SASQUATCH BOOKS

1904 3rd Avenue, Suite 710 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101

206/467-4300 TOLL FREE 800/775-0817 FAX 206/467-4301
www.sasquatchbooks.com
FOR RELEASE SEPTEMBER 30, 2014
Contact Haley Stocking, Publicist 206/826-4318 hstocking@sasquatchbooks.com
James Beard Award-nominated chef Renee Ericksons
innovative Seattle restaurants have been lauded by everyone from
Bon Apptit to The New York Times. Ericksons next project is a
heartfelt cookbook that encapsulates her favorite recipes and
celebrates the people who help make her restaurants so successful.
A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus: Menus and Stories by
Renee Erickson (Sasquatch Books; $40.00; September 2014) gives
readers a peek into the chefs favorite menus for gatherings of friends
and family. Over seventy recipes are organized by seasonal menus
including Wintry Brunch, New Years Eve Party, Wild Foods Dinner,
Lamb and Ros Dinner, Fourth of July Crab Feast, and Early Fall
Put-Up Party. Recipes span the gamut from simple fare to delicacies: Gougres, Steak Tartare, Messy
Spot Prawns, Chilled Melon Soup, Harissa-Rubbed Roasted Lamb, and Boat Street Bread Pudding are
just a few recipes that await readers tables. Gorgeous photography by Jim Henkens, proles on
Ericksons employees and producers, and sidebars like a wine-buying guide and tips for preparing a
cheese plate round out this luscious dinner party in a book.
With A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus Erickson invites home cooks to join her tribefor a year, a
season, or just a meal.

(MORE)
A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus
Menus and Stories
Renee Erickson
About the Author

SASQUATCH BOOKS
1904 3rd Avenue, Suite 710 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
206/467-4300 TOLL FREE 800/775-0817 FAX 206/467-4301
www.sasquatchbooks.com

A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus
Menus and Stories
Renee Erickson
with Jess Thomson
Photography by Jim Henkens, illustrations by Jeffry Mitchell
September 2014 $40.00 320 pages Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-57061-926-7
Available wherever ne books are sold.
Sasquatch Books 800/775-0817 www.sasquatchbooks.com
Renee Erickson owned her rst restaurant at age twenty-ve. Today, with a
fabulous staff, she runs four Seattle restaurants (Boat Street Caf, The Walrus and
the Carpenter, The Whale Wins, and Barnacle, as well as Boat Street Pickles and
two catering creatures, Narwhal and General Porpoise). Her recipes have been
featured in The Wall Street Journal, Bon Apptit, and Food & Wine. This is her
rst cookbook.
Events
October 1st: In conversation with Molly Wizenberg at Book Larder, Seattle, WA
October 6th: Cookbook dinner at Delancey, Seattle, WA
October 8th: Cookbook lunch at London Plane, Seattle, WA
October 12th: Cookbook dinner at L&E Oyster Bar, Los Angeles, CA
October 13th: Book signing at Omnivore Books, San Francisco, CA
October 14th: Cookbook party at Boulettes Larder, San Francisco, CA
October 16th: Cookbook party at Ned Ludd, Portland, OR
October 17th: Demo and book signing at Pages to Plate, Portland, OR
October 20th: Cookbook dinner at Maiden Lane, New York, NY
October 21st: Book signing at Beechers Cheese, New York, NY
October 25th: Cookbook dinner at Salt Water Farm, Rockport, ME
Events subject to change. Please contact Haley Stocking at hstocking@sasquatchbooks.com for
up-to-date details.
Praise for A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus
I am one of manylegions, even!whove been inspired by Renee Erickson and
her restaurants, and this book is Renee, through and through. Her cooking is like
no one elses: thoughtful but seemingly effortless, evocative of France but rmly
rooted in the Northwest, from Mussels in Cider with crme frache to Messy Spot
Prawns with piment dEspelette. Even those lucky enough to eat in her restaurants
can learn a thing or two (or ten) about food from this smart, opinionated beauty of
a cookbook. Im in love.
Molly Wizenberg, author of Delancey and A Homemade Life
Renee Erickson cooks like a woman, with generosity, sensuality, and style. In this
charming book she shares everythingstunning images, wonderful stories, a
passionate philosophy, and her recipes to cook and live by.
Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, owners of The Canal House
Renee Erickson tells an incredibly personal story about the PNW and writes with love and respect of the
ingredients of our region. There are engaging stories about cool people intertwined cleverly with recipes
and full menu suggestions. I especially like the sections on seasonal ingredients and ideas on their best
uses. This book is destined to become a great complement to Renees already great restaurants.
Vitaly Paley, chef/owner of Paleys Place, Imperial, Portland Penny Diner, and author of
Paleys Place Cookbook
Renees heartfelt menus inspire me to gather my dearest friends, uncork some bottles of wine, break
out the copper pots and experience the casual graciousness of her table in my own home, no matter
the season.
Cathy Whims, chef/owner of Nostrana
A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus spins a compelling narrative with bracing charm. . . It illustrates through
personal stories, cooking methods, and condent opinion a sense of place and a sense of self. Included are
many beautiful photos, which evoke near perfect moments, including portraits of . . . her friends and
colleagues: the cooks, mentors, foragers, gardeners and sherman of her magnicent Puget Sound.
Amaryll Schwertner, chef/co-owner of Boulettes Larder
Just like Renee herself, this book is perky, colorful, energetic, and full of fun. And they both make you
smile! I love the fact that she pickles everything, would wear smoke as a perfume (so would I!) and feels
that, when it comes to cooking, there is a very thin line between properly cooked and burned! The books
makes me want to visit all of her restaurants all over again, and rush into the kitchen to make her vibrant
Celery Root and Celery Leaf Salad, the well-spiced pork Crpinettes, and of course her famed Chicken
Liver Pt.
Patricia Wells, author and cooking school teacher
Every so often a cookbook comes along that looks good, is written with style, and more important, you
nd yourself cooking from it and looking for ideas from it all the time. Renees ideas inspire hunger and
they work. I can already predict that Ill wear out my rst copy.
Kermit Lynch, wine importer, and author of Adventures on the Wine Route
SASQUATCH BOOKS
1904 3rd Avenue, Suite 710 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
206/467-4300 TOLL FREE 800/775-0817 FAX 206/467-4301
www.sasquatchbooks.com
Praise for Renee Ericksons Restaurants
SASQUATCH BOOKS
1904 3rd Avenue, Suite 710 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98101
206/467-4300 TOLL FREE 800/775-0817 FAX 206/467-4301
www.sasquatchbooks.com
The Walrus and the Carpenter:
Best Restaurants of 2012
The Walrus and the Carpenter: 10 Great
Places to Savor Oysters on the Half Shell
(December 2011)
Frank Bruni (June 2011):
One restaurant you shouldnt miss, in terms of its festive atmosphere and the rst-rate seafood,
is the Walrus and the Carpenter. . . I stopped by the Walrus on a Friday at 5:15 p.m., and
already it was full, with the intense, palpable conviviality that so many restaurants aim for but
so few achieve. That kind of warmth and vibrancy often boil down to luck: to the animation of
the crowd that gathers, the pitch of peoples voices. Here everyone seemed impossibly merry.
#9 The Whale Wins is chef Renee Ericksons follow-up to her tiny spot The Walrus and The
Carpenter, which landed on this list back in 2011. Youll now nd her in an airy, bright dining
room in the Wallingford neighborhood, serving rustic, wood-red dishes driven by the bounty
of the Pacic Northwest.
Renee Erickson is on a roll. The woman behind Boat Street Cafe, Walrus and the Carpenter, The
Whale Wins, Barnacle, Narwhal and her signature line of pickles is going places. No, really. She
travels extensively, soaking up inspiration wherever her passport is stamped. Lucky us, because
those brilliant lessons often show up on the menus at her wildly popular places. (January 2014)
2014 James Beard Foundation
Restaurant and Chef Award nomination