Foragers Blog – WSJ+ CHEF’S TABLE – DINNER WITH BLAINE WETZEL
Every speaker that comes to The Chef’s Table is renowned in the food industry but varies greatly from each other. Chef Blaine Wetzel, who visited us all the way from Washington last Tuesday, was no different. While Dan Barber focused on fixing our food system and Tom...
Seattle Times – For Willows Inn chef Blaine Wetzel, Lummi Island is a nine-square-mile pantry
Glossy, gorgeous cookbooks like “Sea and Smoke” are often called “aspirational,” which can be a backhanded compliment — you might aspire to make the beautiful food on the heavy-paper-stock pages, but it’ll sit on the coffee table until it’s supplanted by the next tome...
Eater – Inside ‘Sea and Smoke,’ an Unconventional Chronicle of the Pacific Northwest
Chef Blaine Wetzel of the Willows Inn on Lummi Island unleashes his debut cookbook. "I won't say the timing of the release is necessarily an important point for me, but the scope of the project was," says acclaimed chef Blaine Wetzel when asked why now is the time to...
The Seattle Times: The Willows Inn cookbook is coming
1. COMING SOON FROM BLAINE WETZEL: “Sea and Smoke: Flavors from the Untamed Pacific Northwest,” the cookbook from Willows Inn chef Blaine Wetzel, with writer Joe Ray, is coming out October 27. Charity Burggraaf’s photos of Lummi Island and Wetzel’s food are almost...
CNN – 5 amazing island escapes you’ve probably never considered
Sure, the first things that come to mind when you think "island escape" are white sands and palm trees. Maybe a coconut with a straw in it. But for those willing to look beyond the tropics, there are plenty of worthy island getaways around the world that have yet to...
This Is My Northwest – Unearthing the Magic of Willows Inn
THE ISLAND I-5. Exit 260. Lummi Island. Someday…someday. That was it. I had driven past that exit one too many times. I had read too many articles since 2011 about the Willows Inn and master chef Blaine Wetzel’s culinary magic. I had heard far too many “you MUST go,...
The MUNCHIES: Guide to Washington: Island Gourmet
Tarik heads north to the Salish Sea near the Canadian border to experience two interpretations of farm-to-table cuisine on the remote San Juan Islands: one prepared by a fourth-generation island resident, and the other by James Beard Award-winning chef Blaine Wetzel....
The Wall Street Journal – The Rise of the Guest Chef
IN EARLY JULY, Blaine Wetzel flew halfway around the world to cook for a night in another chef’s kitchen. He traveled from the Willows Inn, his acclaimed locavore restaurant on a remote island north of Seattle, to the two-Michelin-starred Mirazur on the French...
Eater – How High-Profile Food Events Impact Lesser-Known Chefs
Why Gelinaz!’s 2015 "chef shuffle" might represent a shift in its philosophy — from chef performance art to a more collaborative model of inquiry. When Claude Bosi arrived in San Francisco earlier this month, he headed directly to Dominique Crenn's apartment. Bosi,...
The Robot Must Eat – Remarkable Dinner at the Willows Inn (Lummi Island, WA)
Since reading about Blaine Wetzel at The Willows Inn a few years ago (a good article, from earlier in its existence before he’d won the James Beard award), I’ve always wanted to eat there, but getting to a restaurant on a small island a three hour drive and ferry ride...
The Seattle Times – As chefs swap, a culinary star lands on Lummi
At the renowned Willows Inn on Lummi Island, 32 lucky people wait to find out who’s making their dinner. They’re lucky not only to have the $175 for the ticket, but to get a ticket at all: The seats sold out online almost instantly. After months of anticipation, the...
GELINAZ! Beyond food & evil
Set in a landscape between the mountains and the sea, Mirazur is housed in an impressive, angular, 1950’s building and lies behind the old town of Menton, with views over the harbour of Garavan. Its south facing position provides the perfect environment for Colagreco...
Seattle Met – 37 of the World’s Best Chefs Swapped Kitchens for a Night
A few nights ago, some of the most prestigious chefs in the world pulled off a Freaky Friday of sorts, a massive shuffle wrapped in the utmost secrecy...and conceived by our own Blaine Wetzel, the much-medaled chef of Willows Inn up on Lummi Island. On July 9, Massimo...
Seattle Refined – San Francisco & Lummi Island restaurants switch chefs in nation-wide Gelinaz! Shuffle
Thirty-seven chefs from some of the world's best restaurants switched restaurants on Thursday night to try cooking with new foods, new crews, and of course new audiences as part of an event called the S. Pellegrino Presents the Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle. While chefs from...
The Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle
On July 9, 2015 the Willows Inn on Lummi Island participated in The Grand Gelinaz! Shuffle. This was the first-ever global collaboration of 37 of the world’s best chefs to participate in an unprecedented, worldwide restaurant swap, sponsored by San Pellegrino U.S.A....
Junebug Weddings – Early Summer Wedding at The Willows Inn
In a uniquely printed Mara Hoffman gown, Rachel exchanged vows with Daniel at The Willows Inn on Lummi Island. The outdoor ceremony was followed by an intimate dinner made fresh at the venue’s restaurant. Michèle M. Waite Photography captured the exquisite cuisine as...
Condé Nast – Under-the-Radar Destinations to Visit in 2015
Because it's still possible to have new, undiscovered travel experiences. Have you been to Tulum? No? You might be the only person on earth. When a place gets "discovered," it loses that magical quality that made it worth traveling to to begin with. Here are...
Kim + Craig – Willows Inn – Part Deux
Craig was encouraging me to think about what I wanted to do to celebrate my birthday, even though it was months away. I always use it as an excuse to eat some great food, but this year was a milestone I wasn’t quite ready to admit to. So it required something extra...