Julie Qiu is an international oyster expert and educator, founder of In A Half Shell and co-founder of Oyster Master Guild. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Julie shares her love for oyster gastronomy through original content, virtual and in-person classes, and products designed to promote considered consumption. As a self-made Oyster Sommelier, Julie has been featured by Vogue, Food & Wine, The Chicago Tribune, USA Today, NPR, Huffington Post, Tech Insider, Somm TV, and Somebody Feed Phil on Netflix.

With over 18 years of branding and marketing experience, Julie has worked with some of the world’s most iconic brands in food & beverage, hospitality, and luxury. She spent the past eight years in the sustainable seafood space as the Marketing Director for Australis Aquaculture, building The Better Fish® brand. Today, Julie works full-time for Oyster Master Guild and her brand consulting business.

Julie also serves as a Professional Advisor to the Urban Assembly New York Harbor School, a Seafood Nutrition Partnership Ambassador, a friend of the Shellfish Growers Climate Coalition, and on the Billion Oyster Project Event Committee.


My Story

Born in Shanghai, China, I was introduced to a wide variety of shellfish at a young age—I learned how to eat periwinkles as a toddler. I grew up in the Midwest, but love being on the coast. While I enjoy most seafood, there’s something special about oysters. They embody a sense of place. Many are painstakingly hand-crafted. And an exceptional few are, dare I reveal, alive when you eat them. They are both humble and provocative. They’re sustainable. They’re nutritious. What is not to love?

While working at a global advertising agency in my early 20s, I started a blog that explored everything food-related. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I had a thing for oysters, and thought, “Would it be possible to focus exclusively on oysters?” A creative colleague suggested the name In A Half Shell, and amazingly, the URL wasn’t taken. Since that fateful day in 2009, my bivalve curiosity has taken me around the world and on all sorts of oyster escapades—inside hatcheries, out on the tidal flats, and at the chef’s table. In A Half Shell began as a personal quest to become an oyster connoisseur that gradually turned into a calling.

My goal today is to help fellow oyster lovers and professionals cultivate a better half shell experience, for themselves and others, wherever they go.

 

My Oyster Bucket List

  1. Visit Australia’s Oyster Coast of NSW and shuck my own oysters

  2. Visit an oyster farm in Tasmania

  3. Attend the Bluff Oyster Festival in New Zealand

  4. Harvest and enjoy Limfjord oysters in Denmark

  5. Hang out at the Knysna Oyster Festival in South Africa

  6. Visit French oyster country (this might take 1 month) — Normandy, Brittany, Marennes-Oléron

  7. Explore a Croatian oyster farm

  8. Visit oyster farms and friends of the United Kingdom

  9. Hang out with my favorite Canadian oyster friends in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver

  10. Visit the oyster farmers of North Carolina

  11. And South Carolina

  12. Visit oyster farms in South Korea

  13. Return to Japan and sample oysters from across the country

  14. Finally make my way to the Western Bay of the Chesapeake

  15. Four words: Hama Hama Oyster Rama

  16. Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick oyster land visit needs to happen as well

  17. Teach an oyster master class abroad

  18. Take an oyster master class abroad

  19. Dive for oysters with Glidden Point Oyster Farm

  20. Do a podcast about oysters

  21. Try a baby oyster omelette in Hong Kong and Taiwan

  22. Visit an oyster farm in Portugal… and eat as many conservas as possible

  23. Visiting the Dibba Bay oyster farm just outside of Dubai

  24. Attend the Oesterfestival in Yerseke, The Netherlands

  25. Judge oyster competitions on six continents