The great Northwest has captivated pioneers and poets since the birth of America, not to mention the average Joe with a taste for the great outdoors. To a chef, though, the Northwest has got to be the culinary equivalent of Shangri-la. The fish and the seafood, the wild berries, morels, fiddleheads-foods that Jim Beard himself often wrote about and remembered fondly from his youth-are the kinds of ingredients that can make a chef glad he gets to work a 15-hour day.

They certainly fuel the fire for three-time James Beard Award nominee Philippe Boulot, who grew up on a farm in Normandy making butter and cheese with his grandmother. At 16, he stepped into the professional ring, apprenticing with France's heavy hitters, JoÎl Robuchon and Alain Senderens at Jamin, L'Archestrate, and Maxim's. In 1978 Boulot graduated from The Jean Drouant Hotel School in Paris. Hungry to travel, he set out to work in the kitchens of some of the world's best hotels, including Four Seasons Inn on the Park in London, Four Seasons Clift Hotel in San Francisco, and The Mark on the Upper East Side in New York City. At the last, Boulot was the hotel's opening chef, and Gourmet's former restaurant critic, Andy Birsh, for one, was mightily impressed. "If credit were given where credit is due, then Mark's Restaurant might be named Philippe's, for it is the province of a young and capable French chef, Philippe Boulot."

Since joining The Heathman Hotel in 1994, Boulot has been on the receiving end of numerous awards and commendations, including a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, an annual mention on Gourmet's list of Top Tables, and induction into the prestigious MaÓtre Ouvrier de France echelon.

At Southpark Seafood Grill & Wine Bar, Paul Ornstein is also reveling in the culinary riches of the local landscape. His food is Pacific Northwest with a Mediterranean twist. That Ornstein pulls off this fusion without a hitch is evident in dishes like his grilled grape leaf-wrapped salmon with pomegranate and sherry glaze.

Ornstein grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and landed his first kitchen job at the age of 16. He worked the line at some of San Francisco's hottest restaurants, including Ruby's and Kuleto's. Then he moved to Portland and opened Pazzo Ristorante as sous-chef. From there, Ornstein went on to open the Red Star Tavern & Roast House, as well as several Seattle restaurants, including Painted Table, Tulio, and Sazerac. Writing in Food Arts, Greg Atkinson called Southpark "a grown-up dining and drinking destination."