The Right Blend of Passion, People, and Purpose with Renee Erickson
James Beard award-winning chef and author Renee Erickson joins Here For Me’s first-ever live show, recorded in April 2023 in Seattle. Renee shares the story of how a part-time job at a Seattle restaurant turned into an unexpected, yet remarkable career as a renowned chef and restaurateur, and all the setbacks and challenges she’s encountered along the way.
Show Notes:
Visit Renee Erickson’s website
Read Renee’s 2014 profile in The Seattle Times, detailing some of the history mentioned in this episode
Learn about James Beard awards
Purchase Renee’s books, “Getaway: Food and Drink to Transport You” and “A Boat, A Whale, and A Walrus: Menus and Stories”
Visit the website for Sea Creatures, Renee’s restaurant group
Follow Sea Creatures on Instagram
Here For Me LIVE Sponsors and Partners
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Nicole: [00:00:03] Hey, everyone, it's Nicole. We have a very special episode for you this week. It's our first ever live recording of Here For Me with the amazing Renee Erickson. She's a James Beard award-winning chef, restaurateur, author, artist and all-around fabulous person. She's also a friend I met in Seattle at her first restaurant, Boat Street Café, back in 2009, and it's been an absolute joy to watch her grow her business and grow as a human over the years. We recorded this episode in Seattle on April 26th, and it's my great honor to air it here for all of you. So, here's Renee and me in conversation. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Stacy: [00:00:46] I'm thrilled to introduce the host and creator of Here For Me, Ms. Nicole Christie.
Nicole: [00:01:00] Thank you, Stacy. And thank you to everyone for joining us. And before I get started, she mentioned the sponsors, all of the wonderful people that have made this event possible. But I have to thank Stacy and Dave from Lens Group Media. Without them—I'm going to try to not cry—none of this would have happened. They produced a podcast I hosted for Microsoft and told me in November of 2020, you need to have your own show and we want to do it. And everything we've done, the concept of this show, they've been with me every step of the way, taught me everything I know. So thank you.
And thank you to all of you for joining this conversation with the inspiring, brilliant, lovely gem of a human, Renee Erickson. As Stacy mentioned, my name is Nicole Christie and I am the creator and host of Here For Me, which if you're new to the show, some people may be, is a podcast about the power of choosing yourself, of being here for you just as you are there for others. And it's about how the best self-care comes from the inside. So it's self-awareness, self-compassion, self-respect, self-integrity. We dive into all of that through life-altering stories, lessons learned, and advice from leading experts that help you show up for yourself with the love, honor, compassion and encouragement I know everyone readily gives to others. So why did I create this podcast? Here For Me was born out of my own story of healing and discovery. Between 2019 and 2022, I weathered two health crises in rapid succession, including a yearlong battle with ocular cancer.
I moved from Seattle to San Diego. I stepped away from a hard-charging career in corporate communications at Microsoft, and I felt my way to the other side of divorce—all during a global pandemic. All of this left me craving open, honest, vulnerable conversations about what it means to be a human in this world, the kind that I think we need a lot more of. I wanted to talk with people about their life disruptions and transitions and how they learned to care for themselves through them. What I'm learning through all of this is that doing the hard work on ourselves is messy and murky, and it takes the right blend of humor, serious insight and, content warning, salty language—we'll try to keep it a little clean tonight, but who knows, who cares—to have these conversations with others. And with that, we will get into tonight's conversation with Renee. Most of you know her; she is a James Beard award-winning chef, author, artist, and the co-owner of Sea Creatures Restaurants right here in Seattle, which includes the Incredible Walrus and the Carpenter, The Whale Wins, Willmott's Ghost, General Porpoise, and oh-so-many-more favorites of all of ours. This season of Here For Me is all about detours, and we're going to hear about the detours that Renee has taken along the path of her inspiring career and life. So, without further delay and rambling from yours truly, it is my great honor and pleasure to welcome Renee Erickson.
Renee: Hello. Hi. Hello.
Nicole: [00:04:12] Hello. Welcome. I wanted to start out talking about how you and I met. So Renee and I met in 2009 through a mutual friend who was also named Renee. And at the time the three of us were going through some pretty traumatic breakups and like no one has ever been through and other Renee and I, as we'll call her, would come to Boat Street and hang out with you and your team and you'd bring rosé and oysters and your amazing bread with sea salt. Renee got me into the bread with sea salt. Very important. And we would just bitch about boys. So I always joke that if I had a memoir about that time, it would be “Bitching about Boys at Boat Street.”
Renee: Never happened.
Nicole: Never happened at all. This never happened. But here we are. I think it's kind of interesting that we started out having vulnerable conversations about life and relationships. And then now here we are 13 years later doing it in this forum. So we will kick off. As I said, this season of Here For Me is about detours and we are going to talk about those times when we or we've been talking about when we either intentionally or unintentionally veer off our course of life.
I know you have many stories. There are a few detours in your life that I want to talk about tonight, and specifically what each one taught you about showing up for yourself. So let's start with Boat Street, because that was the big one. It was kind of your foray into this industry, and it really was maybe a surprising detour, but one that you took intentionally. You were a recent U- grad. I don't know if anybody knows this, but Renee has a BFA in Art. I think you sit on the board for the art school.
Renee: I do, yeah.
Nicole: So this is like [applause] Yes, I know. Like, this is so incredible. It's such an amazing part of your world. But you bought Boat Street Café from its original proprietor, Susan Kaplan, in 98, is that right?
Renee: Yes.
Nicole: So four years after you finished school. And I'm curious, what pulled you toward this path and what were you feeling when you took it?
Renee: [00:06:03] Foolishness. I think I graduated from University of Washington in 1995 and spent time before and after that traveling. I went to School of Art and I got to go to Rome. I don't know if anyone's been to Rome in this room, but it's the best place on the planet, in my opinion. And the university has a building on the Campo de Fiori, and I would get to walk from my very nice apartment that I wasn't supposed to get to stay in that was owned by Cornell University, like really close to Piazza Navona. So it was like a very short, insanely beautiful walk to school every day. And during that time I would like walk by the lamb shop and the cheese shop and the pasta shop and the whatever. And although it's supposed to be studying art mostly and taking Italian, I was just like, “What is this place of food?” And came home after six months in Rome. And I had been working at Boat Street as a student, and Susan was going through a lot of things in her life and kept bugging me about buying it. And I was just like, I'm not doing that. So I left again, went to Europe for seven months, traveling like I was very fortunate to get to do with a backpack and grody clothes that my mom burned when I got home. But just like trying to, like, figure out what I was going to do with my life and really thought because of my passion of art and my history of growing up around artists, I wanted to be an art teacher.
Renee: [00:07:25] And so that's what I was going to do. I was applying to graduate school, and I'm sure many people in this room that might know Jeffry Mitchell, who is one of my heroes in this world, and he was my teacher at University of Washington and went to Temple University in Philadelphia, who also owns a building in Rome. And I was like, I'm going to go do that. Like, I'm going back to Rome. And I sadly got waitlisted into the graduate program. And at the same time, Susan was still trying to sell me this restaurant that I had now started just doing more and more as time went on. And again, this was 1997 at that point. So there was no cell phones, there was barely Internet. Thank God. There was no Yelp. And so, like owning a restaurant was like, sure, that sounds interesting. And so she kept bugging me. At a certain point, I was waitlisted for graduate school and still really loving working in this restaurant. And so I asked my parents and some close friends and there were like, “Should I wait to see if I get into college or should I buy this restaurant as a 25 year old?” And they were all like, Buy the restaurant. I was like, “Oh God, I'm a terrible artist.” But and so I did. My parents loaned me $10,000 and I basically bought a restaurant and I was 25. So had anyone been to the original Boat Sreet on Boat Street? I love you. I talk about it all the time where I'm like, if I could just have that, I would go back in time.
Renee: [00:08:49] But it was special. It would not pass a health inspection today, but the roof leaked. We had like tomato cans that we would hang from the ceiling to collect the water. There were literally like rats that are still in the water that would walk up and find their way into the restaurant. Water rats. They are like no other rat you've seen. It was just like the weirdest place on earth. But I would go back in a heartbeat. Yeah. So I was thinking I was going to be becoming a teacher and going to university, and then I started owning a restaurant. So I remember the first night was kind of hysterical. It didn't go well. Jeffry Mitchell, who I spoke about a minute ago, was working there at the time, and there was all these other employees that were also working there that some I had worked with, some I hadn't. And when they found out that I had bought it and also like some people's jobs were not going to be maintained for many reasons that we don't want to talk about, but they like literally unplugged everything, threw stuff out into Pacific Avenue. It was like a total mess. And so I remember the next day going in and just being like, of course, I didn't assume anyone would do anything like that, but my parents and my girlfriend from elementary school and I basically opened the restaurant the next day and it was as disastrous as one could imagine. They kind of comically bad in a way. But yeah.
Nicole: [00:10:11] You were so, I mean, you worked there. You'd worked at the restaurant, right? Yeah, I had cooked.
Renee: [00:10:15] I had done it all. I had done all the things.
Nicole: [00:10:18] But yeah, but in terms of running it, like challenges that you were running, you also were you and Susan partners at that point?
Renee: [00:10:23] Well? No, not at all. Yeah. Um, so she sold it to me the next day. All this stuff happens. The day after that, I'm like, alright, we have to open the restaurant because there's reservations. So we do. And my mom, who's now 82, was one of the servers with my friend Crissy, who, neither knew how to open a bottle of wine.
Nicole: [00:10:44] Renee and I realized we actually met in high school because I worked with Crissy at the Muffin Break in Woodinville in the late 80s. So just do the math right now. Holy crap. So, yeah.
Renee: [00:10:57] In the middle of like, service and trying to, like, put food out for these poor customers. With my dad in a kitchen and he was just like every two seconds, like, what am I doing? And I'm like, do not ask me another question. Like, I'm going to lose my mind. And my mom came back into the kitchen with a bottle of wine and a wine opener, and she's just like, I don't know what to do with this. And I'm just like...[laughter].
So fast forward. So then the next two days we closed and we basically, like, cleaned and got rid of, you know, just, just, yeah... had to like sage it basically. And we were always closed on Mondays. And the following Tuesday I go in, in the morning and I like start answering like voicemails. We had those, then and I was getting to them and I get this voicemail and it was from Kathryn Robinson, who, if anyone knows anything about food writing in Seattle, she's a food critic forever, and she leaves me this message, Well, not me. She didn't know what the hell was happening. She leaves a message for the restaurant and she's like, I was in on Friday night or whatever the hell at night it was. And she's just like, something seemed different. Can you give me a call? And I'm just like, “You got to be kidding me.” Like, literally the first night we took over, I took over. There was a critic in the restaurant, and I'm just like, I just wanted to die. And so I call her, and I was like, uh, basically, I was just like, I'm just going to tell you, like, you know, this is what happened. It was garbage. I'm sure. I'm very sorry. And I was like, if you could just give me like, six months to, like, figure this out, come back, please don't write a story. And thank God she said yes. She didn't write anything. And then six months later, she wrote a very nice review, which was amazing. But I was just like.. yeah. I'm going to throw up.
Nicole: Thank you for that, Kathryn Robinson. Yeah. What did you learn about yourself during this time?
Renee: [00:12:47] I don't think 25-year-olds learn a lot about themselves. It's true. As a 50-year-old, I look back and just be like, who would have thought that this was a good idea? You know? But I think thankfully when you're 25, you have like no care in the world and you just do things and you don't think that it's going to be for 25 years, which I never assumed I would keep doing this. I just was like, this is fun. It's fun. I'll give I'll give it a go. Yeah. And I didn't get into college, so I got to do something. And I think it's like a hindsight thing where you look back and you're like, why not just do stuff? I was at a talk last night at Town Hall and the conversation was, how do you know when you're ready to do something or how you start doing something? And the woman was just like, no better time than now, so just go do it. So I think looking back, it was that kind of blissful ignorance of a kid who just liked doing it. And that's the thing I think more than anything over 25 years is like... I love being in restaurants. I love going to them. I love mine. I love the experience of them. I love that it's this place for people that get to come and share in it. And so that was what I fell in love with when I was 25 and not aware really.
Nicole: [00:14:02] But and I think having passion and purpose like that carries you through that. Because if people are doing something I've talked about this before, like if you think it's going to make you happy or something, I'm going to do this just to make me happy. It's like there are so few things that actually make you happy and certainly not on a regular basis. But if you feel aligned to something you're passionate about and you feel purposeful, you can ride all of those waves, ride through imposter syndrome. Like you're like, I just love doing this, you know? Yeah. And I think that that's probably. And also being ready to not be ready.
Renee: [00:14:31] Yeah. I mean, I don't think I even understood what I was doing for 2 or 3 years. Like it was just you just were like, Oh, it's 1030. I gotta open, you know, like the hours say I'm supposed to be open. So here we go. Here we go. I'm ready to not be ready.
Nicole: [00:14:47] Open the door and see what happens.
Renee: [00:14:49] So yeah, it was it was chaos, but it was also a lot of fun.
Nicole: [00:14:52] Do you think you've carried that through as you've expanded like that attitude, the chaos, just embracing it, just embracing like, yeah.
Renee: [00:15:00] Yeah. I don't take it that seriously. I think restaurants, I don't know. Like there's a lot of restaurants in the world that obviously do take it that seriously. I am not that person I think I care more about. I mean, honestly, I care more about the people that I work with than the people that walk in the door, which sorry, everyone, but that's to me like where it is... That's the best part of it. And then I care for like my farmers and my fishers and my fill in the blanks because they're the ones that are like not partaking in, you know, they don't even come to restaurants generally because they're just like slaving away in the, you know, the field. So it's more complicated now. Obviously, we have way more staff. The world's a very different place than it was 25 years ago as far as how restaurants function and mine. I've just worked for myself for 25 years. So I think that's like a massive bonus in many ways. And then also kind of strange, but for me, like I get to learn from all my employees, which is what's so great. Like there are so many things where I'm like, I have no idea how to do that. Will you please show me? Because I didn't go to culinary school. I haven't worked for a million chefs to like teach me tricks. And so there's always things where I'm just like, That's cool. Like, what is that? You know?
Nicole: [00:16:13] I think people that work with you for you and obviously your family actually does work with you, but...
Renee: [00:16:17] Not anymore, thank God. Yeah. Okay.
Nicole: [00:16:18] They did for a long time.
Renee: Yeah, they did for a long time.
Nicole: But, you know, he's not here, so you can say that right now. Jim and Shirley, not here right now. We can say this, but I think that that love that you have for the people that work with you and then, like you said, and your fishermen, that carries down to your customers.
Renee: [00:16:35] Totally. I mean, I think I say that kind of as a joke. Like, obviously I really feel it wouldn't be able to open our doors if people didn't come and support us and, you know, care about what we do. And it's, you know, like from 25 years ago to now, like it's unbelievably different in the amount of support the community offers and just the broad community of restaurants and farmers markets and all the things that make them amazing in Seattle or in the Pacific Northwest. I love it. It's a funny thing. Like I've been saying this for a long time and like I get asked a lot of questions about like the history of all the #MeToo stuff and all the shitty chefs that treat people like garbage. And, you know, there's like this need to, like, have a story about it. And like, obviously I'm well aware of what goes on, but I've been so lucky to not have to experience that. And so, like the idea of I was telling this terrible story the other day about the one time that I actually yelled like really yelled. And it was at the first Boat Street. And I remember it was just like this moment where I'm like, what is wrong with me? Like, why would I get so upset over this? And it was because someone basically burned me and also asked me the same question like 15 times in a row. And I was just like, I can't take this. I was just like, Get out of here. You know? Like, I'm like, so upset. But like, you know, I feel really grateful that I get to spend it with people that, like, really care about what they do and haven't really had a terrible time in it. You know, I'm one of the few.
Nicole: [00:18:05] I was going to say, you are like the antithesis of that. What you were exactly what you were talking about of like, it's so beautiful and you feel that in all of this.
Renee: [00:18:12] I mean, it's not I mean, this sounds like we're so amazing, but it's not that. It's just that I think you go to work every day and you get to like... Spend time. And we all know that a lot of the people that work in the restaurant industry come there for some need, you know whether it's like support or and a lot of it's not even like I don't think they know it where you're, you know, life can be shitty, it can be really hard. And a lot of people that get hired in restaurants need a family or need a place that like can hopefully give them some stability and support. And it's complicated, you know? But I think we've somehow managed to prioritize that in a way. I'm not saying that we're like this utopia of a restaurant group, but like, I think it's something that's really like we talk about it all the time as a group. And I think what's best about where we're at now and like the shift from like me by myself in the kitchen all the time with my dad is there's people back there that I love that hold us all up and make sure that we're all accountable and doing what is best. And that takes a lot of people versus just one.
Nicole: [00:19:16] It’s culture. I mean, we hear about that. A lot of people in this room work in the corporate space and you hear about culture and how it's so important from the top down, if you will. That's exactly what you're doing.
Renee: [00:19:25] Absolutely.
Nicole: [00:19:26] Can we talk about a bump in the road? You talked about the first boat streak. You're like, which one? I know. Yeah. So I'm curious. That was 2005.
Renee: [00:19:37] No, it was ‘03, I believe. I think we reopened Boat Street.
Nicole: [00:19:41] It was a couple of years where. Two and a half years.
Renee: [00:19:44] Yeah.
Renee: [00:19:45] So I was standing in the first boat street kitchen on a Friday I believe, at like 230. So we were open Tuesday for lunch, Wednesday through Saturday, lunch and dinner and then Sunday brunch. I was basically there all day from like. Nine to midnight and then the middle you would basically like they call it flipping the kitchen. So you like flip your station so you can cook dinner. And so I was doing that and in walks this lady in a very nice suit. And I knew that the building was for sale. And I really wish I had a bunch of money back then because it sold for like nothing on the water. And yeah, so they came in, the building was sold and she's just like, oh, we want to have a meeting with you and talk to you about the new Boat Street project. And I was just like, Huh? And in my mind I'm like, okay, well, I have a lease and I have an addendum that or an option to my lease that I didn't need to renew it. And I was like, Oh, okay, well, I can't talk right now. It's Friday afternoon, but let's set up an appointment so foolishly, like because I didn't know any better the following I think Monday I went to the Dexter Horton building downtown by myself. I'm like driving down there, park go up, and I walk into this giant like room, like twice the size of this, giant board table, probably 14 men in suits and a wall of like these development drawings.
Renee: [00:21:00] And I'm just like, huh? You know, still just like, no idea what I'm walking into. And I just remember I was like, I was being interviewed or something. So I sit down and they're like, telling me all this stuff. And I listened. And then I got to a point and I was like, well, what are you going to do about my lease? And they all just kind of looked at me like I was nuts. And I'm like, Huh. So there was some shuffling of papers and some stuff that happened. And at that point I kind of lost like any sort of awareness of what was going on. And I remember driving home, I bought a phone at this point, so I had my first cell phone and I was driving and talking on the phone. And I called my mom and I was like, I really think something bad just happened, but I don't really know what's going on. So I got home. I remember, like standing in my bedroom and I called the attorney for my landlord. My landlord was a little interesting. And so she was not available to talk. But I called the attorney and he's like, you'll be fine. Don't worry about it. You have your lease, you have your option, you're good. I'm like, okay. And so I hung up the phone not knowing that that said, attorney like hightailed it to Canada. They had sold the property without my option on my lease.
Renee: [00:22:15] And so which I of course didn't know that. Like when you have a lease, you get it registered because I was 25 and didn't have a clue. So. I called a friend who works for Tom Douglas at the time, and I was just like, Do you have an attorney that I can talk to? So I hired an attorney. And so this was in February maybe, and he's just like, We need to sue them. And I'm just like, What? Because they weren't responding to us. And I was like, okay, you know, and because we wanted to get them to pay attention to us and the lease and they were planning on breaking ground on April 1st. Yeah. So we sued them. And in the city of Seattle at that point, the length of time before you would get a court hearing was like two years or something like that, which my attorney at the time knew, which I had no idea. He's like, this is the only way that they're going to pay attention to you. So that happened. And of course we then ended up in a mediation downtown Seattle. And don't ever do this. It's the worst, like 17 hours of your life where you sit in a room with your attorney and there's a like a retired judge that goes back and forth and like just hammers you to, like, break, essentially interrogation. Oh, it was awful. I just was just like, I just want to make food and like, I don't understand why is this so hard? But yeah, I ended up getting enough money to put some stuff in storage.
Renee: [00:23:49] And they also then, like, bullied the hell out of me for the rest of the three months and they parked a... I have these photos. I should actually I need to frame them or something. Just when I'm really angry, I can look at them. They parked like an excavator, like at the front door of Boat Street with those, like, giant claw thing, like two feet away from the front door for, like, the last two months of service or two weeks of service. So I lost the restaurant. It was traumatic. I loved this restaurant. My dad and I laid the patio. We built the picnic tables. My dad and brother built the bar, poured the steps that the excavator was parked on top of. Yeah, like met some of my best friends that I've ever met in the industry. Yeah, it was. It was traumatic. And now it's like the ugliest building ever. And the irony of it, like, I won't say any names, but I went to the bathroom during the mediation and the person that was not happy that we sued them told me that like his money was going to be going to better use because he gives small loans to women in like South America. And I was just like, okay, I'm going to go back and like, I hate you already. So yeah. So it was it was not a great experience.
Nicole: [00:25:06] But you reopened. So it was, what, two years?
Renee: [00:25:09] Two and a half years. Well, I mean, so...I had bought a condo. So when you open a business, especially a restaurant, you don't pay yourself because you assume you're never going to make any money. And then because I was working like 70 hours a week or more and doing all the things and, you know, like I made money and I was like, oh, and I think I made like $30,000, which to me at the time was just like a mountain of money. It still is. And I didn't know what to do with it. And I was living with my parents. I had a truck that my godfather sold me for a dollar. That was what I was driving around. It was like a 1967 pea green Toyota pickup truck that had a hole in the bottom. So when I drove from Boat Street to my parents' house in Woodinville at like midnight in the rain, like water would splash up underneath it. It was it was safe. Yeah. I remember getting, like, a new CD player for it. I bought three of them thinking that somehow the next one wouldn't get stolen. They just kept getting stolen. It was the only good part of the truck and I could pick up stuff, but I was able to buy a condo.
Renee: [00:26:16] And this all happened like a year and a half before the loss of the restaurant. And then I love dogs. And so I ended up getting a puppy that I wasn't supposed to have in my condo because it was a co-op and I lied to them and said that I was dog sitting. And then I was just like, I can't live here anymore. And so I joke that the only reason why I have a house in Seattle is because I bought this puppy, Jeffrey, who I couldn't live in this condo anymore. So I sold the condo and made $40,000 in like a year and a half, which was like, Holy shit. Yeah. And so I bought my house and the month after I closed on the house was when the restaurant was destroyed. So I went from like, like all this like, holy shit, I'm going to have a house and life is coming together. Pay myself. And you know, and then to like, Oh God, what am I going to do? So, so yeah, so I still have the house. Don't worry. I had lots of roommates for a while to help pay because it's what you do a lot of employees moved into that's, you know...
Nicole: [00:27:15] Yeah that part of it of like having people that work for you and going through that.
Renee: [00:27:18] I had like, yeah, a lot of employees that like one girlfriend lived in Vancouver, Washington but was going to school at. And so she would spend half the week at my house. And anyways, it was very helpful to have people help pay the mortgage, which was terrifying. So two and a half years went by. So Susan Kaplan, who started Boat Street, she had opened a donut shop. So the guy, someone I told earlier, this is a total sidebar, but I was walking this morning just to like rant. And this guy like is seven 15in the morning. I'm with my husband and my dog and he just a total random dude and he looks at me. He's like, Why don't you make more donuts? And I'm just like, I'm like, really good. Good morning. Like, And I was just like, What? And I was just, like, so taken aback. But anyway, Susan had a donut shop at Eastlake and he was like, the donuts on Eastlake were better. And I'm just like, okay, thanks. Yeah, that's literally the this is not Video'd So I can be like, Yeah. So like, just take your kid to school and shut up. Yeah, seriously? Yeah.
Nicole: [00:28:20] Yeah. She had her donut shop. She had her donut shop.
Renee: [00:28:23] And, you know, Susan and I decided that we would do catering, which is how Boat Street Kitchen came about. And so we did catering together for two and a half years in the back of a donut shop. So it was very glamorous and greasy. So we did that and just kept looking for space. And it was the time of Seattle before Amazon and everything that's happened in South Lake Union. And so Paul Allen's company, what's it called?
Nicole: Vulcan.
Renee: Vulcan. Thank you was I remember spending like days walking around looking at like buildings that were going to give me like a two year lease. And I'm just like, I can't do this. And there were all the cool buildings, but they're all now gone. And I remember just being like, I just want another space. But I couldn't find, it took forever. Like we ended up if you'd been to the second Boat Street in a very weird location, but kind of magical on Elliot. But yeah, it was just this like, such a weird donut shop and.
Nicole: [00:29:18] But you opened on Elliott. Susan was running Boat Street Kitchen and Boat Street Cafe, and I feel like a lot of people came back and worked for you and you sort of recreated it felt like this family, this new...
Renee: [00:29:31] Who was left over from the first one? Shannon. Shannon Yeah, lots of front of the house. People like Britta, who was the person that worked with me at the original Boat Street and was how I ended up with my attorney. So we ended up like kind of, yeah, there was quite a few people that came back. So.
Nicole: [00:29:47] So you came back, you had the new restaurant. How are you feeling at that time of coming through that period of like it's just such resilience of like you've got people living in your house, you're running a catering business out of Susan's donut shop. Like, what?
Renee: [00:30:02] It's, you know, it's always exciting. I mean, that's, you know, like I have nine restaurants. It's always exciting opening a restaurant and you're like, what is wrong with you? But the creativity part of opening a restaurant and building it and collectively, like working with a team is exhilarating and super exciting and satisfying. It was challenging because when I bought the restaurant from Susan, I ran it by myself for five years. Then we started working together again, which it was complicated because, like, I think I had become a different person than her previous employee and had a lot of my own ideas. And I think I was still young and not really great at communicating how I felt about things. I mean, even to the point where I would do things because I didn't want to, like, really tell her how I felt, you know, which of course is not the right thing to do. So it became clear early on for us that like, she was going to run Boat Street Kitchen and I was going to run Boat Street Cafe. And that was very clear to me going into it that that's how it should be. But it was really hard. It was like, turns out it didn't make a whole lot of sense. The world had no idea and it was very complicated and weird to try to tell people. So that went on for almost nine years together. Ish I'm not like super proud of a lot of how I handled it. I know I could have been more honest and kind of maybe dealt with things in a more mature way, but.
Nicole: [00:31:21] What would you do differently now based on that experience?
Renee: [00:31:23] I wouldn't have joined together again. The challenge was, is I think Susan wanted to be collaborative and I didn't. And that I think in hindsight was foolish on my part. But at the time I was like working so much and doing so much on my own that it felt really weird to then like have the luxury to chat about what we wanted to cook, right? You know, like, I just didn't think I could have that conversation and I wasn't sure that I wanted to either.
Nicole: [00:31:51] Do you think you also had a vision, though, of like, what you wanted to build?
Renee: [00:31:54] Yeah, I mean, I think we had different like, we prioritize different things. Like I really wanted to go to the farmers market and meet farmers and look at the produce and talk to them about it and have them show up and bring stuff to me. And that wasn't what inspired her. We were just different people and different times of life and it was just complicated and I think I was foolish and probably maybe not as polite about it. And, you know, like it wasn't ever bad. It just wasn't ever great, you know? And that was the kind of shitty part in hindsight where I'm just like, Oh, that was dumb, Renee. Like, you know, he could have maybe done this a little better.
Nicole: [00:32:25] But it did not make you shy away from well, you did shy away from partnership a little bit. Yeah. When Chad Dale, who is now one of your co-owners of Sea Creatures, came and was like, Hey, Kolstrand building, Ballard, don't you want to open another restaurant? Talk about what you went through.
Renee: [00:32:40] So, yeah, so that was five years in. No. So Chad Dale is one of our partners, and he had returned from living in China. And some friends of his bought the Kolstrand Building on Ballard Avenue. And we're trying to put it together and make it cool. And he was coming in like weekly to Boat Street and he would now, in hindsight, I crack up because this is what he does and all our restaurants now he comes in and like works on his computer and eats food all day long. You're got like such a nice life for you, Chad. Like, it's hysterical. But he would do that at Boat Street and he would always be like, you know, I want to do this. You should come do this with me. Will you do this? And I'm like, no, Like I was like, really afraid of I couldn't wrap my head around a second restaurant. And for a long time I was just like, I don't want to not cook. So if I open another restaurant, like how do you how do you figure that out? So Chad is very persistent which is why we have eight restaurants or nine restaurants and not the only reason, but love you, Chad. But he kept coming and coming and coming. And finally I was just like, all right, let's go look at it. So we went to Ballard and looked at it, and at the time, like the front of the building hadn't been rebricked or anything.
And so it was just like plywood, kind of like Ballard now, just plywood everywhere, which is just so awful. But we went in and we looked around and the front part where Staple and Fancy is, is like was intended to be the restaurant. And then where Walrus is was supposed to be the kitchen. And I was just like, this place is enormous. There's no way in hell I want this restaurant. And I was just like, this is ridiculous. I'm like, No. And so, like, we kind of kept looking around and went in the back. And part of like, I think a combination of like where Boat Street was at the time and what it was before made me really want a restaurant that had like lots of light. And so I was just like jokingly, I was like, Chad, if you can give me the back space, let me put a patio out back and find me the money, I'll do it, you know. And I was just like thinking I'm like, just so wise and, you know, able to just be like, finally leave me alone, right? And yeah, so next day he's like, great, let's do it. And I'm just like, fuck. And so I at that point was just like, Well, I can't open a restaurant with a guy who knows nothing about anything at all.
Renee: [00:34:53] So I need someone who's going to be a partner who could be at Walrus, you know? So if I'm at Walrus or if I'm at Boat Street, there's someone at both locations that like is going to be the person that like, will do the dishes. Your go to guy. Yeah. Pick, throw clean the vomit or all the stuff that you don't want anyone else to have to do. But and so Jeremy Price, who's our other partner, was an employee of mine at Boat Street, and him and his father built like our banquettes and the bar. And at some point over the many years that we worked together, he said to me, at some point he's just like, If you ever do anything, I would love to talk to you about it. I'd love to like, work with you. I don't remember when it was or anything, but I just remember being like, Huh, I wonder if he would be interested. And so I talked to Chad about it and we talked to Jeremy and basically asked if he would want to be the third arm to this ridiculousness of us. And so so yeah, so he was actually applying to architecture schools. And I think if he were here, he would tell you that he was like, ooh, this could be interesting. I could like design my own restaurant and not have to go to architecture school.
Nicole: [00:36:04] So which he kind of does, though. I mean, that's his he's responsible for your...
Renee: [00:36:09] He. Yeah. And so, so yeah. So the three of us started Walrus in 2010.
Nicole: [00:36:14] So how is this partnership different from when you were with Susan? What did you learn that you...
Renee: [00:36:21] We all have I mean, I hate saying this. It sounds so like not me, but like, we all have our lanes, which is, I think that like, difficulty I had with Susan around feeling. It sounds like I'm like, just like my way or the highway, which poor Colin is probably like, Yeah, Renee, he's in the back of me. Like, earlier today you were really irritated hiding away. But it's, you know, it's just it's nice to, like, collaborate with people but like, not have them, like, question every move you make or like want to like, discuss whether it's the right idea or not in a global sense. Like I don't mind it like around a dish or something like that, but like, you know, in the middle of like all the stuff, it felt luxurious and like, not important to stop and like, have these, like, great conversations, which now I'm thinking like, that sounds awesome. But at the time, I was just like, you know, I have to, like, go shopping and do all this stuff and write the payroll and do the junk that comes with the restaurant. So it's very different. I think we all love each other, which is weird a little bit because it's...
Nicole: [00:37:23] You guys just went on vacation together. I was like, you and Jeremy and Dan your husband, and his wife. Yeah. Yeah. Which is awesome.
Renee: [00:37:29] Yeah, I feel. I think we kind of joke every once in a while, we're like, we haven't really had, like, a hard conversation in a while. And there was one time I remember I think we were like signing a loan or something, and there was some like thing that we had to talk about and we all ended up just like sobbing, like, together. And I'm just like, what is wrong with us? Like, we are complete dorks. But it was, it's very sweet. Like we do get along really well and trust each other.
Nicole: [00:37:53] And that's huge. I've heard what you're talking about, about having swim lanes. I've heard that referred to as like the Hollywood model of collaboration, where it's like you've got lighting, you have your director, you have actors. Everyone has a very unique skill set. And I think that sometimes people don't understand that that is still collaboration because it's like you're swimming next to each other, but you have your hands on each other's shoulders like, I've got you, but I trust that you know how to do what you need to do. And I most of my career has been as a writer, I can relate to that of like, please don't write the thing. Like, I'm happy to take feedback, right? But like it is like you actually do something else. So I think like you guys mastering that is still a really beautiful collaborative thing that involves a lot of trust.
Renee: [00:38:34] Sure. Yeah, I agree. I think it's one of those things where if I look back, I was like. I was 20. Whatever. And just an idiot. So, you know, I just. I wasn't I wasn't it wasn't my best self. But, you know, we learn.
Nicole: [00:38:48] But you learn and it's working because you have, I don't know, eight restaurants. Nine restaurants.
Renee: [00:38:54] I don't count the bars as restaurants. So it's sort of properties. I got rid of family. We're making some more. We're yeah, it's a lot of fun. I feel very lucky. Yeah.
Nicole: [00:39:03] So we hear a lot about balancing work and life. It's a very popular conversation in restaurants. I mean, but your business feels like it's an extension of yourself that feels like it's more life giving than life eroding. And I'm curious if you think that's a fair assessment. How is that sort of being here for you is my question.
Renee: [00:39:23] Yeah, we've had kind of a crappy week, so it's funny having this kind of ahead of me in the calendar and thinking about the topic. I was like, I don't know that I'm very good at this, but I have a hard time imagining, like, my life without restaurants because they feel I think like you're saying, they feel like they're me.
Nicole: [00:39:41] They’re life-giving. An authentic extension of you.
Renee: [00:39:43] Yeah, totally. Um, so. I've been having some calendar issues with my calendar that I've been causing, so I ended up with like a morning free. And so I just texted Bobby and I'm just like, “We should talk about today.” And then he's just like, “Just stay home. You're good. Come in later.” And I'm like. And do you know, like, it's weird. Yeah. And it's not. I'm not. I know that it's, like, important, and I actually really enjoy it, like, all of those things, but it's still hard. After 25 years, you feel like you have to be there. And I think for a long time I would get I remember some moments with customers that were, I think, trying to be nice, but I was probably like a little unsure of myself or, you know, kind of well, frankly, just kind of really defensive where I remember one person telling me like, Oh, it must be so nice to not have to work. And I was just like, What? My head was going to, like, explode. Oh, my God. And I was just like, I swear to God, I don't know if it was Bobby or somebody, but I think they were like, grabbing me to just like, not like sweep kick her feet out from underneath her and just be like, you know, punch this person to death.
Renee: [00:40:56] But our restaurants are fabulous. I love them so much and I love that people love them and I try to be them in them as much as possible. But I'm also aware that I need to not be them all the time. So I think for me, like what I do, if I'm going to do something for myself, is I get on a plane and go somewhere.
Nicole: You travel?
Renee: Yeah. Although I'll be home for three months this stretch and I swear to God, I'm busier, which is like probably why I get on a plane to leave. But it's fun, though. Like, I, you know, I love being home and I love getting to travel. So I would say it's a combination of like my dog, my garden, and then being in my restaurants. I really do love it.
Nicole: [00:41:37] I think that's beautiful. I think if you can find something that is your job.
Renee: [00:41:42] Yeah, well, when it's not fun anymore, I would be like, I'm out. But then you're like, I'm done.
Renee: [00:41:50] You know? Yeah. Two and a half years of hell. Pandemic hell was. That's another hell to still love. It is. I feel we were kind of joking about dumb stuff we were doing during the pandemic earlier. And like the fact that we still had fun was kind of pretty amazing through.
Nicole: [00:42:06] And that was another time of like, resilience. Yeah, horrible. But no one could really have predicted.
Renee: [00:42:11] Yeah, yeah. No, it was bizarre. I mean, you can't. I still, like, think about it. I'm like, did that really happen? Like, did the whole world shut down? Like we stopped doing all the things that everyone did? Like, without thinking about. Yeah, yeah, you did it. Nuts. Wild world.
Nicole: [00:42:26] But yeah, I think you are actually a pillar of being here for you, even though you're like, oh, I don't like, walk away from work. I think the integration of work and life, what you do, you have your Sunday dinners or is it Monday? Your Sunday that you do Sunday.
Renee: [00:42:39] Sunday dinners Sundays, but Sunday we just call them Sundays if they're a different day. Yeah, yeah. Which is fine. Sundays are the best. Like anyone got.
Nicole: [00:42:48] A full Sunday ritual that is really beautiful.
Renee: [00:42:50] That was like actually the magic of days off in restaurants is like, you got Sunday to like, do the like, normal human things, like hang out with people and go to restaurants or whatever. And then Monday you could do like your grocery shopping and no one was at the grocery store there or it was just like, this is great. It's like they made it just for restaurant people to shop. So yeah, it's like no one's in the grocery store. Yeah.
Nicole: [00:43:11] You're like, oh, and now everybody works from home. And I find that they're all at the grocery store on Monday. What is going on? Like, I'm always like, driving around, doesn't everybody work? I'm like, Wait, I'm out. All the self-employed people are out there doing it so... Well, I want to thank you because your candor and self-awareness are two of your many amazing qualities that I love. And you just brought it and shared so many candid stories. Thank you so much.
You're awesome. You're a rock star. Thank you. This is so much fun. And thank you, everyone, for joining us. This is awesome. Thank you. To Cadence, Sea Creatures, Ross, Kristi, Sasha, food, wine. Holy crap. This is like, mind-blowing. And you're...you're incredible and a great conversationalist. So thank you. I'm honored.
Renee: [00:43:59] Thanks for coming, everyone. Thank you.
Nicole: [00:44:06] Renee Erickson is a model for embracing detours, whether intentionally taking an unexpected turn or hugging the curves of blind corners. Most people walk through life wondering, “What if?” But Renee exemplifies what it means to say, “Why not?” Why not walk toward what calls you? Why not try something new? Why not believe in yourself, your vision, your ability to say, “I can and I will.” For me, Renee isn't just a friend; she's an inspiration for what it means to be true to yourself, even if you feel unqualified or when what you're doing is unconventional or seemingly impossible. Renee also embodies a philosophy I recently defined for myself as I reach higher than ever and battle imposter syndrome. It's moving from “Why me?” to “Why not me?” to “Of course me.” Renee chalks her detour up to being young and foolish. But I think there was wisdom beyond her years. The kind that understands the beauty in leaping toward the what and figuring out the how as you go. The kind that says, “Of course you,” because there's no one else like you. The kind that reminds you everyone else doesn't actually want what you want, and those who do aren't any more deserving than you. When you start to lose faith in yourself, I hope you'll call Renee to the forefront of your mind and then step to the front of the line. Claim what’s yours. Say, “Of course me,” because it is, it was, it’s always been…you. Here For Me is produced by Lens Group Media in association with Tulla Productions.
Nicole: [00:45:53] As is often said, it takes a village to make this podcast, and my deepest gratitude goes out to every person in that village: our producers Dave Nelson and Stacy Harris, our audio editor, J.D. Delgado, designer and illustrator Amy Senftleben, and our production assistant, Amanda McGonigal. To create this live episode, that village grew exponentially. I am humbled and grateful and was moved to tears multiple times as this episode came together because of the talent and generosity of the people who joined forces to make it happen. Cadence 3 for hosting us in their gorgeous new studio; event producer Sasha Bishop, who wrangled people and details and flawlessly executed against our vision; Renee Erickson and the team at Sea Creatures for the food, wine, and impeccable service that turned this event into an epic cocktail party; designer Ross Swartwout for the spectacular signage; Kristi Tamcsin, whose documentary-style photographs will blow you away; and the one-woman glam squad, Michelle Marshall, who made sure Renee and I were stage- and camera-ready. You can find more information about these incredible people and their work in the show notes at hereformepodcast.com. As always, if you enjoyed this episode, I'd love if you’d follow the show, rate, review, and share it with people you love. You can also follow me on Instagram and Facebook at nicolejchristie. Until next time, thank you so much for listening. Here's to you being here for you…and to the power of choosing yourself.