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By any measure, the Willows Inn is considered to be one of the best restaurants in the country. Its chef, Blaine Wetzel, is very young but has racked …
David
The Willows Inn
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Innovative and Fresh ...Great Chef and lovely experience!. We stayed at the Willows Inn for our wedding anniversary. We are foodies and have been in s…
Eleanor's Culinary Adventures
The Willows Inn
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Eating at the willows inn was one of the most amazing dining experiences I've ever had. The restaurant is simple and lovely, the atmosphere is casual,…
Sojama
The Willows Inn
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The Willows Inn serves Pacific Northwest. Incorrect or missing information? Make a report, or claim the restaurant if you own it!Details
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7 Reviews on “The Willows Inn”
By any measure, the Willows Inn is considered to be one of the best restaurants in the country. Its chef, Blaine Wetzel, is very young but has racked up an impressive array of awards. He was named the Best New Chef of 2012 by Food & Wine magazine. The James Beard Foundation named him Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2014 and in 2015 he was awarded Best Chef Northwest. That a restaurant and chef of this quality exists on a tiny little island with a population of about 800 people almost 100 miles from any large city is nothing short of amazing. But beware, you need to book your reservation months in advance, especially if you plan to stay at the inn.Dining here is unlike any other place you have probably experienced. Youll get a meal with twenty courses or so (necessarily, the portion sizes are small) There are absolutely no substitutions allowed. Dinner will last about three hours. There is also an optional wine or juice pairing. Almost everything served is local. The inn employs two full time farmers, and serves seafood caught by the staff or a small group of local suppliers.Ill talk about the various courses by making comments on the pictures I posted. Let me just say here that many of the dishes were very good- the others were great. The presentation was also wonderful. Youll experience taste combinations youve never even dreamed of. Everything here is unique. So, if youre a mac and cheese/burger/meatloaf man, you probably wont appreciate this place; however, if youre open to new tastes this might be the place for you.The last word I would use to describe this place is pretentious. Its very informal, with no apparent dress code. True, I didnt see anyone in flip flops or shorts, but there was one dolt wearing a tee shirt. Oh, come to think of it, that was me! This isnt a large restaurant. There were about 25 diners there when we went, and the place was essentially full. You start out by claiming a table on the deck, where you can order a drink and get the first few courses. Then, they escort you into the dining room, where a table has been assigned for you. The service was just spectacular. Five young servers took care of the whole restaurant, with every server visiting every table multiple times. The courses are served in a staggered fashion: The table to my left was one course ahead of us, the one to my right was one course behind. Someone spent a whole lot of time figuring this out, because there was absolutely no hustle and bustle. The servers were just walking around at a normal pace and took plenty of time to chat, yet everything arrived on time. They were also very friendly, knowledgeable and interactive. We especially like the server Taylor, although they were all first rate. I think that their personality reflects that of Chef Wetzel. We bought his book on the Willows Inn and its food, and took it to the dinner to see if we could get it signed. A server volunteered to ask him, and we were invited back into the kitchen after dinner. We ended up talking to him for about 10 minutes. Hes a very nice guy!This place is exceptional in every way. As we were talking to the chef in the kitchen just after a three hour dinner, I noticed that the kitchen was spotless. They really have their act together. If you can afford it (and that is a big if- its really expensive), go for it. We did on our 42nd wedding university, and it was worth it.
Innovative and Fresh …Great Chef and lovely experience!. We stayed at the Willows Inn for our wedding anniversary. We are foodies and have been in some of the top restaurants in the world and we were pleased. We had heard about this fabulous chef not only due to critic reviews but also some chefs in the city so we had to visit. Chef Blaine Wetzel is now 26 years old and started at the Willows in in 2010. His experience includes at Noma (San Pelligrino top restaurant list) in Copenhagen. The Willows Inn restaurant is intimate and situated in an old farmhouse. The service was good with lots of waiters to help. The restaurant is a several course meal and lots of snacks. We love this concept because it makes a relaxing evening out and we truly appreciate the farm to table concept. Everything we had was delicious. The presentation style is interesting….normally you see chefs contrasting the food from the plate but Chefs style is to show the link to nature of food with what its presented on so as to almost camouflage. Lots of stone, slate, wood, rocks, etc. It felt like I was connected on another level to nature and the freshness of what I was eating. Here are as many of the dishes and snacks that I can remember:Roasted smoked sunflower root presented on seaweed in a wooden box; fresh raw oysters with fresh sorrel and tapioca beads, kale chips with truffles, geoduck clam with cucumber seeds and frozen horseradish foam (stellar dish and the cucumber seeds gave a great texture); shitake mushroom grilled on an open fire (firm, lightly smoked to bring a more intense woodsy element); smoked leg of venison which was shaved like a carpaccio topped with elderberry and chanterelle mushrooms and served with a very unique handmade antler knife; salmon roe mousse wrapped in a crispy crepe and ends were decorated with chopped chives; housemade alder smoked salmon which was slowly smoked for 5 hours and a perfect balance of flavours while being moist; caramelized grilled red onion with green rhubarb juice with sorrel and chickweed this was a stellar dish with the onion not feeling raw but had a crunch so the textures and freshness of this dish were amazing; rustic rye sourdough served with hot rocks to keep it warm; crispy halibut skin with razor claims and emulsion of halibut; spot prawn with zucchini and emulsion of nasturtiums; cooked oyster with sage, tequila and fennel; roasted and lightly breaded sweetbreads with grilled still crunchy frisee and elderflower and pickled fiddleheads with pickled caper berries gave a nice hit of acid. Dessert was simple fresh blueberries with chocolate crumbs and a woodruff infused ice cream. The food was kept as simple as possible so that the fresh ingredients were the focus and everything was cooked to perfection. They did a fantastic job of all of the vegetables and presented some unique dishes. Chef, the kitchen staff and the front of house were all very approachable and we had a chance to meet them end of night and thank them for the wonderful experience. Would rate this among the top restaurant meals I have had in North America for sure and definitely worth the trip. We stayed overnight and I would recommend that too so you can enjoy a leisurely trip without a thought about ferry times. We are passionate about food and the chefs that are staying true to making such an intimate wonderful dining adventure possible. Chef Wetzel is such a chef with a very promising future and we look forward to enjoying more of his creations. Everything has been created with attention to detail and love. It was a wonderful experience and one we will definitely repeat again.
Eating at the willows inn was one of the most amazing dining experiences I’ve ever had. The restaurant is simple and lovely, the atmosphere is casual, the view is amazing and the food was so good I can’t think of adequate words to describe it. We went for a special occasion and it’s worth the effort.
Pretentiousness Personified. While the atmosphere is fantastic, the food is only as special as you’re willing to believe. It’s not that the food isn’t good, it is, but that it is overly hyped. The new manager of the Willow Inn and affiliated properties has brought his marketing skills to bear on this very nice establishment and has basically oversold it. Once the foodies tire of this currently trendy spot, they will move on, leaving the locals and ordinary vacationers to support this restaurant and inn.Be sure to bring your smartphone, iPhone or Galaxy III S preferred, to takes lots of pictures of your food and drink to immediately post on your Facebook page. If not, you won’t fit in with the other sheeple.
Great. What’s there not too like!! Some of the prettiest food in the northwest. Likeitalot!!
Perfection. Went here after the NYT article and were simply blown away. unlike any dining experience i’ve had-ever. visited the farm during the day which added to the thrill of the meal, knowing that they source much of their produce from there. it was an inspired 5 course tasting menu, with so many more bites thrown in. each bite is such a medley of flavours, unexpected and delicious. the wine pairings and the setting sun through the large restaurant windows made it almost too perfect. service was impeccable.
Prawns on the Deck. The setting was absolutely beautiful and serene, the service was remarkable. Sadly, the food was a major, major disappointment. Realizing this was a special, and limited, menu, I can’t attest to their normal fare, which I certainly hope would be far better. The menu prices were absolutely ridiculously high for what you received ($5 for the bread basket which was 5 or 6 pieces? Really? Isn’t bread normally free??) An order of the prawns at $20 is all you get…prawns; maybe 10 of them. And they were very small and mushy, to boot. So paying basically $2 per prawn for garbage us not acceptable. Round that out with a $9 salad (two asparagus, three slices of beet) and an over-priced wine and you come way hungry. I don’t at all mind paying for quality food, and quantity is not the deciding factor in a meal, but this particular meal was lacking on both counts. In short nothing remarkable about the food whatsoever, and extremely overpriced. Save yourself the trouble and stick to their normal menu.