter says “Just one moment, our Oyster Sommelier will be right over.” An Oyster Sommelier service is an exciting and forthcoming new service for the hospitality industry.
Like Wine Sommeliers, there is a niche group of professionals who can provide restaurants with an Oyster Sommelier program that levels up oyster service where it would look something like this: An Oyster Sommelier would visit the table and at your service, run through the menu of oysters, ask you what you typically like in an oyster, make suggestions based on your palate preferences, and perhaps suggest something new and different; an Oyster Sommelier would be able to tell you about the appellation of each oyster, as well as the ‘merroir’ attributes and taste notes.
But unlike a Wine Sommelier, the fun begins for ‘Oyster SOMMS’, as oysters change seasonally, and revisiting the same oyster species from one season to the next – in their growth cycle, is something we love to advocate and it really creates the intimacy and nuances when it comes to fully experiencing oysters.
In addition to this hands-on customer service, an Oyster Sommelier’s job should include sourcing and curating oysters, involve daily quality checks, working with other staff such as the Wine Director or Sommelier, the Chef, and the Shucker.
This special service does not come without having every oyster shucked and plated expertly. As a professional this is a job I also take very seriously. You will never get the real experience of eating an oyster unless it is shucked perfectly. More on that in part 2 of this oyster story!
In the newly formed Oyster Master Guild (OMG), they offer a certification program which levels up to a Master Oyster Sommelier and Master Oyster Shucker.
How does a person become an Oyster Sommelier/Specialist, what kind of training and certification is needed?
While it is not yet an accredited program nor is there a Court of Master Oyster Sommeliers, the Oyster Master Guild (OMG) is the first I know of to offer an in-depth certification program to oyster professionals, growers, and enthusiasts. Their membership spans a global network of oyster professionals.
If you’re an oyster lover or enthusiast you could be intrigued to call yourself an OMG Certified Ambassador by taking Level 1. This will give you good vocabulary, some history, get you shucking for your friends, grow your appreciation and knowledge of at least five species. For professions this Level is a teaser.
Each Level gets more intense; Level 2 exam gives you the OMG Certified Oyster Specialist. This involves amongst other things, pro-tasting skills, learning about appellations, refining your sensors for a variety of oyster species, and more knowledge on serving oysters.
Level 3 continues to dive deeper and involves both OMG Certified Oyster Sommelier and Certified Oyster Shucker. You have to be highly active as an oyster professional to achieve this levels and the highest, Master Level 4, where you educate and lead in these respective services consistently.
All levels are achieved through completing the classes, getting a good score on the exams, to ultimately provide exceptional oyster service and continued dedication to the curation of oysters.
The program is created by Co-founders Patrick McMurray and Julie Qiu, whom are highly educated and have both travelled extensively to oysters farms, amongst many other accolades they have achieved.
OMG is for professionals who take on “responsibility of oyster stewardship and ambassadorship in their workplace and community to create value across the supply chain.”
I created a Canadian Oyster Café to educate on oyster appreciation, service and experience of oysters, and join my peers in ‘oyster world’, who have created oyster catering companies including, Red Oyster USA and The Wandering Shuckers Co. (New York), Precious Oysters, and This Girl Shucks (Connecticut), Holy City Oyster Maven (South Carolina).
We understand the OMG mission: “…to revolutionize the oyster bar experience by addressing industry gaps, enhancing customer experiences, and recognizing excellence in the food and hospitality sector.”
It’s nice to be amongst professionals who are a part of a special community who ‘give a shuck’ about oysters! You can find out more about the Oyster Master Guild here.
How is it different from a Certified Oyster Shucker?
I’m so glad you asked that question! A professional oyster shucker, shucks an oyster perfectly every time. Meaning clean and does not ever serve ‘scrambled eggs’ as we call it.
An OMG Certified Oyster Shucker knows how to shuck, plate and assemble oysters for the customer masterfully and consistently.
While we are on the subject, please allow me to elaborate! I’ll start by begging the entire restaurant industry – who serve oysters, to ‘give more of a shuck’ about oyster service.
Many oyster professionals are eager to educate that badly shucked oysters should not exist in oyster service. And should be sent back. Thus, why a professional or OMG Certified Oyster Shucker service should exist in the food & beverage hospitality industry.
Let’s be real, if you’re charging $3-$4 per oyster, ‘giving a shuck about the shuck’ is where real oyster lovers will visit and return. As a good restaurateur you will consider how long it takes to grow the oysters, what goes into growing an oyster, the care and certification of the oyster farm’s distribution to the restaurant.
Currently, there exists a lack of knowledge with Chefs and consumers, but an opportunity to educate both.
Each oyster has a story and it’s like the golden nugget that can flip your bottom line.
What do you feel is the state of the seafood industry today, from fisherman to farmers to buyers and buyers to consumers?
The current state of the seafood industry starts with government; the amount of our high-quality seafood exported for imported ‘tainted’ seafood is greatly unbalanced.
Shrimp is a good example. The government does not provide adequate resources for checks and balances on traceability and over-fishing. This happens across North America.
There is still over-fishing from local fisherman and commercial fisheries, such as pelagic fish- like herring, as evident when I was traveling up the Northeastern seaboard from Maine to Newfoundland, working on a lobster book, noting the boxes of pelagic fish-bait from other countries.
The fisherman complaining it’s hard to find locally, and prices have gone up exponentially; just one of the reasons lobster prices are volatile.
Another example is aquaculture farms resorting to other means for omega-rich fishmeal, instead of using pelagic fish they are turning to kelp and seaweed. That’s not a bad thing but it’s a big shift for these and other major companies, due to the lack of supply.
If we continue to allow overfishing of this particular fish, or other for that matter, it creates a major dent in our ocean eco-system, and it’s not being talked about nearly as much as it should.
I encourage restaurateurs to consistently ask questions when buying from their distributors, and stay in the know.
Fisherman and farmers both need to exist. Farms take pressure off the wild fishery and help feed a growing population. Fish farms are only getting better.
Consumers could understand more; why and how responsible farming is conducted.
The golden opportunity still exists to relay a good story at the retail and restaurant level. If the staff took a little bit of extra time to share the story of where the scallops were caught, or where the oysters were farmed, the customers will be hooked!
To Chefs; if you’re not already doing this, test the water and I am confident more fish dishes will be sold!
After briefing the waitstaff pre-service at Docks Oyster Bar and Seafood restaurant in Manhattan, about oysters and lobster, they have come back bragging about upselling. I leave them cheat sheets. This is a level-up service that I get paid for.
I always encourage people to ask more questions about seafood whether they shop at Trader Joe’s or Citarella. A seafood counter staff should know what they are selling. And the job should pay more if they have this knowledge and are communicating it.
Industry should be asking how much footprint did it take for the seafood to land on the plate, and if your answer is, it changed hands two-three times, they are doing very, very well.
Which fisheries and programs should we be aware of that are doing it right for the oceans?
To name a few, Dock to Dish in Montauk, Billion Oyster Project in New York Harbor, Save the Great South Bay in Long Island, Grow New York, and Puget Sound Restoration program.
