A Kindred Spirit

     I don't think I've ever written about a real, live person in a VinnyPost before.  But that's because up until recently I hadn't met a person like Pete Woods.  I was sitting on the front porch of Merrior, the tasting room restaurant beside the Rappahannock Oyster Company's main operation in the tiny town of Topping, Virginia when Pete came over to my table to sit down and chat with me.  I was just finishing up one of his amazing culinary creations, a tantalizing lamb and clam stew when he introduced himself and sat in the chair right across the table from me.

     It turns out that we had several things in common.  To begin with, he was easy to understand since he had no southern accent.  That was because he grew up in the Great Northeast section of Philly "The Big Scrapple."  He attended some of the best academic institutions in the Philadelphia Parochial School System, and after high school began his training in the field of the culinary arts.  We spoke together about places and things common to our formative years, and as he reminisced about those early years continued honing two of his favorite oyster knives in preparation for the next day's festival in nearby Urbanna.

     His vocational pursuits took him to Denver where he eventually became a manager of a seafood department in a franchised organization.  One day the regional officer mentioned to all of his managers that there was going to be a business lunch with someone from "back east" who wanted to promote his bay oysters.  To Pete's amazement, none of the other managers wanted to attend.  But Pete thought to himself, " what's the worst that could happen?  At the very least I will get a great lunch out of it."

     And that's when Pete met Travis Croxton of the Rappahannock Oyster Company.  They got involved in an extended conversation about the operation of growing, harvesting and selling oysters, as well as running several restaurants to showcase the exquisite bivalves.  Travis had in mind one place right on-site beside their warehouse and needed someone to oversee it.  One thing led to another and Travis offered Pete the position.  The next day Pete gave his company two weeks notice and was soon packing up his belongings and moving east to Virginia.  It was a stroke of good fortune for both men.

     Pete has reached the zenith of his career and now has a job that is something he truly loves.  And it shows.  Take a look at him working the flat top grill at the oyster festival:

 

     And at the conclusion of our impromptu meeting Pete and I exchanged business cards.   As I looked down at his I noticed it said in gold print, "Pete Woods: Food Guru"  I think that best describes both the man and his calling.