oysters11 Oyster marketing lesson #1: Put fifty or so distinguished Bostonians in front of an oyster farmer and the topic inevitably turns to sex.

I'm not picking on the distinguished Bostonians. It happens with everyone. Last night I got a glimpse of what is sure to be a limitless topic: oysters as aphrodisiacs. (It's the zinc!)

Island Creek was featured at a dinner at the St. Botolph Club last night. One of the members is originally from Duxbury and was proud and honored to show off a product from his own hometown so he asked Shore to give a presentation on ICO before a five-course oyster dinner. The power-point presentation didn't get far before Shore was bombarded with questions about how oysters spawn, why they shouldn't be eaten in months without an "r", and a million other topics I could hardly keep up with. Yes, the topic of sex came up but Shore handled it all with grace, answering as many questions as he could while discreetly ignoring the two or three guests that nodded off mid-speech. (Really, it wasn't his fault. The free-flowing liquor took effect well before he got started.)

At dinner, I was presented with the largest oyster I've ever eaten (too bad for the kitchen since apparently they're a bitch to shuck when they're that size) and we were seated across from Chris Kimball from Cook's Illustrated. He and his wife were totally entertained by Shore and peppered him with questions throughout the night.

Totally entertaining experience. And I'm sure it won't be the last time I chat with a man my grandfather's age about his libido.

Erin Byers Murray