The best tasting oysters are taken from colder waters.

For those who love it, there is nothing like the experience of a cold oyster sliding down the back of the throat, headed for the stomach. With a taste and texture unique in all the world, the humble shellfish known as the oyster has become a gastronomic sensation, and lovers of these delicacies crowd into seafood restaurants and oyster bars around the world to order them by the dozen. But what about the old rule that shellfish aren't safe to eat during the summer? Does that mean you should give oysters a pass when the weather turns hot?

Growing up in New Jersey, Michael Cimarusti was always fascinated with food, fishing and the restaurant business. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in 1990, he perfected his artistry at a number of famous restaurants, most notably Le Cirque, where he cooked alongside many of the world's greatest chefs and developed a reverence for ingredients, technique and flavor. After continuing his culinary education studies in France with his wife, pastry chef Cristina Echiverri, Cimarusti worked as chef de cuisine at the original Spago in West Hollywood. In 1997 King's Seafood enticed him to run his own show as the executive chef of Water Grill, where at long last he can combine his passion for fish with his culinary acumen. Here he offers his expert opinion on when to eat, or not to eat, oysters.

• The R months.
  There's an old adage that states you should only eat shellfish in months that contain the letter R, meaning that the summer months of May, June, July and August are off-limits. Even though modern refrigeration has made this rule less strict than it once was, Cimarusti still thinks it's a good idea to be wary of oysters in the summer.

• Warm water.
  In Cimarusti's experience, it is difficult to find good quality oysters during the summer, and the reason for this is the seasonal warming of the oceans. When the water warms up, the oysters start spawning.

• Texture.
  When oysters spawn, they become sort of milky and creamy. This leads to a texture that is not the best for eating, so the old "month with an R" rule still makes sense.

• A solution.
  Luckily, there is a solution. In the warm months, Cimarusti advises that you order your oysters from places as far from the equator as possible, thus guaranteeing that they came from colder waters. Oysters from southern hemisphere locations like Chile and New Zealand are good choices. In the North, you might try oysters from Canada or Maine.

Next: How to Eat a Crab