Here are a few sweet ways friends and fans and family have come up with to keep telling the stories of people who played a key role in shaping the culinary landscape in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.

Thierry Rautureau

Many in the culinary world and beyond were deeply saddened when The Chef in the Hat died in the fall of 2023. A recent celebration of his life was filled with poignant stories, lots of tears and an invitation by his friend and colleague, Tom Douglas, to get up and dance at the end of the remembrances.

Douglas has vowed to keep the dance party going on his weekly Hot Stove Radio show and podcast, a program he co-hosted with Rautureau for decades.

Over the next year, one segment of each show will be dedicated to revisiting a different recipe from Chef in the Hat’s cookbook. “Rover’s” was published in 2005 and covers a lot of ground, with more than 100 recipes and stories from this landmark French restaurant in Seattle’s Madison Valley neighborhood. It shuttered in 2012 after 25 years and is still missed by its devoted fans.

During a recent episode of Hot Stove Radio, Rover’s co-author, Cynthia Nims made an appearance and talked about the process for making complicated dishes approachable enough for the home cook. The research was delicious and the book was a big hit. On that episode, Nims talked about a goat cheese tart with beets. “He cooked the beets very slowly and it took a lot longer than you think,” she said.

We’re looking forward to more of these deep dives into this memorable cookbook and stories of the esteemed chef. Merci, Tom and team.

ForbesUpdate: A Tip Of The Hat To One Of Seattle’s Most Beloved ChefsBy Leslie Kelly

Rose Ann Finkel

It’s hard to imagine it now, but there was a time when smaller breweries didn’t exist. Rose Ann and Charles Finkel were part of the microbrew revolution when they launched Pike Brewing Company in 1989.

“Rose Ann was my partner in every way and was involved in all aspects of the business,” Charles said in a recent interview. “She had a great palate and was particularly talented in menu development, beer lists, creative development of Pike brands, service, and employee relations. Our employees loved and respected her. She was a very hard worker, focused on all tasks.”

After Rose Ann’s death in June, 2020, Finkel said The Pike decided to honor her by establishing a scholarship in her name at Washington State University, the Rose Ann Finkel Diversity in Brewing Scholarship.

Additionally, during this year’s popular Women in Beer celebration, for which Rose Ann was the chief proponent, Finkel said “we highlighted her with both the event and with our March Women’s History month seasonal beer, Rose Ann Amber. It has been a big success, both because of the beer and the love and admiration of Rose Ann in the brewing and greater community.”

Christine Tirado of Yakima, Wash., is the artist who created the label for Rose Ann Amber.

ForbesA Nod To Culinary Cinema Makes This Film Festival Extra TastyBy Leslie Kelly

Jon Rowley

He was called a culinary evangelist, preaching the gospel of wild salmon, oysters on the half shell and the obscure Shuksan strawberry to name just a few. Rowley was the go-to guy Julia Child would call when she was craving Dungeness crab and former Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl featured him in an entertaining episode of Adventures with Ruth in 2009.

When he died in 2017, friends and family gathered at Tamara Murphy’s Terra Plata to share sweet and salty memories. She’s still got a tribute to her late friend on the shelf of her Capitol Hill restaurant.

In nearby Bellevue, there’s private dining room was named in his honor.

“Out of respect for Jon and his contributions to not only our company and oyster program but to oyster quality and education for the region and beyond, our private dining room at Water Grill Bellevue has been named the Jon Rowley Room since day one,” said Sam King, chairman and CEO of King’s Seafood Company, a California-based restaurant group that had consulted with Rowley for more than 35 years.

Way back before it was trendy, “Jon introduced the word umami to us. This was decades ago. He was a stickler for quality and doing the right thing. We were of like minds and we continue to hold ourselves to these high standards every day.”

Rowley’s deep connections led Water Grill to some of its most important purveyors: “It was Jon who helped us establish relationships with many oyster farms nearby, including Taylor Shellfish and Hama Hama, which you’ll find on our menu today.”

A must-order when dining in the Jon Rowley room!

The Seattle Seahawks, like every NFL team, have brought in some undrafted free agents to fill up their roster before the start of OTAS and training camp.

Instead of the customary 53 that each team can have during the season, rosters are expanded to 90 during the offseason and training camp. Many of those extra spots are filled by undrafted free agents, but some find their way onto the 53-man roster despite not being a hot commodity coming out of the draft.

Pro Football Focus picked one undrafted free agent that could make each team’s roster and chose Wyoming linebacker Easton Gibbs for the Seahawks.

“Gibbs is an all-action linebacker who has been a tornado on the Wyoming defense for the last three seasons, registering 319 tackles and 20 tackles for loss as a starter. He might not be an elite athlete but his tackling ability and instincts could see him force his way onto the Seahawks roster,” Pro Football Focus writes.

A lot of the science behind undrafted free agents has to do with the fit on the roster of whichever team they are going to, and Gibbs is entering a favorable situation in Seattle. The Seahawks lost Jordyn Brooks and Bobby Wagner in free agency this offseason, leaving open a big need for a linebacker.

Seattle drafted Tyrice Knight out of UTEP in the fourth round, but there is still a need with free agent signings Tyrel Dodson and Jerome Baker only being on one-year contracts. Add in the fact that coach Mike Macdonald has specialized in developing linebackers and Gibbs is in a great spot to possibly contribute for the Seahawks in his rookie year if he can make noise this summer.

SEATTLE — The Oakland A’s became one of the bigger surprises in baseball last weekend when, after six straight wins, they improved to .500 for the season and moved to within 1 1/2 games of first place in the American League West.

It’s been a bit of a struggle for the A’s ever since. Sunday, they lost 8-4 to the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park, marking their sixth loss in the last eight games.

The A’s trailed 5-0 after two innings, but a Max Schuemann error paved the way to a four-run second for the division-leading Mariners, who took two of three in the series.

After losing three of four to the Texas Rangers early last week, the A’s (19-23) are now 3 1/2 games back of first place in the division going into their four-game series against the Houston Astros. The series starts Monday.

A’s starting pitcher Alex Wood allowed four hits, including a two-run home run to Julio Rodríguez, in two innings before he left the game with a shoulder injury, which he said had been bothering him for a while. A’s manager Mark Kotsay said the team would likely have an announcement on Wood on Monday.

“He’s been grinding,” Kotsay said of Wood. “He hasn’t felt great. He’s been able to make every start, but today, you saw his velo dropping; his slider wasn’t as sharp. He gave us everything he had for two innings. Obviously, he’s disappointed that he had to come out of the game.”

Asked if he might have to land on the injured list, Wood said, “We’ll see how the next few days go. I’ve been throwing with it for a little bit now. Just getting treatment and managing the workload.”

For the Mariners, Julio Rodríguez and Mitch Garver both hit two-run home runs, and Luis Castillo allowed two runs over six strong innings.

“Our offense showed up today. Put good pressure on them early, got some big hits, home runs,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said.

Rodríguez’s homer was just his second of the season and his first at T-Mobile Park in Seattle’s 22nd home game. Rodríguez hit a 2-2 pitch from Wood out to straightaway center field in the second inning for a two-run shot that gave Seattle a 5-0 lead.

The homer had an exit velocity of 109 mph and traveled an estimated 409 feet.

“You’ve got to stay patient and let the results come and I feel like today was the day and I’m really happy about that, that I was able to help the team win,” Rodríguez said.

Rodríguez nearly homered in his next at-bat in the fifth inning, doubling off the top of the wall, but jogged home when Garver hit his fifth of the season to give Seattle a 7-1 lead. Garver also had a two-out RBI single in the first inning.

Seby Zavala added his first home run of the season for the Mariners, a solo shot in the sixth.

Following a sluggish start to the season, Luis Castillo (4-5) has now gone six straight starts allowing two earned runs or fewer each time. Castillo needed 100 pitches to get through six innings, but closed his outing with strikeouts of Shea Langeliers and J.D. Davis with runners on base.

Castillo allowed seven hits and struck out eight. Schuemann and Abraham Toro both hit solo home runs to account for the scoring off Castillo.

Brent Rooker hit his 10th homer of the season in the eighth inning off reliever Cody Bolton. It was a two-run shot.

“These guys battled back. Every time we scored, they ended up scoring. As much as we’ve been able to lock it down in games that we’ve trailed in — and we actually have come back in a few of them — today we just weren’t able to do that in the bullpen,” Kotsay said.

UP NEXT: Ross Stripling (1-6, 5.14) will open a three-game series at Houston on Monday. Stripling gave up 10 hits and 11 runs — but only five earned runs — over 1 2/3 innings in his previous start against Texas.