Hunt Club at the Sorrento

Everything old is new again

Aging gracefully is something we all aspire to, but looking good at 100 can be difficult. The "grand dame" of Seattle, the Sorrento Hotel, is 100 this year and she is looking grand indeed. Although the longest running luxury hotel in the city, she does have competition in the luxury category. However, she has the advantage of the style of her times—warm Mahogany wood, a Rookwood fireplace in the Fireside Room and the leather banquettes in the Hunt Club. The particular intimacy of the public, private and dining rooms isn't to be found elsewhere.

Looking good and simply lasting aren't everything, however. A certain amount of reinvention, especially in the dining arena, has to take place to keep things interesting. Enter the new team of Food and Beverage Director Scott Walker and Executive Chef Jason Dallas*. Jason has been at the hotel since November 2006 when he hired on as the executive sous chef under Executive Chef Brian Scheehser. Just three weeks later, Brian announced he was leaving and Jason took the reins. Scott arrived in December 2007.

Interestingly, both men are in Seattle because their wives had job opportunities in the area. Jason's wife is a pediatric oncologist who came out to work with Children's Hospital and Fred Hutchinson six years ago and Scott's wife accepted a job at the Fairmont Olympic. Scott comes from The Driskill Hotel in Austin, Texas, which is also an historic (1886) luxury hotel.

Jason's love of food began early in New Orleans, surrounded by good food and parents who were both good cooks. In Memphis at 16, he began his career in the time-honored way—washing dishes. An avid bicyclist, he was participating in an American Lung Association ride one year and met his future wife. She lived in Philadelphia; he moved and attended The Restaurant School while working at Susanna Foo, a five-diamond restaurant. He started as an intern and ended as the garde manger. He also interned at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Philadelphia, becoming a banquet chef.

Executive Chef Jason Dallas

Moving to Seattle, Jason found work at the Herbfarm. "I was there for two years and really learned the Northwest seasons," says Jason. He then opened the Fish Club at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront hotel and spent two years there in pastry, as the a.m. sous and p.m. sous. He then spent two years at the Fairmont Olympic as banquet chef. "Jason is a very well-rounded chef," says Scott. "That's critical in a hotel environment where so many things can be thrown at you. Plus, we'll do just about anything we can for the guest, time permitting."

How do you take 100 years of history and make it new again? "We've looked at old menus and found things like rack of lamb and peas from the 1920s," explains Jason. "We've updated it with Anderson Ranch rack of lamb and minted pea ravioli. Also, the people on staff here are great. They don't wait to be told what to do, they come up with ideas and step up to the plate to make them happen. One person came up with rabbit pate and it's now on the menu."

Hunt Club dining room

"One of the coolest things about working here is that we're small enough to make changes on the menu when we want, generally twice a week, as opposed to working in a larger venue where there are 10 channels to go through," says Jason. "It's a different vibe here, especially since Scott has arrived. We'll talk to a local forager and they'll have fiddle leaf fern but only enough for several days. We'll take it."

Jason keeps in close touch with local producers and farmers in Washington and Oregon to ensure he knows when the best product is in. "I get very excited when I know the next mushroom is ready or I can get Miner's lettuce or wild watercress. We're going to stay creative and keep pressing the envelope with our food so people have a reason to return. It's always a work in progress."

Scott is equally excited about the broadening of the wine list. "We have many travelers at the hotel as well as locals at the restaurant and need to offer a wider selection of wines. We're adding more California wines and focusing on more esoteric Washington and Oregon wines," he explains.

When it comes to working at a "hotel" restaurant, both Jason and Scott agree that there's a bit of a renaissance going on in hotel dining. "People seem to get that there's more glamour at a place with a 100-year history; we're not a modern cookie-cutter place," explains Scott. "There's a little more romance involved; we have a very unique room in the city."

"We've had people here celebrating their 60^th wedding anniversary and they were married here," laughs Jason. "It's really great. People still get married here and they'll continue that cycle. There are a lot of apartments and condos in this area, but not a lot of restaurants, so we're their neighborhood place. We have a nice mix of young and old and the bar is a popular spot."

With long-term loyal customers and new friends being won over every day, the Sorrento and the Hunt Club are sitting pretty. We should all look so good.

* Both Scott and Jason have moved on.

Connie Adams/April 2008