Chef John Howie

Chef John Howie began his culinary career at age 15, training in many of Seattle's finest restaurants. As the opening chef at Palisade in 1992, he helped the restaurant gain status as Seattle's premier special occasion dining spot. In March 2002, John opened his own restaurant, Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar. Rave reviews soon followed, with Food & Wine magazine awarding Seastar one of the Best New Wine Lists in America in 2003. Seastar has also received high ratings from the Zagat Survey, AOL CityGuide Web site and locally on KING 5's Evening Magazine, which named Seastar the Best New Restaurant in Western Washington in 2003. John is hoping to get the same accolades with his newest dining venture, JOHN Steak, which is set to open in 2009.

Chef John also has gained notoriety for bringing unique, specialty foods to the Seattle table. He originated the use of planks for restaurant service, launched a culinary Web site (plankcooking.com) and authored two cookbooks, The Cedar Plank Cookbook and The Plank Cookbook.

John has been featured on CBS' The Early Show, CNN, Food Network, RestaurantBusiness.com, StarChefs.com and Sunset Magazine. In the course of a year, Seastar supports more than 200 charitable organizations.

Because of this outstanding community service, John received an Excellence Award in 2004 from the mayor of Bellevue and the Overlake Service League recognizing his exceptional efforts.