Island County chef takes a break from the kitchen to write

Vincent Nattress’ restaurant, Orchard Kitchen, is known far beyond Whidbey Island.

The chef’s farm-to-table restaurant has been featured in national media outlets, such as Forbes, National Geographic and Travel + Leisure.

But if you want to sample the $130-per-person, eight-course dinner, plus an additional $87 or so for optional wine pairings, you’ll have to wait until March 27.

Nattress is on a writing sabbatical.

The chef, in an interview, said that he is writing two books. The first is on the history of his farmhouse restaurant, which started in 2015.

Nattress said he and his wife, Tyla, who serves as the restaurant’s wine maven, first bought the farm property, about six miles from the Whidbey Island ferry, back in 2011.

He said it took five years to open the restaurant housed in a converted barn and another building, tearing down, rebuilding, refinishing floors and obtaining permits to open the restaurant on the 5-acre farm.

Nattress said the book will explain how operating a farm and a restaurant simultaneously enhances the food experience for customers while also teaching about sustainable agricultural practices.

“I’ve been a chef for 42 years, and you cannot buy product that’s as good as what we grow,” he said.

Nattress said the book will be about his philosophy that, by serving food grown on his farm, restaurant customers will become more curious about food and its relationship to the earth.

The chef said the food he serves in his 44-seat restaurant changes weekly depending on what’s growing on his farm and what’s available from other quality vendors on Whidbey Island.

“The main character in the book is 48 degrees north latitude, which is where we live,” he said. “Forty-eight degrees latitude is completely different than a California restaurant because we have to pay attention to the fact that we have eight hours of daylight right now, and things are not really growing.”

Nattress said his winter menu will be different from his summer menu when there will be 16 hours of sunlight.

“So when I look out my window right now, we have kale and broccoli and beets and carrots that are still in the ground,” Nattress said. He said Whidbey Island is known for its farmed oysters and mussels and wintertime is a prime growing season.

He said that in summer, a bounty of fresh fruit and vegetables is available, and dishes will include vine-ripened tomatoes, sweet peppers, plums, raspberries and strawberries.

Nattress grew up on Whidbey Island and started working as a dishwasher in a Whidbey Island restaurant while in high school. He said he was soon working in restaurants in a variety of kitchen positions in Seattle.

Next were experiences in restaurants in France and Italy and a decade of cooking in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He and Tyla opened their own restaurant in St. Helena, Napa County, called Roux, but Nattress said positive reviews didn’t help attract customers after the September 11 terrorist attacks hurt business, and it closed in less than three years.

He then worked for five years as executive chef at Meadowbrook, a luxury hotel resort in Saint Helena, before moving back to Whidbey Island in 2009 to begin searching for land to open his restaurant.

His second book is on AI and its dangers. He points to some writings on his restaurant’s website to explain his concerns.

“Recently, I’ve heard several people in positions of power assert that AI is going to create a huge number of new jobs,” he writes. “But it seems to me it’s going to bring new jobs in the same way that automation made life better for elevator operators; history has always shown us that if a new technology can replace a person, it will.”

Nattress said in the interview that AI is the antithesis of what happens in his restaurant, where the food is grown by hand and crafted by human beings.

The chef said he is looking for a publisher for his books.

Nattress said he is thankful for his writing break and the time to reflect, but also looks forward to reopening the restaurant and cooking.

Unlike traditional restaurants, guests sit at community tables. Guests on review sites have described it as a dinner party.

Nattress said guests come from Snohomish County, Seattle and even Portland to eat at Orchard Kitchen.

He said the $130-per-person experience increases to $165 per person during the summer when seating is available on an outdoor patio.

For those who balk at those prices, Nattress plans to reinstate a locals’ night on Thursday, offering a smaller four-course meal for $90.

The chef said he hopes customers who come for dinner will view it as more than a visit; it’s more than a restaurant experience, but a journey to the connections between nature and food.