Chef Jerry Traunfeld: The Herbfarm Restaurant

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"I find it nearly impossible to walk by a lavender plant in full bloom
without bending over to pick a stem, roll it around in my fingers,
and inhale the heady scent." Chef Jerry Traunfeld

Chef Traunfeld's Biography | Chef Traunfeld's Recipes | The Herbfarm Restaurant | Gallery

Chef of the Month!

Chef Jerry Traunfeld
The HerbFarm, WA

James Beard Award
Winner for Best Chef:
Northwest/Hawaii.

Top100 Restaurants
Vote for the
HerbFarm Restaurant!

The only Restaurant
in the Northwest with a
5 Diamond AAA rating.

Chef Traunfeld's Tip on Grilling:

When grilling, toss branches of rosemary or thyme over the hot coals in a kettle grill right before you place the food on the rack, and cover. It will be infused with a wonderful savory smoke flavor. Or use the snipped dried stems of basil or fennel in place of hardwood chips in your home smoker.

Anonymous Book Reviewer:

"The recipes in Jerry Traunfeld's The Herbfarm Cookbook will make your taste buds perk up and sing. And they'll have your friends begging for dinner invitations..."

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3 Winners Selected!

List Price: ~~$40.00~~
Our Price: $28.00
You Save: $12.00 (30%)

Recipes from Chef Jerry Traunfeld: Taking Herbs to New Heights

Carrot Ravioli and King Bolete Mushrooms	Roasted Wild King Salmon with Peas and Lemon Thyme
Stinging Nettle, Lovage, and Mussel Soup	Pumpkin Bay Souffl� with Thyme Custard Sauce
Wild Blackberry and Rose Shortcakes	Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb with Parsley, Mint and Walnut Saut�

Photography by John Granen

The Herbfarm Restaurant: Please allow 4-5 Hours for Dinner

Enlarge Picture - Since 1990, Jerry Traunfeld has been the chef at the Herbfarm, a restaurant-nursery nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington State devoted to propagating an exceptional variety of culinary herbs, edible flowers, and greens. People wait months for a table at this restaurant, where Traunfeld's unaffected yet sophisticated cooking unfolds in a nine-course dinner. Reading his recipes, you understand why. It is hard to get through even the first chapter, on soups, without starting a shopping list for making Green Gazpacho, a cooling blend of cucumbers and green pepper with spearmint, parsley, and cilantro, or Herbal Chicken Noodle Soup, lavish with fresh basil, chives, tarragon, and marjoram.

Picture Gallery | Visit the Restaurant | Dinner Themes

With each visit to The Herbfarm, you'll delight in unique menus showcasing the exceptional foods and wines of the Pacific Northwest. Each 9-course dinner served with 5 or 5 matched wines, draws its inspiration from the rhythms of the seasons.

For much of the year, The Herbfarm's own kitchen gardens and nearby farm supply the restaurant with an ever changing harvest of common and unusual produce.

Small growers and producers bring wild mushrooms, heritage fruits, handmade cheeses, and rare treasures such as water-grown wasabi root and artisanal caviars.

Each day's menu is finalized only hours before the meal to best represent the flavors of land and sea. Week in and week out, The Herbfarm's menu brings new discoveries.

Whether it's a birthday or special anniversary celebration -- or a search for pure culinary joy -- The Herbfarm will weave you into the fabric of an enchanted evening you'll cherish and long remember.

Herbfarm 9-Course Dinners with all wines are between $159 and $189 per person plus tax and service.

The Herbfarm Restaurant reservation line: 425 485-5300
Call for table availability and to make your reservation.
14590 NE 145th Street, Woodinville, WA 98072

Biography

Chef Jerry Traunfeld

As executive chef of The Herbfarm since 1990, Jerry Traunfeld combines his passion for cooking with a love of gardening and garners national attention for his innovative multi-course menus. An expert in the subject of culinary herbs, he was featured in The New York Times Magazine, Food and Wine, Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Fortune, and many other publications. He has appeared on Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes and Gardens Television and The Food Network and is a regular guest on Public Radio's The Splendid Table.

Jerry began cooking while he was in his teens, but his professional career began upon graduating from the California Culinary Academy in 1983. He cooked for a year at the San Francisco's Ernie's under Chef Jackie Robert, then joined the kitchen staff at Jeremiah Tower's Stars shortly after it opened. In 1986 he moved to Seattle and became the executive chef of the Alexis Hotel, where he remained until taking the position of Herbfarm chef in 1990.

Nancy Leson of The Seattle Times, named Jerry "an incomparable chef/genius" in a 4 star review, and The Herbfarm Restaurant was ranked number 15 of the 50 best restaurants in the United States by Gourmet in 2001. USA Today's Jerry Shriver named his dinner at The Herbfarm as his top meal of 2002. It is the only restaurant in the Northwest to be awarded 5 diamonds by AAA. Recently Jerry was named one of the "chefs who made a difference" in Bon Appetit's 2003 Decade of Dining issue.

Jerry is the recipient of the 2000 James Beard award for Best Chef; Northwest / Hawaii. He is the author of The Herbfarm Cookbook; 200 Herb-Inspired Recipes Plus a Complete Guide to Growing, Handling, and Cooking with Fresh Herbs, which won The International Association of Cooking Professionals award for the Best Cookbook in the Chef/Restaurant category. He is currently working on a new book of herbal recipes.