The Wine Knows

Jerry Traunfeld, who has been the anchor in the kitchen at The Herbfarm restaurant in Woodinville, Wash., for the past 17 years, is leaving to start his own place in Seattle, which is slated to open next year.

Arriving Oct. 1 will be Keith Luce, who has been executive chef at Cosentino Winery in Napa Valley's Yountville, Calif.

Luce comes well prepared. He trained and worked in New York, then moved to Europe, where he worked in restaurants in Italy, France and Monte Carlo. He moved back to the states to work in West Virginia and even had a gig at the White House as a sous chef during the Clinton administration. From there, he headed to Chicago, where his work at "Spruce" earned him a James Beard Award. The well-traveled Luce then headed west to Aspen, Colo., and on to San Francisco before moving north to the Napa Valley.

Traunfeld was The Herbfarm's third chef in its 20-year history - and the one who helped owners Ron Zimmerman and Carrie Van Dyck restart the restaurant after it burned down in 1997 at the farm in Fall City. The Herbfarm had a temporary restaurant at Hedges Cellars in Issaquah before opening across the street from Chateau Ste. Michelle in 2001. It shares a parking lot with the Barking Frog and the Willows Lodge.

During his tenure at The Herbfarm, Traunfeld wrote The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking with Fragrance and Flavor in 2005 and The Herbfarm Cookbook in 2000 and co-wrote Seasonal Favorites from The Herbfarm with Zimmerman in 1992.

The Herbfarm is legendary for its extensive nine-course meals that rely deeply on Northwest ingredients. Zimmerman's wine list is the perennial winner of Wine Press Northwest's Best Northwest Wine List competition, having brought home the award for the past six years (and will get it for the seventh time when our Fall issue comes out in two weeks).

The Herbfarm's dedication to Northwest wine and cuisine is a model for all others to follow.