Fine Dining Lovers – A Chat With Blaine Wetzel, Lummi Island’s Rising Star
How does the team at Willows Inn on Lummi Island, WA infuse the essence of their natural surroundings into every meal? With the words “fished, foraged, and farmed” serving as their shared mantra, it comes quite easily. This rustic Washington gem is also home to a...
James Beard Foundation – Interview with JBF Award Nominee Blaine Wetzel of the Willows Inn on Lummi Island
Tucked away in an archipelago off the coast of Washington lies the elegant Willows Inn on Lummi Island, where chef Blaine Wetzel helms the nationally renowned kitchen. Here, the four-time nominee for Rising Star Chef of the Year tell us about his formative culinary...
A Haven for Nature & Food Lovers
We always enjoy seeing ourselves through the eyes of others, both in the written word and through the plethora of photographs that you guests shoot and post during your stay and your dinner. A widely-read food and travel writer, under the nom de plume Global...
Global Adventures – Lummi Island, a Haven for Nature & Food Lovers
Looking for a great escape in the Pacific Northwest? Just north of Seattle, and south of Vancouver, Canada, you’ll find one of the San Juan Island’s best kept secrets. Tranquil Lummi Island has only 800 residents and is home to The Willows Inn, a perfect getaway...
The Wall Street Journal – Book a Dining Table With a View
Chef Blaine Wetzel no longer feels offended when his entire dining room empties out onto the front porch of the Willows Inn mid-meal to watch the sunset over the waters of Puget Sound. Instead, he's trained his servers to plan for the inevitable exodus, as if it were...
OAD – 2014 U.S. Top 100 Restaurants
Blaine Wetzel, a native of Olympia, Washington, has come a long way. After spending a year and a half in the Noma kitchen, he decided it was time to go back home to Washington and open a restaurant of his own. He checked out a bunch of locations and decided that an...
Puget Sound Business Journal – Seattle area’s James Beard award contenders down to four chefs and a restaurant design
After making a big splash in the semifinals of the food industry’s annual James Beard Foundation award competition, Seattle’s list of contenders was cut to a talented few when finalists were announced today. Blaine Wetzel of Willows Inn on Lummi Island made the final...
James Beard Foundation – The 2014 Restaurant and Chef Award Semifinalists
Chef Blaine Wetzel of The Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Lummi Island, WA is semifinalist for the Rising Star Chef of the Year award from the James Beard Foundation. They're here! This morning we announced the semifinalists for our 2014 Restaurant and Chef Award...
the ulterior epicure – review: heart of tartness… (willows inn)
Is there a happier summer soundtrack than the splash of cannonballs accompanied by the reckless hoot of youth? My friend and I arrived at the ferry slip on a warm summer afternoon to the sight of children hurling themselves off the headworks into the cool waters of...
Gayot – 2014 Top 10 U.S. Hotel Restaurants
America's Best Hotel Restaurants. It's lucky for weary (and hungry) travelers that some of the top restaurants in the country are housed in hotels — from a temple of gastronomy (and veritable Picasso museum) in the Bellagio in Las Vegas to The Inn at Little...
USA Today – Chefs unearth the practice of foraging
Food experts have predicted foraging will be a major 2014 food trend. Naturally, restaurants that serve up dishes accented by wild local ingredients have been getting plenty of attention. Despite the spotlight on foraged foods, the practice of finding wild mushrooms,...
Modern Farmer – Global Guide to Local: Where to Stay Around the World
From stays in Texas to Tanzania, these hotels make you feel like a local. Staying in a hotel with ties to a farm no longer has to be the design equivalent of rustic (e.g., flowers in a Mason jar). Every place on our list offers amazing landscapes, delicious local...
the ulterior epicure – the best of 2013: the restaurant edition…
The late, great Diana Vreeland once said: “A little bad taste is like a nice splash of paprika. We all need a splash of bad taste––it’s hearty, it’s healthy, it’s physical. I think we could use more of it. No taste is what I’m against.” I couldn’t agree more. There is...
Andrew Harper – 2014 Restaurants of the Year
2014 Restaurants of the Year Source: January 2014 Hideaway Report United States THE WILLOWS INN, Lummi Island, Washington — {Formal} Inspired by an apprenticeship at Noma in Copenhagen, Blaine Wetzel has created a temple to all things local and seasonal in his native...
Eater – The 15 best dishes of 2013
I literally sat in front of my computer and scrolled through every single dish I ate this year. When I was finished, I did it again. And then again. Eight years ago, I surveyed all of the dishes I had eaten that year and compiled a list of my favorites, more for my...
The chefs have gone nomadic
The kitchen is closed until March at The Willows Inn on Lummi Island. The chefs have gone nomadic. (The Inn remains open, and Chef Jason who has been with us eight years will continue outstanding menus at our two small cafes, The Beach Store and The Taproot.) Each...
British Airways – Chef tips: top food destinations for 2014
Noma's René Redzepi, British star chef Mark Hix and Simon Rogan, soon to open the new restaurant at Claridge's, pick the food destinations they're excited about for 2014. RENÉ REDZEPI Chef and co-owner of Noma in Copenhagen, awarded best restaurant in the world three...
USA Today – The next bite: A culinary forecast for 2014
What's cooking for the coming year? Comfort food and classic cookware are making big comebacks. Humble vegetables such as turnips are not just turning up at haute-starred restaurants -- they're also taking root on (gasp!) the dessert menus. These forecasts on fare...