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Where to eat in Seattle instead of Willows Inn
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Naomi Tomky, Special to the Seattle P-I
April 29, 2021
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Willows Inn on Lummi IslandDavid D. via Yelp
A decade ago, the New York Times kicked off the celebration of Willows Inn by naming it one of 10 restaurants around the world worth a plane ride. Much to the delight of food lovers in Seattle, it required no flights from here – just a two hour drive and a short ferry ride to tiny Lummi Island. Serving a dozen courses of (supposedly) the region’s best produce, seafood and meat, distilled into a multi-hour tasting menu, often with an intermission as diner stepped outside to watch whales swim by under a stunning pink sunset, it quickly became the go-to place for once-in-a-lifetime celebrations.
By Kathi O Shea April 29, 2021 7:33 am
KGMI
SEATTLE, Wash. A national news story paints an unflattering picture of working conditions at one of our region’s most renowned restaurants.
It comes after The Willows paid $600,000 in March to settle a class action lawsuit over wage theft and other labor issues.
The New York Times says it’s interviewed several dozen former employees of the Lummi Island restaurant and inn who describe a toxic workplace.
Some accuse head chef Blaine Wetzel of physical intimidation and of using racist, sexist and homophobic slurs.
Female workers say sexual harassment by male kitchen workers was largely ignored.
The island is idyllic As a workplace, it s toxic boston.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from boston.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
April 27, 2021Updated 11:38 a.m. ET
The chef Blaine Wetzel first came to Lummi, a tiny island in 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, heâd answered an ad on Craigslist, posted by a chicken farmer who owned a century-old inn on Lummi Island, 100 miles north of Seattle and reachable only by ferry. Sight unseen, Mr. Wetzel had fallen for the islandâs ravishing isolation â fewer than 1,000 people live there full-time â and its unspoiled forests, farms and fisheries.