Advertising

The Seattle Times Company

NWjobs | NWautos | NWhomes | NWsource | Free Classifieds | seattletimes.com

The Seattle Times

Food & Wine


Our network sites seattletimes.com | Advanced

All You Can Eat

Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson serves up the best info and tips on Northwest food, cooking, dining and restaurants.

E-mail| RSS feeds Subscribe | KPLU Food for Thought podcast| Blog Home

April 3, 2008 3:54 PM

Live from New York, it's Ethan Stowell

Posted by Nancy Leson

When word came in last night that Ethan Stowell would be appearing live on the Today Show this morning, there was no mention of exactly what he was doing on the show. Turns out he was teaming up with chefs Michael Psilakis (of Anthos, in NYC) and Sue Zemanick (from Gautreau's, in New Orleans), cooking burgers to kick off the announcement that he's been voted one of Food & Wine magazine's "2008 Best New Chefs in America."

Couple that with his recent nomination for a James Beard "Best Chef Northwest" award for his work at Union, plus a world of good yak about his two newest restaurants Tavolata and How to Cook a Wolf, and you'd think the guy's head must be in the clouds. Actually, when I got a hold of him a few minutes ago, his head -- along with the rest of him -- was hanging out in a fancy fete-ing hall in NYC, where he and other "Best New Chefs" will rub elbows with past winners like Daniel Boulud, Tom Colicchio, Wylie Dufresne and Dan Barber.

"The Today Show was a lot of fun," he told me, "It was a burger contest to see who could make the best burger. I, personally, thought we won, but the judges didn't see eye-to-eye with me." (Now there's the Ethan we know and love!) Ethan knew he'd won a coveted slot as F&W "Best New Chef" since early March, and had to keep mum about the honor (though he of course confided in his wife and his parents). He had to spill the beans to a few of his key chefs, he says, because "I had to go out of town for five days." So, how does he feel about all of this excitement?

"I think it's just one of those things you'd like to achieve. You see these guys on the cover of the magazine, and you see the history of all this, and you want to be part of that group. I'm just glad they picked me." As for the Beard nomination, "As a young cook, you just want to get that [award]. I think it's Holly Smith's turn this year and she'll win it, and hopefully I'll get nominated again." Last night, he and a bunch of chefs hit Momofuku Saam Bar. Tomorrow, chef Dan Barber's cooking him dinner out at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. And as we said goodbye, with the music tuning up in the background, the chef who came to aclaim at his flagship restaurant Union said, "I feel great. But it's all in perspective. I've got to come back to Seattle and go back to work.

Digg Digg | Newsvine Newsvine

Submit a comment

*Required Field



Type the characters you see in the picture above.

Recent entries

Jul 29, 08 - 11:15 AM
It's in the bag!

Jul 29, 08 - 07:29 AM
Thai-ing one on at Pen Thai

Jul 28, 08 - 09:38 AM
Smellin' the melon

Jul 25, 08 - 08:12 AM
Pregnant with anticipation? JUNO is set to deliver

Jul 24, 08 - 07:41 AM
The truck stops here: Kaosamai Thai

Advertising

Marketplace

Open Houses

Find this weekend's open house listings.
Or search by location:

nwautos

Fatal crashes are down in Washington, and a national used-car database goes onlinenew
Associated Press Study: Fatal crashes down in Washington Last year Washington's roads were the scene of the fewest fatal crashes since 1955. According...
Post a comment

Advertising

Advertising

Categories
Calendar

July

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
    1 2 3 4 5
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18 19
20 21 22 23 24 25 26
27 28 29 30 31    
Browse the archives

July 2008

June 2008

May 2008

April 2008

March 2008

Food for Thought | Nancy Leson on KPLU

Listen to Nancy at 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. during Morning Edition, at 4:40 p.m. during All Things Considered and again the following Saturday at 8:30 a.m. during Weekend Edition on KPLU 88.5.

Restaurant roundups

Advertising

Buy a link here