Interview with Renee Erickson, Executive Chef and Owner of The Whale Wins, Boat Street Café
The following interview was made possible by the NW
Tastemaker, a culinary travel publication forthcoming from Northwest Travel
Magazine. To read more interviews with the best chefs in the Pacific Northwest,
visit Northwest Travel Magazine and
TableTalkNorthwest.com.
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| Photo by Jim Henkens |
Renee Erickson,
Chef/Partner of The Whale Wins, Boat Street Café, The Walrus and the Carpenter,
and Barnacle
Every now and then a chef does everything right. Enter Renee
Erickson. A James-Beard-nominated chef-owner of a handful of highly acclaimed
Seattle restaurants, Chef Erickson has managed to create a cozy and inviting
ambiance in each of her locations. As a lover of the Puget Sound and its
resources since childhood, she brings all of it to life in her attractive and
simply prepared dishes. Erickson pickles her specialty preserved fruits and
vegetable conserves, which has helped to make the Provencal-inspired cuisine at
her first restaurant, Boat Street Café, so memorable. In 2013, Bon Appetit
magazine called her restaurant The Walrus and the Carpenter one of the twenty
most important restaurants in the United States.
Chef Erickson’s easy, fun, casual style is reflected in her
first cookbook published in 2014: A Boat,
A Whale & A Walrus: Menus & Stories. It contains seasonal menus fit
for various occasions within the Pacific Northwest, and Chef Erickson
accompanies her easy-to-follow recipes with personal stories and anecdotes. Stay
tuned as Erickson continues to make her mark with a bevy of new concepts on the
horizon.
1. How do
you describe Northwest cuisine?
Fresh,
dynamic and delicious. I think we are so
lucky to be cooking here. Wedged between
the mountains and the Sound: it can't
get better. Our community of farmers and
producers are the best!
2. Who are
six of your favorite purveyors, whether farms and ranches or hot-sauce, salt,
or olive-oil producers?
Hama Hama
oysters is family run and has the highest quality oysters from pristine waters
on the Hood Canal.
Willowood
Farms— Georgie grows some of the most
delicious produce around. Her farm on
Whidbey Island is in an historic growing area called Ebey’s Landing. She is famous for garlic and her Rockwell
beans
Villa
Jerada Mehdi brings us perfect spices,
including super fresh and harvest-dated saffron. Rich Moroccan olive oils, too. He is always expanding and looking to bring
special items to the Northwest from his home of Morocco. I just want to get my hands on some of his
orange blossom water now.
Kurtwood
Farms Cheese. I love his Dinah's camembert-style cheese and can't wait for his
ice cream shop to open.
Sea Wolf
bread is a new bakery from Kit and Jess Schaumman. They are making some new bread for us in the
Boat Street Cafe's kitchen at night: delicious rye bread and levain. Look for more great things from them soon.
Local
Roots Farm is always a favorite of mine.
Jason, Seri and family grow the most delicious vegetables. My favorites are the bitter lettuces.
3. When
you go out for a nice meal, what are two or three of your favorite spots?
Spinasse
Delancey
Mamnoon
4. Who are
two other Northwest chefs that you admire?
Only two?
Holly Smith at Cafe Juanita and Brandon Pettit of Delancy and Essex. Holly is classic and produces some of the
finest food around. Brandon is a mad
man! I love his dedication to food and
creativity.
5. In your
opinion, is there an area of Northwest cooking that doesn't receive enough
attention?
I think
food gets loads of attention. Maybe there
should be more attention given to nonprofit growers, like Youth Garden Works.
6. Looking
toward the future, what about Northwest cuisine most excites you?
I am
excited to see what the younger chefs will bring to the city. In the kitchen, I look forward to learning
more about dry-aging beef and experimenting more with the wood oven at The
Whale Wins.
The Whale Wins (etc. see above)
3506 Stone Way N. Seattle WA 98103
206 632-9425
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