Seattle Chefs are Stars in this Season of Awards
Jason Wilson of Crush
Last night, StarChefs.com hosted the Rising Stars Revue, featuring a gala tasting of dishes by a baker's dozen of the area's finest chefs. Among them were three finalists as best chefs in the Northwest for the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards: Maria Hines of Tilth, Ethan Stowell of Union (and many more in his growing empire of restaurants), and Jason Wilson of Crush. (The other nominees in the category are Joseba Jiménez de Jiménez of The Harvest Vine and Cathy Whims of Nostrana, in Portland.)
Our favorite dishes at Rising Stars? It's tough to choose, as it was a night showcasing tremendous talent, but we'll offer three picks. Stuart Lane of Cafe Juanita served up some luscious rabbit livers with caramelized onions, anchovy and currants. The beef carpaccio that Brian McCracken and Dana Tough of Spur plated was quite creative; they instructed us to roll it up with some tarragon, mustard leaf and fried bearnaise that all blended together beautifully. And we also enjoyed Jason Wilson's butter-poached lobster with gnocchi and white truffle cream. Fatty goodness! Apparently we weren't alone, as Wilson won accolades for dish of the night. We wish him and all of the James Beard finalists the best of luck as they go to New York in May to find out their fate.
