With Greater Seattle’s growing reputation as a culinary mecca and its wealth of locally sourced ingredients, the food and beverage scene is becoming a top draw for groups.
“There’s been a real renaissance here, with everything from restaurants operated by big-name chefs to an explosion in the number of wineries, microbrews and craft distilleries,” says David Blandford, spokesman for Visit Seattle. “Meeting planners and attendees understand that Seattle is a great eating town. They want to be part of that experience while they’re here.”
Tapping into Seattle’s extraordinary range of food-related experiences is easy, even with a busy agenda, according to Blandford.
“Seattle is compact and the food culture is everywhere you look,” he says. “It’s easy for attendees to walk between their hotels to the restaurants, the wine bars and so on. Plus the hotels are very much comingled with the culinary scene.”
This is also true of the Washington State Convention Center, Blandford adds, noting that the facility and its chef, Jose Chavez, have won accolades for locally sourced cuisine that rivals that served in fine restaurants.
“The convention center really goes above and beyond with food,” he says. “They have a 60-page menu that planners can pre-select from, plus an eat-in kitchen dining facility for small groups. You’ll see chef Jose Chavez down at Pike Place Market searching out fresh seafood along with the other great local chefs.”
Chefs’ Specials
Fueling Seattle’s growing reputation as a food mecca is a wealth of renowned, entrepreneurial chefs who have opened restaurants, many of which are ideal for private events, dine-arounds and progressive dinners.
“With all of our natural resources, we’re a place where great chefs have flocked to, especially during the last dozen years,” says Carol Riddle, senior account manager for SH Worldwide, a Seattle-based DMC. “It’s a big part of what makes us an attractive meetings destination.”
Among Seattle’s popular restaurants for group dining are three that are clustered in the hip Ballard neighborhood and overseen by chef Jason Stoneburner: Bastille Cafe, MacLeod’s and Stoneburner. Riddle has used all three sites for progressive dinners for up to 100 people.
“We start out at MacLeod’s, which is a whisky bar with over 150 types of whiskies, for appetizers and a whisky tasting,” she says. “Then we’ll move on to Bastille, where the chef has a roof garden planted with herbs and vegetables, for the second course. From there, we head across the street to Stoneburner in the Hotel Ballard, ending the evening in a glass pavilion overlooking Puget Sound.”
Riddle also frequently works with several Seattle restaurants run by chef Matt Dillon, a 2012 James Beard Award winner, whose eclectic venues offer myriad group options. They include the Corson Building, converted from an elegant 1926 home that offers indoor and outdoor dining space for up to 75, and London Plane, a new wine bar in Pioneer Square that hosts dinners for up to 60 and receptions for up to 80.
Also available for events is Dillon’s Old Chaser Farm on Vashon Island, where he raises ingredients for his restaurants. Groups can tour the farm and then enjoy a meal prepared on-site.
Widely considered to be Seattle’s ultimate celebrity chef is Tom Douglas, who operates 10 restaurants in the city and has won multiple James Beard awards. Many of his restaurants, including Dahlia Lounge and Palace Kitchen, offer private dining areas. In addition, Tom Douglas Catering is affiliated with such venues as the Palace Ballroom, which hosts events for up to 600, and the Paramount Theater, an Art Deco landmark with space for up to 3,000.
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Restaurants that showcase Northwest ingredients and offer stunning spaces for events are far from limited to Seattle proper, but are well represented in cities throughout the metro region. In Tacoma, group-friendly choices include The Lobster Shop at Commencement Bay, which offers private dining areas with sweeping water views and menus featuring fresh seafood.
In Bellevue, award-winning Bake’s Place accommodates seated events for up 100 in an elegantly appointed dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows or on its spacious patio, while the Purple Cafe and Wine Bar offers customized menus for groups of up to 80 that can pair courses with local wines from the nearby winery hub of Woodinville, a group attraction in itself.
Just north of Seattle in Snohomish County, Kafe Neo is a popular option for Mediterranean cuisine and offers both off-site catering and private dining at its locations in Mill Creek and Edmonds.
Additionally, a winning combination of fresh, local seafood and group dining spaces with water views are provided by Anthony’s Restaurants, which are found in many locations, including Seattle, Lynwood, Edmonds, Everett and Kirkland.
Culinary Teambuilding
Meanwhile, Douglas’ newest venture is a cooking school, event venue and teambuilding facility called Hot Stove Society, located at the Hotel Andra in downtown Seattle. It features a demonstration kitchen, audiovisual equipment, hands-on work stations and a 72-seat private dining room. Event options include cocktail parties, cooking demonstrations by nationally known chefs and cookbook authors and teambuilding competitions with such themes as Mad Men Martinis and Destination Dry Rub.
In the Seattle Southside area, teambuilding events, along with cooking demonstrations and group classes, are available at the Albert Lee Culinary Event Center in Tukwila. With seating for up to 120 people, the event center features a large demonstration kitchen with audiovisual equipment that has featured presentations by such chefs as John Howie of Seattle SeaStar Restaurant and TV personality Martin Yan.
Trucks and Tours
Planning activities that showcase a wide variety of Seattle tastes, including beverages as well as foods, can be done in a variety of ways, including through tours and food truck events, says Natalee Haldeman, project manager for Uniquely Northwest, a local DMC.
“Our local food trucks are very flexible and reflect a whole variety of cuisines, ethnic as well as very upscale gourmet,” she says. “There are a variety of ways to work them into an event, including having them come out to the venue,” she says. “Or you can come out to a location where a group of them are clustered.”
Haldeman also likes to make use of the many local culinary tour options available. Her favorite is a walking tour through Pike Place Market offered by Savor Seattle, where participants stop and sample delicious bites from the landmark’s many purveyors and eateries.
“It’s always a big hit with groups—who doesn’t want to eat their way through Pike Place Market?” she says. “Savor Seattle also does great tours that focus on the amazing number of microbreweries and distilleries we have here now.”
Tours centered on craft distilleries and microbreweries are among the most popular and fastest-growing group activity options in the region, according to Blandford.
New choices include the Local Craft Distillery Tour, which features three distillery tours, 12 sprit tastings, artisanal snacks and luxury transportation.
Also new is Red Dog Tours’ Seattle Brewery Tour, a guided activity that can be customized for groups and includes tours and tastings at microbreweries throughout the city.
Spirited Venues
Riddle notes that many of the area’s microbreweries and craft distilleries offer generous amounts of event space that is available during the evening hours. She recently booked Seattle’s Westland Distillery for a Taste of the Northwest evening for 250 people. It will include the chance for guests to sample not only Westland’s whiskey, but beer, wine and food.
“We’ll have several signature cocktails made from the distillery’s products, plus we’ll have food pairings with beverages from local wineries and microbreweries,” she says.
Riddle has also planned progressive dinners focusing on the craft beer theme, including a recent event at four microbreweries in Ballard.
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