Renee Erickson (born 1972) is a

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

-based chef and restaurateur. Owner and chef at a group of six Seattle restaurants, Erickson won the 2016

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awa ...

for Best Chef: Northwest. Erickson began her restaurant career while an art student at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

: needing a job to afford her studies, she worked for some years at the restaurant Boat Street, but then unexpectedly was offered the opportunity to buy it when she was 25. Though she had planned to go back to school, she accepted and bought Boat Street. A business partner eventually persuaded her to expand further and she has become owner and chef of a group of restaurants in Seattle, including Bar Melusine,

Bateau A bateau or batteau is a shallow- draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. ...

, Boat Street Cafe, The Whale Wins, Barnacle, and

The Walrus and the Carpenter "The Walrus and the Carpenter" is a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll that appears in his book ''Through the Looking-Glass'', published in December 1871. The poem is recited in chapter four, by Tweedledum and Tweedledee to Alice. The poem is co ...

. ''

Bon Appetit ''Bon'', also spelled Bön () and also known as Yungdrung Bon (, "eternal Bon"), is a Tibetan religious tradition with many similarities to Tibetan Buddhism and also many unique features.Samuel 2012, pp. 220-221. Bon initially developed in t ...

'' titled a 2016 profile of Erickson and her restaurants, "Why Seattle Is One of the Most Exciting Places to Eat in the Country," and compared Erickson to

M.F.K. Fisher Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher (July 3, 1908 – June 22, 1992) was an American food writer. She was a founder of the Napa Valley Wine Library. Over her lifetime she wrote 27 books, including a translation of ''The Physiology of Taste'' by Brillat-S ...

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and bo ...

, and

Julia Child Julia Carolyn Child (née McWilliams; August 15, 1912 – August 13, 2004) was an American cooking teacher, author, and television personality. She is recognized for bringing French cuisine to the American public with her debut cookbook, ...

in her generational significance as a chef. In 2014, Erickson published a cookbook called ''A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus''. ''

Eater Eater may refer to: * Eater (band), an English punk rock group * "Eater" (''Fear Itself''), a 2008 episode of the NBC television horror anthology ''Fear Itself'' * ''Eater'' (novel), a 2000 science fiction novel by Gregory Benford * ''Eater'' ( ...

'' described it as a cookbook while also part narrative and memoir. It has 70 recipes organized into seasonal meals. Erickson has been a prominent supporter of Seattle's minimum wage increase, adopting the $15 minimum hourly wage five years ahead of the legal mandate.

References

1972 births Living people American women chefs American cookbook writers James Beard Foundation Award winners Women cookbook writers Chefs from Seattle {{chef-stub