Designer Interview, Gregory Adams Rotello

Interview of Designer Gregory Rotello by Gene LaVigne, 'The Oyster Meister'.

Gene LaVigne : Hi Greg. So ,,You've designed an intriguing new shellfish related kitchen product?

Gregroy Rotello : Gene hi, and yes I have and I want to thank you for offering me the opportunity to share it with you and your readers.

Before we start I noticed that your car has a large white scallop shell stuck to the front of its hood. Is there a story behind that?

Right. I woke up one day and decided the natural form of a sea shell might sort of counterbalance the industrial ambiance of an automobile. I built a few that I attached with magnets and found they created an esthetic resonation that's intriguing, they seem to combine well. Kids especially love looking at them.

Yes, the shell does seem to balance the industrial ambience of your car.

OK, Let's get down to this. What have you got here? It looks pretty serious.

Well Gene, it's an entirely new kind of food prepping and kitchen device that safely opens almost any oyster and yes, it is pretty serious, .. it's definitely not a toy! Look, it was designed to perform a relatively tough job.  This device is lightweight, simple to operate, handheld and portable, a shellfish utensil that basically allows just about anyone to easily open an oyster in a quick and very, very, very risk free manner. This mechanical system really works. I've traveled on oyster boats in Long Island sound and walked along the beaches of Westport Ct. opening oysters all day long with it, ... hundreds of them at a time. The thing's a beast, an oysters worst nightmare. It instantly turns anyone into a semi-professional oyster shucker.

What do you call it?

Some people are calling it 'The Oyster Gun'. I've been informally referring to it as The Worlds First Universal Oyster Opener. Apparently there's nothing like it anywhere that's available to consumers.

What's your background?

I spent five years at Fordham University in NYC within the Mellon Carnegie Project studying art, history, science, lit deconstruction, logic, games theory, astrophysics and philosophy. I also studied at the School of Visual Arts in NYC and locally at Silvermine Guild of Artists in New Cannan, Ct. I'm a fine-arts artist, designer and a digital artist. I sketch and oil paint, work in pastels and occasionally I invent and design things. I enjoy the process of creative discovery.

What made you decide to invent this device?

One Thanksgiving I was watching my father, who's almost ninety, struggle to open an oyster. I thought there just had to be a better way of performing that task. I was innocent then, I had no idea what I was about to get involved in. 

How long did you work on this?

This project's been an oddesy, and I have advanced stage Lyme Disease which effects my motor coordination and my short term memory. That condition made the process so much more 'interesting' shall I say. Altogether I spent two tedious but rewarding years developing, fabricating, testing and re-configuring the device before I considered it more or less done enough for the patenting process. To be honest at points the process was nightmarish. I became ill inhaling welding-gas fumes, I was injured, I got burned. I out stripped my funding budget, lost weight, developed pneumonia twice doing outside night winter welding work. I very nearly gave up on several occasions. At times the projects goal seemed impossible and there were some very discouraging low points when I felt like a total fool. Luckily close friends would keep re-encouraging me.

It sounds like it was grueling.
When my friends were in for visits it was lots of fun but yeah, I don't miss welding outside in the snow at night and I don't look back on the process and that period at the studio with much in the way of fondness. It became a kind of grudge match.

How'd you figure this out? .... In fact how'd you even begin?

At first there was just this idea. I wanted to create a safe, simple, light, portable and very easy to use oyster opener like nothing else anywhere. That's basically how it started. I knew there was no such thing on the market because I did some retail and patent research and came up with absolutely nothing so it came down to why isn't there a practical and universal oyster opener available to consumers? ... I couldn't figure that out. People have been struggling to open oysters forever, there are loads of designers around, so how come there wasn't a universal oyster opener in everyones kitchen? I remember thinking that I'd never heard anyone say "please pass me the oyster opener". Designing one from scratch however was not at all obvious or in anyway straight forward. The designing initially was almost all random explorations in a slow evolutionary process, and mostly up a slew of blind alleys and total dead ends. I made far more mistakes than correct assumptions and wasted a lot of time, materials and funding recourses on dozens of concept-designs that did not work out. My initial design approaches we're very general and I'd have to build each new one by hand and then do tests, changes and tweaks, etc, etc etc and then usually junk them.

After a full year of explorations I still had nothing substantial to show for the work I'd done. Eventually in time however I began to zero in on what now appears to be one optimal design mechanism for opening an oyster. I'm glad there was at lease one optimal and I'm grateful I was able to discover it, ... I lucked out I guess because this present machine really does the job. There was also serendipity involved and collective, constructive feedback from many of my friends. A heck of a lot of grudge work went into it, miles of welding, metal bending, torching, tube shaping, parts making and constant design revisions with hand fabrication of all new parts, also loads of field testing with oysters on beaches in Westport Ct. 

Where did you do the development work?

I did most of the conceptual design work here in Ridgefield Ct on Mamanasco Rd. and also at Starbucks here in town. I have a barn/studio on Newtown, Ct. where I paint, sculpt and draw. I converted a section of it to a fabrication shop that allowed me to work in plastic and metal, doing machining and welding. I tested each new design variation at Sherwood Isle beach in Westport using oysters I'd find there at low tide. I still spend time at Sherwood Isle fine tuning each newer mechanical variation.

Did you have help developing this device?

No, not really, but Norm Bloom and Son's, the oyster grower and distributer in Norwalk Ct provided their support and they allowed me full access to their operations, the docks, their oyster boats, processing rooms and fabrication shop. I spent lots of time on boats and slurped lots of delectable Blue Points there. Norm and his aid Richard were and continue to be a huge help to me. 

Who would use this and why would they use it?

Well, anyone who has reservations or problems with using an oyster knife would find this utensil pretty useful. Four in ten people eat oysters but many of those people won't buy oysters because of their 'reluctance factor' about opening them. They don't want to deal with the hassle and potential dangers of a regular oyster knife. 

Are oysters really that difficult to open?

Not if you're an oyster shucker but oyster shucking has always been considered 'problematic'. It's somewhat nerve-wracking and it requires strength, dexterity and acquired skill. It's kind of a major hassle and it can also be dangerous, that's why you can buy those steel-mesh protective gloves. I wouldn't call shucking a blood sport but when your hands are wet they get soft, oysters have sharp points and rough edges and oyster knives that are under pressure have a tendency to slip or breakout of the oyster. People actually do get hurt using oyster knives. That's not a myth and any chef will tell you stories about those mess ups. Knife shucking just isn't easy for a lot of people and it can take time to open a slew of oysters for say, a dinner party. From a speed and safety standpoint using my device is far more user friendly than a traditional oyster opening knife. A fourteen year old can be opening five or so oysters just a few minutes after having been given this device for the first time. Honestly, it's very simple to operate, really a breeze. It's also compact and portable so people can bring it to outings, picnics, beaches or on boats and even pass it around a table from person to person.

Have you filed for a U.S. Patent?

Yes I did, Oakwood Law in NYC did a terrific job on the utility application and I just received a U.S. Patent in April of this year. The patent issued in somewhat record time, about three months after my initial filing. Apparently someone at the Patent office either loves or hates oysters I guess.

What are your plans for this going forward?

Well, between europe and the US there are around three hundred and fifty million kitchens. About forty percent of Americans and Europeans eat oysters, so hopefully the device will be picked up by at least some of them. Right now I'm open to anything. I have brought in a Westport/LosAngelos promotional group that's working on acquiring national and international licensing agreements. Oakwood Law in NYC will be helping with the international filings. My negotiating law group is Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolf & Cohen PC of NYC. During the last month I've received inquirey/pitches from several national manufacturer/distributers, we're evaluating them but we're not rushing into anything.

Does your dad use your oyster opener now that it's working and finished?

Actually no, .... he say's it's the devils work, and he's still using his old oyster knife. While he opens one I open six. Hey, it's all good though, he uh, he does think it's pretty nifty.

Greg, I brought some oysters with me, want to show me how to open a few?

Sure Gene.

(after a one minute lesson where Greg shows me how to use the device I proceed to open five medium size without a problem and fast, in about a minute)

Wow, this thing really works! ! 

I wasn't kidding. Do you really like it?, ... would you buy one?

Heck Yes!! I think it's great and I'd buy one for sure, it's really easy to do. 

Thanks for letting me try it. 

My pleasure Gene. 

Do you have anything else that you're working on?

Since you're asking, why yes, I do, and I just filed a US provisional patent on it. It's a reactive, self-generative feedback system for detecting meaningful seismic events at about a day prior based on proprietary software algorithms within a foundation of a distributed, net based hardware infrastructure. it's a smart-system that learns as it goes. The system heuristically parses a multi-band realtime data stream emanating from field-station sensors situated in geographically disparate locations. It attempts a broad based, realtime pattern recognition search for comparative alterations in biologically based macro and micro behaviors that may be occurring before meaningful seismic events. It uses an extensive normative behavior baseline data base which it constantly compares to a realtime flow of bio-behavior profiles that are continuously generated at disparate but regional field station nodes that house biotic entities. If it works it could be useful.

Sounds awesome !... and good luck with your oyster opener project.

Thank you Gene, ... It's been a real pleasure.