Renee Erickson
Sea Creatures | Seattle
march 2020
Born and raised in Woodinville, Washington, Renee Erickson graduated with an MFA from the University of Washington. She began working as a server at Boat Street Café and what began as a part-time job soon became her entire life. Erickson moved to the back of house, learning to cook at the fledgling restaurant. In 1997, after staging around Europe, Erickson returned to Boat Street Café at the age of 25, this time to take on a new role: owner.
For seventeen years Erickson led the team at Boat Street Café while beginning to claim her place in Seattle’s rapidly growing restaurant scene. She started an artisanal pickling business in 2008, and she opened Ballard oyster bar The Walrus and The Carpenter in 2010, cozy European The Whale Wins in 2012, and Italian cocktail bar Barnacle in 2013. In 2015, Erickson decided to close Boat Street Café, but her restaurant empire continued to flourish. She established a restaurant group under the name of Sea Creatures and later in 2015, opened casual oyster bar Bar Melusine followed by sustainable steakhouse Bateau, and General Porpoise doughnut shop.
In 2018, Erickson acquired three of Restaurateur Josh Henderson’s restaurants—two of which have already opened as Bar Shirlee and revamped Westward, as well as adding two new spots—Willmott’s Ghost and Deep Dive, to the Sea Creatures group. Erickson published cookbook A Boat, a Whale and a Walrus in 2014 and received a James Beard Award for “Best Chef, Northwest” in 2016.
