Nosh Pit

Matt Dillon Brings Home a James Beard Award

The renowned local chef proclaimed Best Chef Northwest.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on May 07, 2012 at 05:55PM 0 Comments

Image courtesy of the James Beard Foundation.

Hooray! Chef Matt Dillon of Sitka and Spruce and The Corson Building is now James Beard–winning chef Matt Dillon, after receiving a James Beard award for Best Chef Northwest at the Academy Awards–wannabe ceremony in New York today. The nattily attired Dillon thanked his co-chef, Emily Crawford, and took a moment to pay tribute to Nettletown chef Christina Choi, who passed away suddenly in December. “She knew hunger and she knew how to feed people,” said Dillon of his friend. Dillon, Canlis chef Jason Franey, and Portland chefs Chris Israel, Naomi Pomeroy, and Cathy Whims, were nominated in this category. Per the Beards’ semiawkward award show narration, in 25 years, Dillon “hopes to spend his time hunting, shrimping, and starting a second career in social justice or ski patrol.” Yep, that seems about right.

Tom Douglas was nominated, once again, for Outstanding Restaurateur; we will update this post with the results in the morning.

Host Alton Brown fired off some clunky jokes about shrimp, though perhaps the highlight of the evening was Tory Miller of Madison restaurant L’Etoile, who won the Best Chef Midwest, and thanked the late James Beard for being “such a weird old dude” who did so much to support the culinary community. It’s only a matter of time before this awards ceremony graduates from live web stream to being aired on the Bravo network. See the full list of Monday night winners here as it unfolds.

Seattle was, at least, well represented in Friday’s first round of James Beard awards, given out for books and journalism. Bellevue-based cookbook behemoth Modernist Cuisine won Cookbook of the Year, as well as the Best Cookbook: Cooking from a Professional Point of View" category. That win wasn’t exactly a surprise; in advance of the award we asked local chefs and food nerds who own this massive, groundbreaking tome, where, exactly, they keep it. Seattle Times reporter Maureen O’Hagan won an award for her “Feeling the Weight: The Emotional Battle to Control Kids Diets,” while author Brad Parsons took the beverage book category for his Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All. While Parsons is now based out of New York, he previously lived in Seattle, and wrote an excellent piece in Seattle Met’s March 2009 issue on this very subject. Congratulations all around.

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Tags: Awards and Accolades, Tom Douglas, James Beard Awards, Jason Franey, Matt Dillon

Montreal Winter Festival Imports Six Seattle Chefs

A seriously gastronomic Canadian crowd gets a chance to sample our local fare.

Posted by: Allecia Vermillion on Jan 19, 2012 at 02:55PM 0 Comments

Montreal chef Guillaume Sparks-Beaule is letting Matt Dillon take over his restaurant Pullman for two nights. And hopefully sharing a few tips on posing awesomely with ingredients.

Every year, the Montreal en Lumiere winter festival showcases the culture and cuisine of both a region and a particular city. This time around, Seattle is in the spotlight, along with Brussels. The festival, known to Anglophones as Montreal High Lights, runs February 16 to 26. Organizers are importing six of our city’s most notable chefs: Jason Franey (Canlis), Jason Stratton (Spinasse and Artusi), Thierry Rautureau (Luc and Rover’s), Jason Wilson (Crush), Matt Dillon (Sitka and Spruce and the Corson Building), and Ethan Stowell (lots of things).

Each chef takes over one of Montreal’s top kitchens for two nights, essentially putting on an upscale pop-up restaurant. As the Puget Sound Business Journal’s Glenn Drosendahl noted recently, Franey’s duo of dinners at Montreal restaurant Les 400 Coups are already sold out (reportedly within a day).

What does this mean for Seattle? Well, our city will be rather bereft of award-winning chefs named Jason for the duration of the festival. But it’s also a chance for some of our culinary talents to share this region’s cuisine with a new and broader audience.

Washington’s wine will also get some love. The festival will showcase Bergevin Lane, Gordon Brothers Family Vineyards, Hedges Family Estate, L’Ecole No. 41, Long Shadows, Milbrandt Vineyards, Precept Wine, and Rotie Cellars.

Montreal chefs are also doing a few Seattle-centric events, like a lunch exploring our local street food (prepared for eat-in or takeout). There’s also a grunge night that celebrates the music, wine, and food of 1991 for $65. Or $95 with wine.

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Tags: Ethan Stowell, Thierry Rautureau, Jason Stratton, Jason Wilson, Jason Franey, Matt Dillon