Chef Ricky Moore – the 2022 James Beard Foundation winner for “Best Chef Southeast” and self-professed North Carolina seafood evangelist – opened the popular Saltbox Seafood Joint® in 2012 in Durham, North Carolina. Praised by Saveur as “a tiny but mighty seafood shack,” Saltbox Seafood Joint takes inspiration from his native Eastern Carolina coast and its traditional roadside fish shacks. Early in his career, Moore served as a cook in the US Army before attending and graduating from the esteemed Culinary Institute of America. After kitchen stints in some of the world’s most prestigious kitchens from DC to Chicago, Moore’s reputation earned him a spot competing against Chef Michael Symon on “Iron Chef America.” In Durham, Moore found success with Saltbox Seafood Joint and debuted the Saltbox Seafood Joint® Cookbook in 2019 – with 60 recipes celebrating his coastal culinary heritage. In 2020, Discover awarded Saltbox Seafood Joint® $25,000 for its #EatItForward campaign for black-owned restaurateurs and MOFAD included it in its Black History Month exhibit, “African/American: Making the Nation’s Table.” And in 2023, Moore was recognized as a Heinz Black Kitchen Initiative grant recipient. Today Moore continues to fulfill his lifelong dream as an entrepreneur, professional, and preserver of North Carolina fisherman and foodways, and is a member of the NC Oyster Trail and on the Advisory Board for the NC Sea Grant.