Chef’s Kitchen

Each month we bring a guest chef into our Chef’s Kitchen column to give us tips that elevate their cooking (and hopefully ours). They also provide a recipe that showcases their tips. Our guest chef this month is Kyle Nicholson, Chef/Innkeeper of Friday Harbor House on San Juan Island, operated by Columbia Hospitality. Built in 1994-95 and updated about six years later with a conference center and three town-view suites, the inn has 23 rooms all with gas fireplaces, oversized jetted tubs, flat screen TVs, free WiFi and comfortable lounging robes. A continental breakfast is served each day. The Bluff Restaurant is, you've got it, on the bluff overlooking the marina, other islands and all that water and sky. Despite the sea plane and boat activity, it is incredibly calming to have a wonderful meal while "viewing." The atmosphere is casual with a small bar (4-5 seats) and a dining room that takes advantage not only of the view, but the local products as well--kelp, sea beans, nettles, berries, mushrooms and spruce tree tips.

Chef Kyle Nicholson attended Portland’s Western Culinary Academy (now Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts), took his degree and returned to Utah (he was born and raised in Salt Lake City) where he worked for Kimpton. He moved on to Park City where he handled high volumes at River Horse on Main, leaving to teach in Sur La Table's culinary program. After a year and a half, the professional kitchen was calling and he took a job at a Park City fine dining restaurant, Talisker on Main. Kyle and his fiancée were looking to settle elsewhere and found the Friday Harbor House chef job. "I looked into Columbia Hospitality and like how they operate. They offer great support. We really like that there are 250+ days of sun on San Juan Island and how self-sufficient it is," says Kyle. He enjoys using local ingredients like kelp, taking the stipes, or blades, and roasting them to create something like a nori sheet. During trips to Italy and South America, he loved eating seasonally and locally. "I love foraging and using seasonal items--it's common in so many cultures. We're taking it to a fine-dining level at Friday Harbor House."