“Embrace the slime!” That was how my “oyster mentor” taught me to appreciate those fine bivalves. “Swish it around, taste the brine.” Prior to our dinner at the Oceanaire Seafood Room, I tended to gulp down oysters doused in shrimp cocktail sauce, which was not the ideal way to eat something that nowadays costs $2 or $3 a piece. I loved the idea of it. But actually eating an oyster was something I thought might lead to revulsion. So I had this dinner, which took place probably eleven or twelve years ago. And I couldn’t have picked a better mentor.