In a time where many of us are forced to slow down & keep it local, Pinch shares chef Blaine Wetzel's latest book, Lummi - Island Cooking.

In a time where many of us are forced to slow down… forage… and keep it local, we decided to write about two-time James Beard Award-winning chef Blaine Wetzel’s latest book, Lummi – Island Cooking.

If you haven’t heard of Chef Wetzel or The Willow’s Inn, it is a one-hundred-year-old restaurant that in a single decade has become one of the nation’s top culinary destinations. It’s just a short ferry ride from Washington State mainland, on tiny Lummi Island. Everything Chef Wetzel makes is sourced within a few miles from the kitchen.

Everything being locally grown or native to the island, makes LUMMI’s menus special, but also creates the exceptional challenge to their pastry recipes. No chocolate, no vanilla, no cinnamon. As food designers, Bob and I sometimes instill limitations on each other by making the first decision, the shape of the food or the way it is served. This is where the fun begins… this is where you get to rely on your talents, and improvise, and perfect.
Surely if you have’t heard of LUMMI, you’ve heard of another farm-to-table restaurant, focused on making seasonal quality ingredients the stars of their dishes. But page after page you will encounter mesmerizingly simple yet unbelievably complex images. The texture, the colors, the see...