Lummi Island Getaway(s)

Trip date: October 2017 and August 2018

During SIFF's annual fundraiser last year, my friend Gail convinced me to go in with her on a bid for the Willow's Inn dinner and stay over. She'd never been and was really interested in checking it out. I've been multiple times so I was easily influenced (the copious amounts of wine they serve you during the auction didn't hurt either!)

We raised our auction paddles until we won (charity and all that) and planned our trip up to Lummi for early October, hoping to still have good weather.

It was a beautiful fall afternoon when we drove up and after we crossed the Sound on the little Lummi Island ferry we stopped to take in the view of Mt. Baker.

Upon checking in, Gail realized that she knew Ann, who was at the front desk, from back in Minnesota! Small world!

We had booked the Heather Room which is one of the only rooms with a King sized bed. It also had a very large steam shower in the bathroom. We changed our clothes and headed out to the front porch where Happy Hour starts at 4pm. The chef's were just finishing their family meal outside in the late afternoon sun.

As we enjoyed a few drinks, the chefs started bringing some wonderful little bites out from the kitchen. A selection of different cucumbers from the garden, spot prawns in nasturtium blossoms, the signature crispy kale leaves, etc. Everything was delicious and beautiful and a great way to ease into dinner.

We were moved inside for dinner where 14 wonderful courses were presented, not all at once mind you! Some of the highlights for me were the oysters and watercress, sea urchin with chanterelles, rock fish in bone broth, and bread with crab brain butter.

And of course the sunset! It's always a crowd pleaser!

After dinner we were invited into the kitchen where we had a very fun chat with Chef Blaine complete with a little nightcap and tour of the pantry. Foodie-heaven I tell you!

Our stay also included breakfast which I hadn't done in years. And it's different now. We were each served a brilliant green juice along with our coffee. Then they brought us yogurt with Bourbon sauce (YUM), jam, and granola.

Next came a soft boiled egg and a large plate with bacon, smoked salmon, pancetta, a crepe, cheeses, and kale. It's a big breakfast! And it was very good!

We checked out and took a nice walk along Sunset Beach; completely deserted except for us. There are so many different colors and textures going on there, I love it!

Then we did a quick drive around the island, stopping to admire the moody skies in Legoe Bay, before catching the ferry back to the mainland.

We decided to take the Chuckanut Drive home, which afforded more views. It was a great overnight getaway!

While on the island I had pointed out the Willows Inn Beach House to Gail; I've wanted to rent it for years. She got totally interested in it too, so when the booking calendar opened for 2018, Gail jumped on and booked the entire compound which consists of the Beach House and exterior rooms sharing the same deck, Low Tide and High Tide, for a weekend in August.

Originally we thought we'd invite a small group, but then Gail, Angela, and I decided that we were just going to make it a girl's weekend and have the entire space to ourselves. Decadent.

Angela has a Jeep and offered to drive luckily, as we all brought way too many provisions for our weekend. The Jeep was packed!

We stopped in the cute town of Bow for lunch and to visit a few of the galleries and shops there. I really wanted to try the tacos at Mariposa but they were closed for vacation. Tweets looked to have some good food but all the sandwiches looked huge and none of us were that hungry. We ended up at Slough Food, where I'd eaten before, and had a nice little lunch and some rosé out on their patio.

Back on the road, we arrived at the Lummi Island ferry dock where there was a pretty good sized line already. I've never been to the island on a weekend and the little ~20 car ferry fills up fast. Luckily it is only a ~10 minute crossing so the wait goes quick.

We drove to Willows Inn where we checked in, and then drove 1/2 mile back down the road to the Beach House. 27 steps down to the deck and we were in our own little slice of heaven!

Ann had sweetly left us a chilled bottle of champagne, so we popped that and went for a walk along the beach, which we had all to ourselves! In addition to the big gorgeous deck, with it's dining table and adirondack chairs, the space also has a private fire pit and hammock. Unfortunately there was a burn ban due to summer wildfires in Canada and WA so we didn't get a chance to have a beach fire.

We spent the rest of the afternoon on the deck enjoying the amazing weather, watching sea lions play around a rock outcrop, hoping for a whale sighting, and catching sight of a bald eagle. With wine of course.

That evening I made us a round of Pimm's Cups and we put out a big cheese board. The island provides some of the best sunsets ever, this one was no exception, complete with one of the cruise ships from Seattle sailing north into it!

We stayed on the deck until late in the night watching the Perseid Meteor Shower. It was so incredibly relaxing!

In the morning we joined others from Willows Inn for a tour of Loganita Farms. The farm grows fruits, vegetables, and flowers exclusively for the Inn. And we ran into Chef Blaine checking on the produce.

He had picked a melon and cut into it which was then offered to us to taste along with some cute little baby carrots and nasturtium seeds to take home and plant. It was a super fun, and tasty, tour!

After the tour we decided to drive to the main part of town as we heard there was a farmers market on Saturdays. We couldn't help but to laugh when we pulled up and found one stand selling tomatoes and melons and two others selling crafts. Luckily we weren't relying on anything since we had completely over-prepared!

We took a little drive around the island heading south from the market. I hadn't been to this side before and it was interesting to see all the homes. We also saw quite a few of the resident deer which tend to hang out on the side of the road eating blackberries.

It was a short way to the church where we found the trail behind it, really a set of steps, that lead down to the beach for a little walk. Then we explored the cemetery when we came back up.

Our drive continued around Legoe Bay and we stopped again when we saw a cute shop next to a winery. The folks at Legoe Bay winery were very friendly and informative about the island but the wine wasn't to any of our tastes. They did have some articles about about the reef net fishing that happens in the bay in front of them which was super interesting.

We returned home to the Beach House for lunch of burrata, peaches, tomatoes, and basil. Then we all just relaxed until it was Happy Hour.

Even though we weren't having dinner at Willows Inn (the restaurant isn't able to provide vegetarian menus which my friends are) we were invited to come and have drinks on the patio. The sun had come back out for our 1/2 mile walk. The girls stuck with wine but I had a few of their lovely cocktails.

At 6pm dinner service starts at the restaurant and the kitchen starts sending out a few rounds of snacks to the diners enjoying drinks. We were very happy to also receive a few dishes, including the signature kale chips, and complimentary pours of their house hard cider.

We headed home for sunset on our deck and continued watching for whales.  The night clouded up so no shooting star sightings but it was still nice enough to stay on the deck all evening.

In the morning I made us pineapple mimosas and a blueberry baked pancake for breakfast. Once more we were able to enjoy our meal outside before packing up.

We were so sad to leave this wonderful Beach House! I have a suspicion that we'll be there again.

The ferry line Sunday morning was crazy long and we finally ended up on the 3rd one. We drove home on Chuckanut and stopped at The Oyster Bar for lunch. I expected it to be quite casual and was surprised by the linen tablecloth dining room. Lunch was great, as were our last views of the San Juan Islands.

Five times to Lummi Island now and I've yet to see whales but I've always had gorgeous sunsets. I'll take it!

All photos from Willows Inn 2017 here and Lummi Island 2018 here.

Sleepover at The Willows Inn

Trip date: May 2016

When my friend Aaron said he was coming up from LA and wanted to eat at The Willows Inn on Lummi Island, I of course agreed to go. My first meal there had been back in 2011 and was lovely, my second meal in 2012 was a pretty spectacular chef event the restaurant was hosting, so I was looking forward to seeing how the restaurant has changed. I also was curious if the dishes had changed or if I would be getting a lot of repeats.

Lauren, Aaron and I made the easy 2 1/2 hour drive up on a Monday afternoon in May, arriving just after 4pm. The first thing I noticed was that the check in area is now downstairs in a dedicated room. They had out complimentary beverages and snacks set up here as well.

Lauren and I had rooms inside the main building at the top of the stairs. Her Sunrise Room was just on the other side of the staircase from my Sunset Room and there was a little seating area under the windows at the landing between them. It was great as we had the entire floor to ourselves, being that the entire floor consisted of just the two rooms!

As we were getting cleaned up for cocktail hour she spotted the chef's having their family meal outside by the smoker.

I headed downstairs to the "living room" and ordered a cocktail from the bar. Since my last visit the lodge has an actual bar that you can have drinks in, or you can choose to have your drink in front of the fireplace inside, or outside on the front porch. The cocktail menu has also evolved and each of our drinks over the course of our happy hour were very good.

When Aaron and Lauren came in we moved to a table on the front porch and took in the gorgeous views of Puget Sound while enjoying our cocktails. The chefs then started serving us a really lovely selection of pre-dinner snacks. This was a new part of the dinner to me and I loved it. I also loved that Chef Wetzel delivered a plate of crispy kale chips with black truffle to our table, a dish I had had before and remembered it being delicious. And it was again!

After complimentary glasses of cider and four different snack dishes they moved us inside for dinner. We decided not to do the wine pairings but instead to order a couple of nice bottles. We found a fantastic Gruner Veltliner and an outstanding Pinot Noir both from Willamette Valley on their menu, both were perfect with the meal.

Our 17-course meal (and that is after the four cocktail snacks!) was absolutely wonderful. Aaron doesn't eat pork or shellfish and some of his substituted dishes were even better than the regular ones! The only other repeat dish that I had was the smoked sockeye salmon, and that salmon is so good that I was very happy to see it return.

One of the standouts of the night for me was this "crispy mustard leaves with wild herbs and flowers". It was like the most high class version of a carnival funnel cake ever, only savory. And gorgeous!

Another eye opener was the bread which was served with pan drippings. We all thought this was genius, and incredibly delicious.

Near the end of our meal the kitchen invited us to come in for a tour. Chef Wetzel is so friendly and humble, he graciously answered questions and posed for photos. He seemed genuinely thankful when Lauren and I both said we'd been twice before, and when Aaron told him that his trip was built around the idea of dining at the inn.

We finished up our desserts and were presented with menus from the meal as well as a boule of wheat bread each. After dinner drinks in hand, we retired to the main room, in front of the fireplace. There may or may not have been some dancing as we had it all to ourselves.

The next morning we decided not to have breakfast at the inn as we were heading on to Vancouver. There was complimentary tea and coffee and some light snacks in the check out room which I thought was a nice touch.

It was such a great dinner and such a fun overnight with my friends. And even though it wasn't new to me, there were just enough changes to both the inn and the menu that it all continued to be interesting. And delicious.

All food porn here.

First Harvest Dinner, Willows Inn

Last year Dayne and I had a wonderful overnight and dinner at the Willows Inn on Lummi Island, so when the restaurant invited us to their first ever Harvest Dinner we jumped at the offer. This year we stayed in the Honeysuckle Room which was adorable and housed in one of the inn's original buildings.




Having watched the Anthony Bourdain episode of Cook it Raw in Japan with Chef Wetzel's former boss from Noma, forage and create with some of the world's best chefs, we were overly excited for this special meal. chef Wetzel told us, upon asking about the Japanese event, that he had helped to put on that first friendly competition, which made us even more intrigued. Even as we arrived to check in, there was a lot of prep going on for the evening's activities.




The premise was to invite 6 young, innovative chefs, including host Blaine Wetzel, have them fish and forage the island, and then come up with dishes to serve geeky diners over a leisurely 3 to 4 hour evening, with wine pairings by the resident sommelier. As we joined the other diners on the front porch for cocktail hour, the chefs and wait staff discussed the game plan.




The dinner started with a series of appetizers, most brought out and served by the chefs themselves.
Rhubarb and lovage, by north Belgium chef Kobe Desramaulis, was simple, tart and palate cleansing.




Wetzel presented kale leaf with truffles and rye, which was a stand out of the night. Just the aroma of this one bite wonder was heavenly.




Jerusalem artichokes with flax seed and purslane from San Francisco's Jason Fox was next up, another one bite piece of art.




And the final appetizer, from Sean Brock of South Carolina, was a smoked beet with chocolate, balsamic and woodruff. Most of you know that beets and I are not buddies, but I tried it and it was very interesting. Some may have thought it was delicious.




With the pretty little one bite's out of the way, the chefs started to bring out their protein centered foraged and found. I have to say that as each chef presented each table with his creation (where were the ladies?) they were informative, humble and appreciative of the enthusiasm.
John B. Sheilds from Philly presented us with his Shigoku Oyster with egg yolk, sea water and coastal plants. I wanted to love this as it was gorgeous but the kelp was a bit too slimy for me and the green ocean plants had a real muddy taste. Others disagreed and plates were cleaned.




Next up Jason Fox presented my favorite dish of the entire evening. Sockeye salmon as a tartare with fennel, frozen huckleberries, horseradish tapioca and sea beans. I want this again. And again.




These next dishes all came with a complimentary "side" created by one of the other chefs. Out came Chef Wetzel's smoked salmon I'd seen go in earlier in the day. We've all had smoked salmon. But this was amazing, like candy, with even the skin being crispy and flavorful. Served with only a warm, wet hand towel, it was to be eaten and enjoyed with the hands. And it was.




Next up Blaine served summer cabbage with gooseberries and coriander. Not sure what it was about this but it wasn't really my speed. Again, others disagreed.




The accompanying dish by Kobe Desramaults was a big hit however. Grilled onion with Nasturtium, goat cheese and rye.




Chef Desramaults had come around earlier to show each of us part of his next dish. He had taken the oyster shells, from the soon to be presented oysters poached in whey, and pulverized them, mixing them with salt to make a crust in which to roast potatoes in. He was sweet and excited, when he showed us the before shot.




And the resulting dish was both inventive and delicious, with the oyster being firm and the potato being soft yet having a slight briny flavor.




Nasturtium wrapped prawns with green garlic and a "head" emulsion by Chef Fox accompanied. It was nice but didn't make my top list.




It was at this time also that the customers decided on a "sunset break". If you've never seen the sunset from the inn, and even if you have before, it's a spectacular site. On this night there was an interesting cloud seeming to sink into the sea with the sun.




I'm really assuming the next dish was not truly foraged, although there seem to be an abundance of deer on the island... Chef Sean Brock served grilled venison heart (my first encounter with it) along with rhubarb, kohlrabi and shiitake. The sliver of grilled ofal was delicious and very tender




Huge "crackers" of crispy Halibut skin with razor clam was served by Wetzel as the follow up. Very interesting texture and a great flavor. Who would think of serving a shellfish on a finfish skin?




Another favorite of mine was Desramaults kerre melk stampers with spot prawns which I believe he described as a goat's milk ravioli. Whatever it all was I cleaned my plate.




Chef Shields followed with beer bread with pinenut butter and mushroom powder. Just your run of the mill bread course...Served on a log...




The final savory dish was courtesy of Kyle Connaughton. His kamado-San consisted of Kani gohan, charred leeks and seven grain, dungeness osumashi and crispy rice, sea lettuce tsukemono. I was disappointed to be so full at this point as I really wanted to eat all of this!




Desramaults presented a palate cleanser of sorrel and cucumber which even being full got cleaned from my plate.




And the. John B. Shields presented what was the most interesting dessert I've ever had. Preserved carrot with hazelnut praline, spruce and white chocolate. It rocked.




I felt that the dinner was a huge success and introduced me, yet again, to favors and products that I hadn't experienced before. This time those ingredients came with chefs who are really happy to experiment t with new flavors too. Sometimes this type of the meal can be a bit hokey but in my opinion Chef Wetzel and the Willows Inn are really doing a fantastic job. I can't wait till my next meal there!




Total dish count: 18, paired with wine. And this is why there is an inn to sleep over at.
All photos are here.
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Location:Willow Inn, Lummi Island