Quite The Pear
When the Pear Bureau Northwest launched a recipe contest to crown cooks who showed a “flair for the pear,” Chef Brian Scheehser of Kirkland’s Trellis kept it all in the family. “When I was a kid, my grandmother made a dish out of peas and pears. I don’t know why she made it; I don’t know why it ended up on the holiday table. But she would always take frozen peas from the garden, steam them really quickly, oven-roast some pears and throw in some mint.”
Inspired by the memory, Scheehser created a roasted pear, pea, and mint relish to top his carrot and fennel soup, a dish that earned him the title of Pear Panache Chef for March. The contest is part of the Bureau’s nationwide search for fine dining’s best original pear recipe.
As the executive chef of Trellis—a sleek little joint nestled in the Heathman Hotel—Scheehser is a dedicated champion of regional and seasonal cuisine. Crisp Bosc pears plucked straight from his personal five-acre farm meet fresh spring peas for this sweetly nuanced relish. It’s the perfect counterpoint to his rustic, earthy soup, satisfying the sweet and the savory in a farm-fresh nod to spring.
