Okay so first of all, I want to say that photographing an event at the Tokeland Hotel feels a little bit like getting to go to a dinner party where you also happen to be working, and somehow that's the best version of both things. This was my second time shooting an event here with the Wandering Goose and I keep saying I'll get used to it and I keep being wrong about that.

On Sunday, April 19, the Tokeland Hotel kicked off something brand new: the Wandering Goose Guest Chef Series. And they did not ease into it gently. The first guest was Brendan McGill, chef and founder of Bainbridge Island's Hitchcock Restaurant Group, a James Beard Semifinalist and Food & Wine People's Best New Chef, and a guy who has genuinely built something really special out on the island. Multiple restaurants, an organic farm, a fermentation program. The kind of chef who has clearly thought a lot about where food comes from, not just how to cook it.

He grew up in Fairbanks, Alaska, which I think explains a lot about his relationship with seasonal and wild ingredients. The menu was inspired by spring on the coast, regional seafood, local farms, wild Pacific Northwest stuff. It was intimate and thoughtful and exactly the kind of dinner you'd want to drive to a small coastal town for.

Now, full transparency: I am a dairy free girly, so I could not eat everything on the menu. But I did get to enjoy a couple of the appetizers and some wine pairings, and you know, I genuinely love that this is my job. Like, yes I was there to work, but also I was just... at a lovely dinner on the Washington coast. I'll take it.

The whole evening was exactly what I've come to expect from the Tokeland Hotel and the Wandering Goose, which is to say it felt a little magical. There's something about that building and that stretch of coast that makes everything feel more intentional, like time slows down a little.

And speaking of the Tokeland area, I'm not done with it for a while. I'll be back next weekend to photograph Oyster Fest, and then Rick and I are actually staying the night in Walter's Cabin for a little getaway. We're bringing our clubs to play 9 at the Ocean Shores golf course (a thing we love to do together), definitely getting steak from the Wandering Goose, and exploring Grayland and Westport and all the coastal good stuff. And obviously I'm bringing my camera, because have you met me?

Can't wait to share more from all of it. In the meantime, scroll down and look at the photos, which I shamelessly worked hard on. As always, thanks for reading.

xoxo Chelsea