Blaine Wetzel’s brand-new James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northwest is more than well-deserved. The 29-year-old chef of the excellent Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Wetzel tied for the nationwide category Rising Star Chef just last year, so this second award would seem to indicate something meteoric. But he was nominated for Rising Star back in 2011, too; with only so many Beard awards to go around (and many going to New York), sometimes the official Rising Star is already very much risen.
Read Full Article here: Willows Inn’s Wetzel wins James Beard Award: Northwest chef
Read full feature article here: Willows Inn’s Wetzel wins James Beard Award: Northwest chef