Chef Renee Erickson
Renee Erickson is a James Beard award-winning chef, author and the chef/co-owner of multiple projects in Seattle, Washington: The Walrus and the Carpenter, The Whale Wins, Barnacle, Boat Bar, Bateau, Lioness, Deep Dive, Willmott's Ghost, Westward, and several General Porpoise Doughnuts and Coffee locations.
Her new cookbook Sunlight & Breadcrumbs explores the surprising wonder and satisfaction you can find in making everyday food, inspiring us all to cook creatively. The book highlights the beauty and creativity in making everyday food at home. Renee decided to reconnect with her creativity by painting, taking photographs, making ceramics, and, of course, cooking everything you will find inside its charming pages.
As a Seattle native (well, Woodinville to be exact), Renee's restaurants highlight the bounty of the Pacific Northwest with a European sensibility. Bon Appetit Magazine has compared her to M.F.K. Fisher, Elizabeth David, and Julia Child. Renee Erickson's food, casual style, and appreciation of simple beauty are an inspiration to her staff and guests in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.
Renee feels that where you eat is as important as what you eat and thus has further dedicated herself to creating environments that not only nourish the body but feed the soul. Her restaurant design firm, Price Erickson, where she again teamed up with business partner Jeremy Price, has received national press and attention while creating some of the most beautiful and iconic dining rooms in the Pacific Northwest.
In 2014 she published her first cookbook A Boat, a Whale and a Walrus to critical acclaim, finding itself on top reading lists worldwide while winning a 2015 PNBA book award - the first for a cookbook.
Her second book GETAWAY Food and Drink to Transport You, was released in April 2021. In GETAWAY Renee invites you on a culinary journey via her favorite places in the world—Rome, Paris, Normandy, Baja California, London, as well as her hometown, Seattle. Equally aspirational travelogue and practical guide to cooking at home, the book offers 120 recipes and 60 cocktail recipes for simple meals that evoke the dreamiest places and cuisines.
Renee graduated from the University of Washington with a BFA in painting and printmaking and currently serves on the board at UW's School of Art + Art History + Design. She lives in Seattle’s Phinney Ridge neighborhood with her husband Dan, KittyB, and her pooch Bowie.