Blaine Wetzel

Blaine Wetzel is an American fine dining chef. He is known for being head chef at the Willows Inn on Lummi Island, Washington, from 2010 to 2022. He was hired to run the restaurant of the bed and breakfast on the remote island accessible only by ferry after working as a chef under René Redzepi at Noma, and at the Willows Inn he focused on hyper-local Pacific Northwest ingredients served in a multi-course tasting menu. Shortly after Wetzel's arrival, the Willows Inn was described by The New York Times as one of 10 restaurants worth a plane trip. Wetzel's acclaim grew as the Willows Inn became an internationally known destination restaurant, and he won awards from the James Beard Foundation and Food & Wine and was invited to be a guest chef at other prominent restaurants. In 2021, the restaurant's reputation was damaged by allegations from several former employees published in The New York Times that the Willows Inn presented non-local ingredients as local to Lummi Island and that Wetzel used derogatory and abusive language and tolerated sexual harassment at the restaurant, allegations that Wetzel denied. In 2022, in the wake of the allegations and settlements by the restaurant of claims of wage theft, the Willows Inn closed permanently.

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