We’ve been going to the wonderful Willows Inn on Lummi Island for more years than we can remember. We can actually see the high part of the island from our house, but every meal there is like a true adventure.
The award winning Chef Blaine Wetzel and his crew create an amazing variety of seasonal, hyper local, dishes that can range from deceptively simple to incredibly composed; from comfort food to truly new and challenging. All of which is served overlooking the small beach, calm waters and those amazing endless Lummi sunsets.
Year round, the menu is constantly evolving, even from one night to the next. It’s always exciting to sit down and have the progression (or is that procession?) begin and see both riffs on favourites and truly new creations appear at our table. Like the menu, there’s this years crop of chefs, some new and some familiar, to serve the dishes and collect feedback. Adding to the mix, we try to visit at least twice a year and deliberately change up the timing to enjoy more of the seasonal variety that nature, and their farm, has to offer. A totally different cycle to our day to day lives back home.
Sadly, because it is across an international border, in these troubled times, it’s highly unlikely that we will make it down to the Willows this year, which is a sad thing. But armed with great memories, and Blaine’s book books, we tried to attempt to recreate at least part of the Willows dining experience for the first of our special @Home dinners. But first a word about the drinks at the Willows.
Okay, maybe it’s not all about the food.
When you have a very diverse, product-driven, and foraged menu, you might be tempted to simply give up on anything creative in the beverage department and fall back on the usual canon of conventional cocktails. Luckily, the talented Teo and team would consider that a cop-out and they do the other thing – they think way out of the box.
At the end of service, we’ve been lucky enough to swill more than one (or even two) drinks at the bar and chat about drinks, sometimes joined by certain members of the kitchen. You can tell a lot about a good bar by looking first at the tidy, almost soldier-like order of the speed bar, and then the sheer range of the back bar, checking out odd bottles and labels, kind of like browsing in a really good book store.
Except at the Willows there’s the whole other side bar packed full of various mysterious jars. Like a cross between an old-fashioned candy store and a medieval apothecary. Or maybe something from Harry Potter, except with booze. Reading the tags on some on these potions conjures up primitive flavour memories or hints of exotic locales and that’s even before you smell or taste the actual contents.
But since we’re still attempting to master the lesser challenge of making our own Tiki syrups, tinctures and bitters, a lot of the admirable craft on display at the Willows is sadly well beyond our capabilities or patience.
Pre-Dinner Drink – The Florist
So, to kick things off, we chose a drink that is a little less heavy on advance process , and gives a solid nod not only to the food at the Willows, but also to the very land that is Lummi Island. But how?
Well, the nasturtium flowers muddled in this cocktail (and used throughout this meal) were grown in our back yard from seeds given to us by the fine folks at Loganita Farm, from the very same gardens that supply the Willows. We also incorporated liquor elements from our own small, local suppliers (see Selected Resources below for more details).
Maybe not hyper local, but not too far off. Thanks Teo!
Kale Chips With Truffle
One of our favourite snacks, often enjoyed on the porch as we gaze out at Orcas Island across the water.
Our variant uses a mushroom and truffle emulsion, sprinkled with crumbs from the rye bread baked in the morning. Simplicity itself.
For this and the rest of the snacks, we’re serving Sea Cider Pippins from Vancouver Island.
Shitake Mushrooms Roasted Over an Open Flame
The first time we had these was a religious experience. But it’s just a shitake! And that is entirely the point.
We don’t have a big wood fired grill by the parking lot, so we did these over some lump charcoal on our konro. There is still the same running back and forth to the kitchen though.
Smoked Mussels
Our new favourite toy is a cold smoke generator that we used to smoke some of the ingredients in this dinner. Works well and gave us the 4+ hours of smoke we needed for the salmon and mussels. But we still prefer to hot smoke our bacon.
Sea Urchin Marinated in Tomato Seeds
The friendly folks at Fresh Ideas Start Here (F.I.S.H) have become a reliable source for us over the years for all manner of seafood from spot prawns to sea urchin. But fresh urchin was not in season right now, so we had to make do with frozen. Alas, while it tasted just great, something was lost in the presentation. Live and learn.
At this point, we switched the pairing to a nice organic BC Fume Blanc.
Smoked Black Cod Doughnuts
These always put a smile on our face. Think beignets meets fish and chips. But without the chips. Hot, smoky, crispy balls of joy. And one is never enough. So we’re serving three for each diner.
A Stew of Mushrooms
We managed to score some excellent fresh BC Chanterelles at our local Choices market. Like many things at the Willows, this dish is super simple with minimal process to let the star of the dish truly shine. Earthy, meaty, yum!
This was paired with an interesting organic BC Pinot Noir from TH Wines.
Thin Slices of Beet With Celery Oil
It’s amazing how salt baking can bring out all of the flavour of truly nice beets. Once again, a BC ingredient from our neighbourhood market. One of those dishes that requires the mostly safe, but still very sharp, French mandoline.
Halibut Cheeks
A variation on the cod cheeks served at the Willows. The halibut was hand foraged by Culinary Sheri from over 400 feet below sea level, somewhere off the coast of Port Renfrew. It’s always nice to use as much of the fish as possible, especially when it’s a tasty bit.
Summer Squash and Nasturtium Flowers
The first time we had this dish at the Willows, it was a true revelation how tasty a simple vegetable can be. We used the combi oven for roasting to help keep the squash nice and tender.
This was paired with another organic BC Pinot Noir this time from Summerhill.
Smoked Sockeye Salmon
Salmon, portioned and cold smoked for four hours. This dish often shows up fairly early in the progression at the Willows, but we saved it to end the savoury portion of the meal with a bang. The ultimate finger food.
Peach Sorbet
Home made from fresh BC peaches, it’s garnished with volunteer mint from the back yard. A final taste of Summer as we head into Fall. Served with a pleasant variation of Moscato from our good friends at La Stella.
A nice end to a nice meal.
Thanks Blaine and team – we tried our best. And we miss all of you.
Behind the Scenes
Selected Resources
Sea and Smoke: Flavors from the Untamed Pacific Northwest (2015) – Blaine Wetzel & Joe Ray – Amazon
Lummi: Island Cooking (2020) – Blaine Wetzel – Amazon
Old Growth Cedar Gin – Tofino Distillery
Mia Amata Amaro – Odd Society
NV Sea Cider Pippins – Heirloom Series – Sea Cider
2018 Clos du Soleil Fume Blanc – Legacy Liquor Store
2017 Summerhill Organic Pinot Noir – Legacy Liquor Store
2019 TH Wines Pinot Noir – Legacy Liquor Store
2018 La Stella Moscato D’Osoyoos – La Stella Winery
A-MAZE-N Cold Smoker Tube – Amazon