Journeyed out of town this weekend to stay at the luxuriously plush Inn at Langley. The accommodation’s were gorgeous (complete with fireplaces, hot tubs and large decks), the views stunning (there’s nothing quite like sitting in steamy hot bath while looking out at the beach- its just fucking bliss) and the food (prepared by the ingenious Chef Matt Costello) refreshingly unique.

This was last nights menu: Amuse Bouche Candied Kumquat filled with Sambuca & Cocoa Soup Green Garlic Veloute with Bacon “Snow” Seafood Poached Lummi Island Halibut with Fava Beans & Nettle Intermezzo Cherry Blossom Sorbet Entree Anderson Ranch Lamb Loin with Sunchokes, Artichokes & Leeks Cheese Whipped Mt. Townsend Camembert with Rhubarb & Roses Dessert Quick Frozen Coconut Mousse with Lychee Spheres & Carambola Dinner was six delicious courses of locally grown surprises. Everything from the beans to the onions were born & raised on Whidbey (I found it particularly darling that the cherry blossoms in the intermezzo came from a neighbor’s tree). Chef Matt Costello is a very, very talented man but his accolades speak for themselves really. He started his career at the Four Seasons Olympic Hotel in Seattle and went on to join famous Seattle Chef Tom Douglas at Palace Kitchen & The Dahlia Lounge. In 1996, Palace Kitchen was nominated for the James Beard Award for “Best New Restaurant in the Nation” while Matt Costello was Chef. In 1998, he was named “Best Chef in Seattle” by Seattle Magazine and in 2001 (while under Costello’s direction) The Dahlia Lounge was named Seattle Weekly’s “Best Restaurant in the City”. In 2003, Seattle Magazine awarded him “Chef to Watch” and the Zagat restaurant guide has rated his food at the Inn at Langley “extraordinary” from 2005- 2008. Not only is Matt Costello incredibly gifted but he’s also a pleasure to speak with. The Chef was generous enough to step away from his busy kitchen and sit down for an interview with me, which you’ll find below. What inspired you to be a Chef? I don’t know if it was so much an inspiration. I guess the story goes that I went to Evergreen State College and took mostly Women’s Studies classes there but while I was attending school I was cooking… Wait…why Women’s Studies? It was interesting to me. I grew up in a second wave of feminism household and my college years happened to be during a time when Olympia had this third wave of feminism/ riot girl stuff happening. At Evergreen its not like theres one specific program you get into. My work had more of an emphasis on Women’s Studies but everything sort of blends together, so its not that my major is particularly in that but its what I describe it as because most of my classes focused on it. I had, I suppose, what you would call an equivalent of a minor in photography but anyway, I was looking towards arts and that’s mostly why I went to Evergreen. I cooked to make my way through college. When I cooked elsewhere (off the college campus) it showed me a different side of artistic expression that I didn’t really see when I was cooking at Evergreen. At Evergreen I was kind of limited to cooking brown food that had tahini on it, you know? I ended up connecting with a friend of mine who was working at the Four Seasons and she hooked me up with an apprenticeship program in the pastry department. I worked at The Four Seasons for free for 40 hours a week and held down other jobs in little cafes around Seattle during that time. My apprenticeship lasted about 3 months and really, I just hated pastry. I worked under this very traditional French guy- this evil bastard who last I heard is now an instructor somewhere…maybe at South Seattle… Did you hate pastry because of him or did you just hate pastry in general? Well, that’s when I really discovered the two disciplines. One is really exacting and that’s pastry work. There isn’t a lot of free form, fly by the seat of your pants expressionism in the dishes themselves…you have to have the concept before you move into them for the most part. Food was a lot easier for me to work with so it clicked with me better- the savory side. So I worked with him for a little while, I mean, I got an understanding of pastry but it was also in a big hotel and it was this setting that really wasn’t my thing. Like I said I also worked at other little restaurants in Seattle at the time and I ended up at this little place on Lower Queen Anne where I was the head cook. It was this Italian place and there was four waiters- they were these two couples. One couple was James & Alice who opened up The Triangle Tavern and now they have The Ballroom & El Camino…they’ve split since then but they had a number of places together at that time. They ended up dividing everything…they also had Peso’s on Lower Queen Anne. And the other couple was Donna & Marco…of Marco’s Supper Club and the…what was Donnas place that closed not too long ago? Up the way a little bit? Hmmm…anyway, so these were my waiters and through them I got to see the opening of different restaurants and while that happened I ended up over with Tom Douglas. Before that, I traveled around and did some really short stages. Did some time in San Francisco at Boulevard…a stint in Chicago, a little bit of time in Manhattan. But most of my cooking career was spent with Tom Douglas when there was just the one restaurant and this group of line cooks…it was me and Jon Sundstrom (of Lark) and Holly (of Cafe Juanita)…we were all the same- we worked the line together and it was really fun. I learned a lot and there was a great energy and I felt like the place was growing. Mark Fuller of Spring Hill came later and worked along with us. I want to describe our time together in that kitchen as having a sort of camp feel. From there I branched out to other places. I kind of fell into cooking I guess, it kind of just evolved…there wasn’t really an epiphany “this is my calling” moment. Did you come from a food oriented family? No, not at all. As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I kind of vacillated between different things…I thought of classic careers- I think I wanted to be a pilot or something. But I never had any distinctive drive towards any one thing. What brought you to the Inn at Langley? The owner of this place is Paul Schell…hes the old mayor of Seattle. Hes here every weekend- the nicest guy Ive ever met in my life. Whats interesting is that all through his reign being the mayor I was in the streets during WTO and all those other things and then to sort of meet him and hear his story was very interesting. His take on it all was different than I expected- he felt like everyone deserved the right to protest. He really did…he just didn’t want people to be breaking the law. And the police stuff was police stuff…anyway, so that’s just an interesting side note.So, he owned this restaurant called 1904 that was on the corner of 4th & Stewart…I think its Toi now. That was where the original Dahlia Lounge was but when it was the 1904 it was Paul Schell who sold it to Tom Douglas so they had a relationship where they knew each other. When it was time for me to leave Tom Douglas, the two of them talked and that’s how I ended up out here. They needed someone at The Inn and the timing was right. How long have you been here? Six years now. How long has this place been open? Twenty something…its been here forever. Tell me about other jobs you have held outside of kitchens… Most of my career has been food oriented. I did office manager stuff with Greenpeace- I made a lot of copies…thats all it was, there wasn’t a whole lot of activism involved although I thought there would be. Whats your favorite part of your work here? I know this sounds really hokey but its making people happy. There’s something about…I mean, you ll see when you’re in for dinner- its just a very different atmosphere. I get to interact with people differently- its more dinner party-esque. You get to see people really enjoy themselves…I dig that. Its fun to wow people and to bring something to someone that they’ve never seen or tasted before. Least favorite part? Its probably that I don’t work with a lot of other cooks- its just me. I have an apprentice that’s only here one night a week but that’s not really like being part of a team which is what I miss. But there’s a good part to that as well…you don’t have as much control over the food in a bigger operation but here I do. Here, what I want to get across gets across. Is there anything you wont put on the menu? No. Its mainly what I like to eat. I dont do classically raised veal so there are some animal husbandry issues that I deal with once in awhile. I try to maintain a certain radius- like the hundred mile meal…that’s important stuff but I guess I cant say I live and die by that. I make what I like to eat and what feels responsible to me- I really try to take care of the local folks here and try to make sure I’m cycling through the local economy. What would you like to see change in the way people eat? I think foods too cheap for one thing. There’s whats idealistic- you know, cook more from scratch or something like that but I don’t know…its sort of whats fucked about America is that everyone is sort of fucking lazy so not every one’s going to do that. In an ideal world, I would like to see people know the difference between a good stalk of Kale as opposed to a crappy stalk of Kale for example. Maybe to just sort of have enough of a relationship with food to really know what it is and where its from and what its about. I guess that that would be the thing that I would change. But for the most part, I guess I go on the assumption that people in the Northwest understand the idea of good food, organic food, local food but that may be the little microcosm that I live in and the people I surround myself with. To me, its always surprising that there are so many fast food chains. I just wish there was more of a rudimentary knowledge about food because I think that would carry over into an appreciation of techniques and the artistry that’s involved in it. What do you eat at home? Do you cook? Nope..I don’t cook at home. I had some tofu with black chili sauce for breakfast this morning. Lets see…pastas and simple meals. Sometimes its as easy as me making a pot of soup that lasts the week. Food favorites? You know, I really like seafood. That would have to be the main thing I look for. Ive been really liking Korean food lately…there’s this great place on 145th. Its a little strip mall place and the menu does not have a word of English on it and in the restaurant there’s a couple of big plasma screens playing Korean television. I am definitely the only white guy there. Its always been awesome…its right on 145th on the West side of the street. Dislikes? Ive never been a fan of brains. Don’t like the texture- its too soft. Maybe Ive never had them cooked properly? I love sweetbreads- but brain? It sounds like an easy answer almost but I’m just not a fan. Vices? There’s just a general obsessive compulsiveness that I have with so many different things. If I lock into something that’s what it is for the week. I spend a ton of money to go on snowboarding trips…I get obsessed with a particular kind of music I have to have…sometimes its spending, sometimes its drinking… What do you drink? It varies, its usually been bourbon but lately I’ve gone back to Scotch. Free time? I like to get outside. Today, I ran 8 miles…I really like to snowboard so Ill probably go up on Monday. I love music- its a huge thing for me. My daughter is a horse girl- shes 16 and she works with rescue horses so I spend a lot of time in Monroe with her. What would you be if you weren’t a chef? There was one time I looked into raising goats and making cheese. I was actually looking around at property around Bellingham and really got into it but then I realized that that would just be a ridiculous thing to do. It would probably be really fun if I didn’t have to worry about money I suppose.