takeout food deli at Seattle’s Pike Place Market and
the Kathy Casey Food Studios (a full-service food
and beverage consulting firm), she recently penned
Dishing with Kathy Casey: Food, Fun and Cocktails
from Seattle’s Culinary Diva.
Q: Describe pure Northwest cuisine.
A: Northwest cuisine is very bright, fresh and
full of flavors that pop. It’s not necessarily a
particular type of dish but more an attitude and
flavor profile that’s inspired by the local bounty.
Q: Can you cite an example of a dish that has
evolved as the region matured?
A: For a long time everybody served oysters smoked
or fried or, on the rare occasion, raw with cocktail
sauce. Now, instead of breading and frying and covering
up their briny fresh flavor, we’re throwing oysters
on the grill till just popped or slurping them raw
with just a splash of lemon. And by the way, a true
Northwesterner doesn’t use cocktail sauce.
“Some chefs say that there
is no true Northwest cuisine—
they must not be from here.”
Q: Pacific Rim fare is very popular in the
Northwest. What is this cuisine, and why is
it such a Northwest natural?
A: Pacific Rim cuisine is food of the Northwest and
West Coast that is inspired by the great flavors of
Asia. This is largely due to the huge Asian population
that moved here in the early 1900s.
Q: You’re known as a fearless food experimenter.
How is the Northwest epicurean scene conducive
to your spirit?
A: The Northwest is open to trying new things and
has such a free-spirit attitude. I think it’s one of the
most creative places in the United States. Just look at
