Sea and Smoke Flavors from the Untamed Pacific Northwest

Part culinary adventure, part serious cookbook, Sea and Smoke chronicles the plucky ambition of a young chef to establish a world-class dining destination in an unlikely place.

A native of the Pacific Northwest, two-time James Beard winning chef Blaine Wetzel saw Lummi Island, a rugged place with fewer than 1,000 residents off the coast of Seattle, as the ideal venue for his unique brand of hyperlocalism. Sea and Smoke is a culinary celebration of what is good, flavorful, and nearby, with recipes like Herring Roe on Kelp with Charred Dandelions and Smoked Mussels creating an intimate relationship between the food and landscape of the Pacific Northwest.

The smokehouse, the fisherman, and the farmer yield the ingredients for unforgettable meals at The Willows Inn, a reflection of Wetzel's commitment both to locally-sourced ingredients and the sights, smells, and tastes of the foggy, coastal environment of Lummi Island. Award-winning journalist Joe Ray tells the tale of the Inn's rise to stardom, documenting how all the pieces came together to make a reservation at Wetzel's remote restaurant one of the most sought-after in the world.

Chef Blaine Wetzel has been cooking since age fourteen, including as chef-de-partie at Noma in Copenhagen. Chef Wetzel was listed by Food & Wine magazine as one of its Best New Chefs of 2012. He was a James Beard Award finalist in 2013, then won the James Beard Rising Star Chef of the Year award in 2014 and Best Chef of the Northwest in 2015. He lives on Lummi Island.

Joe Ray has been writing and shooting food and travel stories around the world for more than fifteen years. His work has appeared in publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, WIRED Magazine, and the Guardian. He lives in Seattle.