NEW ORLEANS – Most mornings, before the sun rises, an ocean of oysters arrives at P & J Oyster Company.
The oysters arrive for their very own show.
The show is called “Shucking & Jiving.”
WGNO News with a Twist features guy Wild Bill Wood asks P & J Oyster Company owner Sal Sunseri about this show.
Sal says it all about the rhythm of shucking an oyster. That’s what his shucking crew is doing every morning at P & J, they’re shucking and jiving.
P & J is the perfect stage for this show. It’s the oldest oyster company in the country. It was founded in 1876.
It was founded by Sal Sunseri’s family.
These days Sal is always on the phone taking orders for oysters. Sometimes, Sal is climbing the corporate ladder, which also takes him up to the poster for the very first New Orleans Oyster Festival.
Sal is one of the founders of the festival. Eight years ago, he thought New Orleans needed to have this festival because it is, after all, the oyster capital of America. It was time to celebrate.
Sal says this is what New Orleans does, as a city, this is the way we roll, so why not incorporate oysters into it.
Sal is a walking, talking Wikipedia when it comes to oysters.
He knows their past, present and future.
And the immediate future includes the upcoming New Orleans Oyster Festival.
WGNO and News with a Twist are happy to be the official media sponsor of this year’s New Orleans Oyster Festival.