Micah Windham joined Semiahmoo Resort, Golf and Spa as executive chef in June, bringing over 25 years of culinary and restaurant management experience as well as a passion for sourcing local ingredients.
Windham leads an 88-person team cooking up and serving dishes for Packers Kitchen and Bar, Great Blue Heron Grill, Seaview Cafe and private events.
“One of the biggest joys I have is watching people eat. Watching that joy and satisfaction of someone getting something very nourishing and something very delicious,” Windham said. “It leads to, ‘Why? Why do we do what we do?’ It always goes back to that satisfaction of giving back to someone.”
Windham credits growing up in the Snoqualmie Valley as a large source of inspiration for his cooking. As a child, Windham remembers helping his family in the kitchen and finding uses for produce they grew, berries they foraged, rainbow trout they fished, and caribou they had. He said he takes a wholesome approach to cuisine, looking for nutrition as equally he does its enjoyment, familiarity and fun. He said his Snoqualmie Valley roots bring a woodys, natural aspect to his dishes.
Windham started his career in 1996 at Salish Lodge and Spa in Snoqualmie, where he went from someone with no experience who applied every day for a month to eventually becoming chef de cuisine. He studied culinary arts and hospitality management at Seattle Central College and attended the Lake Washington Culinary Program. In 2008, Windham moved to Florida and worked for several country clubs and restaurants including Pele’s Wood Fire in Saint Augustine and Taverna in Jacksonville. His last position was chef de cuisine at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra.
Windham said he always wanted to move back to Washington, but with four daughters – ages 1, 3, 6 and 14 – the idea never came into fruition. That is, until Columbia Hospitality, which took over the Salish Lodge and Spa while Windham was working there, had an opening at Semiahmoo Resort.
Since starting at the end of June, Windham said he’s been working on creating smoother and faster service for Semiahmoo customers while working on a long-term goal of creating a wellness center.
“Semiahmoo has been a sleeping beast the last couple of years and we’re waking it up now,” he said. “With this high season coming to an end, we’re beginning to stretch what its capabilities are and we’re honing what those skills could be.”
The wellness center, which Windham says is still in the development phase, will offer spa cuisine for guests that would shift from a modern diet with starch, vegetable and meat to focus on neglected aspects such as gut health.
Semiahmoo Resort and Windham both have similar goals for using local ingredients, he said, which bring more flavor to food, help local businesses and reduce carbon footprint.
“This place has some of the best ingredients around, from the sea to the fields and the mountains. I can’t think of a better location that would have such resources,” he said. “The pride and care that goes into these ingredients before they even get to our door is awesome. And once they’re here, they’re cherished. That is translated to more experiences here, from a family having a bucket of steamers to a chef’s tableside dining experience.”
