Restaurant News

Today, Rosie tells us about her dinner at The Willows on Lummi Island located in the San Juan Islands off the coast of Washington. Was it worth the plane ride?

THE WILLOWS RESTAURANT, LUMMI ISLAND, WASHINGTON
It is not easy getting to The Willows restaurant on Lummi (appropriately pronounced like tummy) Island. The population on the island is about 800. First of all, one has to obtain a reservation—guaranteed if you stay overnight, otherwise, tables open up about two weeks in advance and are gobbled up immediately. The Willows has been getting rave reviews since Blaine Wetzel arrived three years ago from Noma in Copenhagen, where he worked under chef René Redzepi. Noma is considered the best restaurant in the world. In 2011, the New York Times declared Willows Inn on Lummi Island “One of the 10 Restaurants (in the world) Worth a Plane Ride.” Chef Wetzel was named  the Best New Chef of 2012 by Food & Wine magazine, was a James Beard Award finalist in 2013 and, this year, was awarded the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year.

We got our room reservation, our dinner reservation (one seating nightly at 6:30 PM) and then got our plane reservations to Seattle. Upon arriving in Seattle, we drove two hours north to Bellingham, which is near the Canadian border and stayed overnight. Lummi is 7-miles around, has no police force, no hospitals, no gas stations, one small convenience store, one church, a post office and a school that goes up to the sixth grade. After that the children take the ferry to get to school. The week we went the ferry dock was being repaired, so we left our car on the mainland and took a small boat to the island.

After a pre-dinner drink paired with an amuse of rhubarb dipped in lemon verbena sugar and a spicy, dried meat, we were escorted to our table. A printed menu in soft leather binding was on the table. The waitstaff wore leather aprons. Here are the dishes that we ate, some with pictures:


Willow Island menu

PRE-DINNER SNACKS


Mussel on a bed of hot pebbles.

Samish Bay mussel was presented in a wooden box with a lid. When opened a puff of smoke erupted creating not only a visual, but olfactory experience from the smell of the hot wood, the smoke and the herbs on the roasted mussel sitting on its bed of hot pebbles.

Crispy crepe with steelhead roe was in a bowl sitting atop of a bed of hay. There was cream filling offset by the salty roe.

Crispy halibut skins on a bed of rocks.

Grilled earthy tasting shiitake mushrooms were presented on a slab of stone. A simple dish that let the ingredients speak for themselves.

Crusty hot bread made from local grains sat on hot rocks in a wooden box. Accompanying the bread was house-churned butter and strained pan drippings with parsley, tarragon and chervil made from roasted chickens. Outrageously delicious.

DINNER

Wild-plum skins in young grape juice reminded us of a Chihuly glass sculpture, as they were multi-colored and so artistically presented in the bowl.

Local albacore in a broth of smoked bones. A refreshing dish with a broth that screamed smoke and sea.

Salt-roasted beets sprinkled with lavender and served with a dollop of homemade yogurt.

Spot prawn poached with butter and broth from its shells. When I closed my eyes to savor the flavors, it was so rich that it tasted like lobster.

Lummi Island rockfish steamed with yellow-and-red cherry tomatoes and lovage. The fish was delicate and mild but the lovage pungent and not something that we would seek out.

Smoked on premises sockeye salmon was presented on a wood plank with a warm towel placed next to the plate. We were instructed to eat this flawless piece of locally caught fish with our hands.

Grilled and charred Romano beans with a sauce made of lardo, crushed, roasted oregano branches and fresh herbs. Mild flavored and soft, we found them so delicious that we will now seek them out in the supermarket.

Grass-fed roasted Lummi Island lamb shank with fresh rhubarb juice and a sauce from rendered bone marrow topped with wheat grass. Loved the lamb, not the grass.

Wild chamomile and blackberries.

Black huckleberries with sweet woodruff ice cream and malt.

A sweet of caramel with toasted flax seeds.

We opted for a bottle of 2010 Lee Vineyard Pinot Noir from Napa, rather than the wine or juice pairings and with dessert had a Port-style wine from Washington and Riesling from Oregon done in the style of an ice wine. A caramel with flax seeds was presented at the end of our dinner.

It was an evening of many emotions. Sometimes we were startled by the uniqueness of the presentations especially the use of hot stones; awed by the purity and taste of the ingredients; and grateful that we could experience this unique dinner and food. Additionally, we felt that we were in Shangri-La while watching the majestic display of colors during the sunset.

Lowell and I have been fortunate in that we have been able to dine at some very impressive and memorable restaurants: The French Laundry (CA), Hell’s Backbone Grill (Utah), The Herb Farm (OR), Bouley (NY), Tetsuya’s (Australia), and The Inn at Little Washington (VA) and now The Willows has been added to our list. The exceptional, creative and dramatic cuisine of chef Blaine Wetzel was worth the plane ride.


Executive chef Blaine Wetzel.

Willows Inn
2579 West Shore Drive
Lummi Island, WA
360-758-2620

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