There is a thin, salty, and resilient thread that connects the Varano lagoon to the heart of Italian cuisine. It is the dream of Armando Tandoi, an entrepreneur born in 1982 in San Giovanni Rotondo and raised in San Severo, in northern Puglia. A dream that has the flavor of the sea, the Mediterranean scrub, and the wind blowing through the lagoons and the markets of taste.
His is the story of a bet won. It begins far from the spotlight, in a territory that was not yet synonymous with oysters or gastronomic revolutions. Yet, it is precisely from that margin of the world that Armando draws strength: from the agricultural and maritime Puglia, from its intense and contrasting fragrances, from the awareness that even what seems marginal can become excellence.
From here arises a vision: to rewrite the rules of an Italy that has for too long seen the oyster as distant, elitist, tied to a few coastal areas. An Italy that must become not just a simple importer of luxury but a conscious producer, attentive to sustainability, biodiversity, and the cultural value of what the sea can offer. A true revolution.
Growing up among the salt pans and canals of the Tavoliere and Gargano, Armando learned from a young age to read the world through the slow breath of the sea.
As a boy, he observes the lagoons of Varano and Lesina, listening to the sound of the currents, fascinated by the invisible balances between fresh and brackish water. Readings on the cycles of phytoplankton and stories from local fishermen nurture a unique sensitivity: the sea is not just a landscape, but a living ecosystem to understand and preserve.
After moving to Milan to study Economics, Armando enters the world of haute cuisine. He works between the dining room and the kitchen, closely learning the dynamics of high gastronomy and builds a background made of technique, empathy, and rigor. This attentive glance becomes the seed of a different entrepreneurial project: rather than limiting himself to importing fine oysters, Armando imagines bringing farming to the heart of the lagoons that shaped him.
This is not a project created on paper, but a courageous challenge, born from respect for his land and confidence in its potential.
In 2014, Oyster Oasis was founded by Corrado Tenace and Geoffroy Garnier: not just a company, but a true "oasis" for chefs, sommeliers, and artisans of taste in search of excellence. The goal is not simply to produce oysters, but to restore their authentic value as a living mirror of the sea and a testament to brackish identity.
But the true heart of the project is once again Puglia, the land with which it has never broken the bond.
So, in 2019, Armando decides to return to start an oyster farm in the Varano lagoon, among the tranquil waters of Gargano. Here the San Michele oyster is born, raised and monitored throughout its entire life cycle, which can last up to 36 months. The larvae are carefully selected; growth involves rotations, controlled immersions, specific refinements, and regular quality tests.
Oysters are cultivated in suspension on ropes, adapting the traditional method of shellfish farming. No chemicals or forced methods: growth follows the natural rhythms of the lagoon. This sustainable approach ensures a healthy product and an organoleptic profile in which the Mediterranean scrub, the mineral nature of the seabed, and the meeting of fresh and brackish water, which has always fascinated Armando, can be perceived.
It is not just any oyster: a territorial tale, a liquid identity, capable of speaking about landscape and culture through the delicate flesh of a seafood.
Next to this excellence arises the challenge of the Pearl of the Delta, created in Scardovari with Florent Tarbouriech and Alessio Greguoldo. It is a pink oyster, sweet and elegant, an ambassador of biodiversity and a sentinel of the eastern borders of the Po Delta, where the canals compose an extraordinary landscape. Its vegetable sweetness, recognizable even with closed eyes, captivates the most refined palates. For Armando, the true dream is an Italy capable of enhancing its forgotten coasts, becoming "the place to be" for oyster farming: a supply chain made of traceability, gastronomic culture, and training.
This is not just a business story: it is a cultural mission that unites marine biology, scientific innovation, and outreach. Oyster Oasis doesn’t just sell oysters, but experiences: masterclasses, tastings, pairings with Champagne, sake, whisky, cigars, and infusions. Each oyster becomes a language, an emotion, access to a new taste imaginary. Producing excellent oysters is not enough: they must be told about, piqued curiosity, shaped. In an era where consumers seek authenticity, sustainability, and true stories, Oyster Oasis is the perfect synthesis of innovation and tradition, science and beauty. Armando Tandoi has ignited a spark that has become a concrete project: a briny dream made of ropes, wind, and Italian passion, with the flavor of the sea and the strength of clear ideas.
