Erickson - A boat, a whale & a walrus: menus and stories

For my parents, Jim and Shirlee

There is an ocean of gratitude upon which every restaurant floats. And while a places success may ebb and flow, that gratitude remains constant. I hope this cookbook inspires appetite and adventure, but I also hope you notice how these pages chronicle the people that have made my restaurants what they are today.

For understanding me, and for being patient, and for working hard, and for all the other things, Id like to extend huge, hearty thanks:

To my parents, for always loving and supporting me. Mom and Dad, you are my biggest fans, hands down. Thank you for supporting me in all my crazy ideas. None of this would have happened without you.

To Ryan, Dolores, Maggie, and Mateo. Thank you for keeping the boat running, along with everything else. Ryan, you are the best brother a little sister could ask for.

To Dan, for loving me despite my crazy life and schedule. Your compassion grounds me and reminds me of all the good in this world.

To my co-author (and now dear friend), Jess Thomson. Thank you for keeping me organized, enduring so many pounds of butter, drinking ros anytime of day, and never saying no to a Rainier tallboy. You are a fierce and lovely woman.

To my photographer and friend, Jim Henkens. I now understand your sense of humor, and the photos are perfect.

To my staff, past and present. Thank you for always keeping the restaurants running smoothly, but thank you especially for doing so when I was buried in these recipes. Special thanks to, in no particular order, Russell Flint, Marie Rutherford, Eli Dahlin, Bobby Palmquist, Jay Guerrero, Joe Sundberg, Shannon Haider, Erika Price, David Little, and Robert Peterson, who make my days easier. And to Cody, who will always be remembered.

To my indefatigable and ever-inspiring business partners, Jeremy Price and Chad Dale. Jeremy, thank you for calling my bluff. Chad, thanks for always pushing. I couldnt imagine a better balanced trio, and Im thrilled to be part of it.

To my godmother, Betty. Thank you for sharing your cabin with me.

To my favorite farmers, suppliers, and purveyors, to whom I grant my trust and much of the responsibility for my restaurants successes.

To my mentors in food, wine, business, beauty, and sensibility: Patricia Wells, Carrie Omegna, Susan Kaplan, Jeffry Mitchell, and Curtis Steiner. I carry parts of you with me each day.

To the handfuls of recipe testers who helped Jess comb through each recipe carefully, to make sure weve given you all the information you need.

And last but not least, to the crew at Sasquatch Books, for seeing our vision for this project through to the end. Its been a tasty project, to say the very least, and you allowed me to make it so, so beautiful.

At first, I was a twentysomething who owned a little French-inspired restaurant in Seattles University District. I worked the way all new restaurant owners doevery moment my eyes were open. My mom made desserts and my dad peeled potatoes. My brother fixed everything that broke. That restaurant, Boat Street Caf, taught me that I loved to cook for people, and that Id be happy pouring the rest of my life into a living, breathing business that provides guests with excellent food-and-wine experiences day after day after day. Then, quite unexpectedly, I was forced to close it.

I spent a difficult two years in limbo before reopening the caf in a better spot, with more freedom but some of the same fantastic staff. Five years and a much-appreciated popularity boom later, I began trusting the kitchen to other chefs. With a tenacious business team, I opened three more restaurants: The Walrus and the Carpenter, The Whale Wins, and, most recently, Barnacle. Somewhere along the way, between late nights and birthday parties, I realized Id made my business work. And more than anything, I realized Id done it with the help of the people who surround me at the restaurants every daymy friends, my family, and my staff. So I decided to write a cookbook to celebrate.

One day, I spread a sheet of butcher paper out on the bar at The Whale Wins. I divided the year into four seasons, simply because thats how I cook, and mentally scanned the dinners that define my life and my restaurants personalities. I made a scratchy list of the foods I consider crucial pillars of my cooking styleold favorites, like the chicken liver pt I learned to cook at Boat Street Caf before I bought it from Susan Kaplan in 1998, and new staples, like wood ovenroasted chicken and herring butter. I took stock of my best travel memories. I thought about the people who have helped make my restaurants what they are today. And suddenly, almost magically, there was the outline of a cookbook in front of my eyesan edible, celebratory diary of how I live, both in my restaurants and at my home. This book is a collection of my favorite menus.

It also shares the experiences I have as a restaurant owner every day, highlighting the people who work for me, the farmers who grow food for our restaurants, and the guests who visit. I am honored and proud to have it allmy staff especially. I hope you cook through this book as you please, calling friends together to enjoy the menus as theyre presented, patching together your favorite mix of dishes, or simply reading these pages, putting the book down, and wandering into the kitchen.