When Sources Stand Together: Reporting on the Willows Inn
A Times food journalist who revealed accusations of misconduct at the restaurant in Washington State discusses how employees came to tell their story.
Many employees at the Willows Inn, a high-end restaurant north of Seattle, have complained about abusive conditions.Credit.The New York Times explains who we are and what we do, and delivers behind-the-scenes insights into how our journalism comes together.
More than three years after sexual harassment allegations were publicly leveled against the film producer Harvey Weinstein, workers across various industries continue to share accounts of abuse. Julia Moskin, a food reporter for The New York Times, was part of a team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2018 for coverage of workplace sexual harassment issues, which included restaurant kitchens. She recently reported on the Willows Inn, a restaurant that attracts globe-trotting diners to an idyllic island north of Seattle.
The island is idyllic. As a workplace, it s toxic
13 minutes to read
By: Julia Moskin
Globe-trotting diners flock to the Willows Inn s serene Northwest setting. But former employees say faked ingredients, sexual harassment and an abusive kitchen are the real story. The chef Blaine Wetzel first came to Lummi, a tiny island near the San Juan archipelago of Washington state, in 2010. At age 24, he was fresh off a two-year stint at the vaunted Copenhagen restaurant Noma. He could have found a job in any kitchen in the world.
Instead, he d answered an ad on Craigslist, posted by a chicken farmer who owned a century-old inn on Lummi Island, 160km north of Seattle and reachable only by ferry. Sight unseen, Wetzel had fallen for the island s ravishing isolation fewer than 1,000 people live there full time and its unspoiled forests, farms and fisheries.
There s another high-profile fine dining abuse allegation. What do chefs do next?
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Blaine Wetzel, chef at the Willows Inn on Washington s Lummi Island, prepares dishes in New York in September 2011. A recent New York Times investigation detailed allegations of abuse at the restaurant under his watch.AFP PHOTO / Andrew EAVES
If you haven’t read Julia Moskin’s investigation into the Willows Inn on Lummi Island, you should absolutely do so. In her New York Times story, reported over the course of three months, Moskin uncovers allegations of rampant sexual misconduct, abuse and even fraud behind the scenes at the internationally renowned restaurant in Washington state. The piece made a splash within the restaurant and food journalism industries, but the fine dining world has been mostly silent. To my knowledge, no big-name American chef with the power to change restaurant culture no one who benefits from the same celebrity chef hype that enabled Blaine Wetzel
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The Willows Inn: Tenemos que hablar de la explotación, el sexismo y el acoso en la industria restaurantera eluniversal.com.mx - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from eluniversal.com.mx Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.