The Judges, 2008

Bruce Sherman is chef/partner at Chicago's North Pond Restaurant where he features contemporary American/French cuisine with influences from Paris and Southeast Asia. Sherman was one of Food & Wine Magazine's 2003 "Best New Chefs" and a 2007 James Beard Foundation Best Chef nominee. He serves on the boards of the Chefs Collaborative and Chicago's Green City Market, the city's only sustainable market.

David Carrier is a graduate of culinary arts at the French Culinary Institute and has worked in several fine establishments across the nation such as The French Laundry in Napa Valley and Trio in Chicago. David moved to Apalachicola to open his first restaurant, Avenue Sea. In the first two years Avenue Sea has been acknowledged in Saveur, Southern Living, Culinary Travels, and was recognized by Gourmet Magazine as one of the "36 top destination restaurants."

Peter Hoffman is the chef/owner of Savoy Restaurant and the casual tavern, Back Forty, both in New York City. Both restaurants work with a simple premise - to create delicious and memorable meals by sourcing the very best ingredients from local farmers. He has served as the national chair of the Chefs Collaborative, promoting sustainable food choices, and was featured in the summer of 2004 as Chef of the Times.

Rob Klink is the Executive Chef at the Oceanaire Seafood Room in Washington, DC. Rob often calls fishing captains at sea in his efforts to source fresh seafood daily. He works to educate the public on sustainable seafood issues through his creative promotion of lesser known species. Rob has earned the DiRōNA Award and cooked at the James Beard House three times.

Max Harvey is the seafood buyer for Jasper White’s Summer Shack and has been in the restaurant industry for the past 20 years. Harvey is familiar with over 30 different varieties of oysters as a competitive shucker, judge and buyer. Currently teaching at Boston University's Seminars in Continuing education, Max provides an overall perspective on the seafood industry, as well as hands-on demonstrations in seafood and shellfish preparation.

Maureen Pothier is chair at the College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University. Prior to joining Johnson & Wales, Pothier was executive chef and co-owner of Bluepoint Oyster Bar & Restaurant in Providence. She is the current President of Women Chefs & Restaurateurs and also serves on the Curriculum Advisory Board of Blue Ocean Institute's Schooling Chefs.

Sandy Ingber is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and is the Executive Chef at the Oyster Bar at Grand Central Station. Nicknamed the Bishop of Bivalves, Sandy has been responsible for all food operations, including fish purchasing at the Oyster Bar for 17 years.

Rowan Jacobsen is the author of A Geography of Oysters, nominated for the prestigious 2008 James Beard Cookbook Award and called "one of the most remarkable single-subject books" by the LA Times and "the ultimate macropedia for oysters" by Publisher's Weekly. His writing has appeared in The Art of Eating, the New York Times, Saveur, Chow.com, NPR.org, and elsewhere.

Mallory Buford is the executive chef of Black's Bar & Kitchen in Bethesda, MD. Buford's menu is modern American, specializing in Chesapeake Bay seafood and focused on local and organic produce. Previously Buford worked with Bob Kinkead and helped test recipes for his cookbook; he spent five years in NYC working at Veritas, Union Pacific, Gramercy Tavern, Palladin and Le Bernardin and graduated from the CIA in 1993.

Kurt Friesland has been the buyer for J.J. McDonnell's specialty oyster program for ten years. On any given day Kurt offers 20 varieties of oysters from a list of 90 different varieties he offered last year. Kurt has spent much of his life in restaurants working as a chef and uses that experience to help him meet the needs of his customers in fine restaurants in the Baltimore-Washington area. Kurt is most proud of having participated at the James Beard House twice.