Renee Erickson is a James Beard awarding winning chef, author, and co-partner of six properties in Seattle, Washington: The Walrus and the Carpenter, The Whale Win, Barnacle, Bar Melusine, Bateau and General Porpoise. As a Seattle native (well, Woodinville to be exact), Renee’s restaurants highlight the bounty of the Pacific Northwest with a European sensibility. Bon Appetit Magazine has compared her to M.F.K. Fisher, Elizabeth David, and Julia Child.

Renee’s culinary career began in 1998 when she bought the Boat Street Cafe and over the next 18 years transformed it into a northwest institution. Her brand, Boat Street Pickles, can be found at better grocery stores across the North America and Asia.

Dedicated to creating an environment that not only nourishes the body, but feeds the soul, her restaurant design work with business partners, Chad Dale and Jeremy Price, have received national press and attention.

Renee Erickson’s food, casual style, and appreciation of simple beauty is an inspiration to her staff and guests in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. In 2014 she published her first cookbook “A boat, a whale and a walrus” to critical acclaim, finding itself on top reading lists while winning a 2015 PNBA book award – the first for a cookbook.

Renee graduated from the University of Washington with a BFA and lives in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood with her husband Dan, and their dog, Arlo.