Oyster Bae Founder Martha Boff Is Spreading the Oyster Gospel in Denver

"I really just love oysters and seafood," says Martha Boff, a dietician who was born and raised in Florida and has worked in restaurants since the age of sixteen. She moved to Denver about nine years ago, and in December 2023, Boff posted a video on her Send It Sports Nutrition Instagram page that went viral.

It shows her out on the mountain, enjoying a day of snowboarding, when she pulls an oyster from her pocket, shucks it and slurps it down on a ski lift. "These cute little bivalves are packed with nutrients that support your immune system and can improve your athletic performance. Most notably, oysters are the richest dietary source of zinc — a key mineral for mountain athletes," the caption notes.

The video soon took off, racking up over one million views. "I had oyster farmers sending me their oysters. I was like, 'What the hell is going on?' That video, in a weird way, changed the course of my career," Boff says.

When the nonprofit Avante Garde asked her to shuck oysters at an event in late March 2023, Boff decided to create a separate LLC for her new bivalve-centric venture. "That's how I started Oyster Bae," she says, which has continued to grow and evolve over the past year through a series of pop-ups at both public and private events, including one at Desert Social (1312 South Broadway) on Saturday, April 27, from 2 p.m. until it sells out. Boff will have two types of oysters on hand, available by the half-dozen for $24.
"I got a lot of positive feedback from the video that went viral," Boff notes. "People that love snowboarding and mountain life also really love oysters." The video sparked relationships with oyster farmers in states such as Massachusetts, Virginia and North Carolina, as well. "It was like a snowball effect," she says. "I knew when I started that I wanted to do weddings and events and provide boutique oysters that you can't get anywhere else."

Boff is particularly passionate about "spreading the oyster gospel. ... Especially living in a landlocked state, some people are hesitant to eat oysters," she says. But Denver actually has easy access to fresh oysters, she notes. Some are flown in directly from the coasts, often arriving here before they get to other coastal cities, where they are delivered by truck.

Through the connections Boff has cultivated, she's able to get oysters shipped overnight directly from oyster farmers for her events. She also now does the oyster ordering for Max Gill & Grill, which in turn lets her use its space as a commissary kitchen.
Her favorite part of Oyster Bae is "talking to people and getting to know them, and talking to them about oysters," Boff says. "Oysters are one of the healthiest foods that you can eat in terms of what they're rich with. They are the richest dietary source of zinc," and they also contain iron, copper and protein. "They're just all around essentially like a multivitamin."

They're also restorative for the environment. "That's a really cool aspect that I love about them," Boff notes. "They are sustainable, and they do a lot for our waters as well — they're filtering water. They're incredibly fascinating, and that's what I like to talk about at my pop-ups." She also enjoys dispelling myths, like that oysters can't be consumed in certain months, and loves introducing the joy of eating oysters to those who have never tried them: "Nine times out of ten, people are like, 'That's actually pretty good!'"

While Boff already had some shucking skills, she admits that opening 150 to 200 oysters at a time during an event while chatting with guests takes practice and a lot of strength. "It is hard work. I got out of the industry because it's so exhausting, but now I'm lugging around a cooler of oysters and shucking hundreds of them," she jokes.
She takes pride in her oyster skills and even does extra arm workouts and uses a hand strengthener to keep in top shucking shape. "A lot of people don't know what an oyster should look like," she says. "Sometimes I see a tray of oysters at a restaurant and they're blown to pieces — it looks like someone opened it with a shotgun. I have that high standard of how they should look — not ripped open, no shells in it. I'm a lot better than I used to be. I can keep up with the volume while maintaining quality."

Along with pop-ups and shucking at events such as weddings, Boff is in the process of developing classes that she'll offer to small groups. "It's been a really positive response," she says of her experience over the last year. "People are really nice. ... I'm just grateful I get to do this. It's just crazy to me."

For more information on Oyster Bae, visit theoysterbae.com or follow it on Instagram @oysterbaeofficial. Its next pop-ups are at Desert Social, 1312 South Broadway, from 2 p.m. until sold out on Saturday, April 27, and Sunday, May 5.