If your first instinct upon seeing a chef is to yell, “Yes chef,” then you’re watching too much Hell’s Kitchen. Photo courtesy the Derschang Group.
But first, farewells. Tallulah’s erstwhile chef, Walter Edwards, has left his post and is taking a summertime sabbatical from the kitchen to be with his family. Enter chef Eric Rivera, who has stepped in with a helluva resume and a penchant for simple yet elegant fare.
The Olympia, Washington native left the Evergreen State in 2011 to work in research and development at Grant Achatz’s three-starred Chicago restaurant, Alinea. Then just last year he returned to join the holy hot damn of Seattle restaurant groups, Josh Henderson’s Huxley Wallace Collective. As the director of culinary operations and innovation, Rivera helped open two Great State Burgers, Bar Noroeste, and Saint Helens Cafe. Since Rivera left Huxley Wallace earlier this year, restaurant folk have wondered what a guy with such an impressive resume was going to do next.
Apparently work closer to home: He’s “excited about the opportunity to be cooking full time for an awesome neighborhood,” in which he also lives. We envy the commute. Rivera has already put his touch on Tallulah’s seasonal summer menu with a Neah Bay king salmon dish with a sweet corn custard and Yukon potatoes, a ricotta gnudi with chanterelle, and other vegetal items.
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