Coming Soon: ShellBound | Video

Stay tuned for our three-part docuseries celebrating the Southern oyster 

Everyone has an oyster story. In the South, oysters are baked deep into our culture. From the steaming table of a late-fall oyster roast to the glittering, ice-packed raw bars manned by shucking maestros. From the wild reefs and thousand-year-old shell middens to the rows of vineyard-like cages now dotting the coastal landscape. Southern oysters and the people who work with them have a rich story to tell. 

ShellBound is a three-part docuseries that delves into the wild, wonderful, and challenging world of Southern oysters. In partnership with Oyster South and BLK ELK, The Local Palate takes you out to the water’s edge to better understand three destinations around the South where oyster farming has captivated the community. 

In Virginia, we journey from White Stone to get to know Steamboat Wharf Oyster Company, to Gloucester where farm owner Sarah Matheson shares her passion for pursuing excellence, and over to the campus of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, where Bill “Dr. Oyster” Walton shares how aquaculture is having an enormously positive environmental impact on the Chesapeake. 

Wilmington, North Carolina, might be known as a gateway to the state’s gorgeous beaches, but nearby, the couple behind N. Sea. Oyster Co., growers of Dukes of Topsail, are working hard while creating a welcoming gathering space on the water, while chef Dean Neff of Seabird and Zora’s Market and Kitchen is evangelizing Southern oysters to everyone who walks through his doors—proving that a North Carolina-grown oyster can be the architect of an entire community.  

And in Southern Louisiana, chefs, shuckers, and oyster growers pay due respect to the power that oysters can wield on a region’s culture. From the Crescent City’s energetic oyster bars to the working banks of Grand Isle, oysters and the many people who handle them shape a story of grit, determination, history, and passion. 

Just as oysters can’t live without the support of one another, this collaboration would not be possible without the support of our partners. Our deepest thanks go to Oyster South, a nonprofit that connects communities, provides resources for Southern oyster farmers, and promotes healthy waters, for providing a storytelling grant which allowed us to enlist the team behind BLK ELK, a cutting-edge Arkansas production outfit to help shape this compelling look into the world of Southern oysters. 

Premiering in New Orleans on December 11, the series will be screened in select cities throughout the United States in 2026. Check back here for opportunities to see the film on the big screen. 

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Key Ingredient

Easy Does It: Oysters

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Recipes

In Season: Oysters

Colder water temperatures make for ideal oyster-eating conditions– enjoy oysters this fall with these delicious recipes.

In the Field

Marsh to Menu: Carolina Sea Foraging

In the marshlands around Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, Ana Shellem takes chef Dean Neff sea foraging to harvest a bounty of seafood.