More from My Business Trip to Washington State
There's so much to enjoy in the Pacific Northwest - here's more from my recent whirlwind business trip to Washington State.
While in Seattle, I was interviewed at Amazon Accelerate, an annual company event dedicated to empowering, inspiring, and connecting its sellers. I also visited The Spheres - three spherical conservatories that are part of the Amazon headquarters campus. The Spheres was created to hold more than 40-thousand plants from the cloud forest regions of more than 30-countries as well as an employee lounge, retail stores, and an exhibition area. I toured the lab of my friend, Nathan Myhrvold, founder of Modernist Cuisine and the lead author of the Modernist Cuisine book series. And before leaving, I enjoyed a lovely Japanese dinner at Sushi Kappo Tamura, which specializes in local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients for all its dishes.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- Amazon Accelerate is the company’s annual summit event created for sellers to hear about new innovations, engage in learning sessions, and network with peers.
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- My interview was conducted by Dharmesh Mehta, Vice President of Amazon Worldwide Selling Partner Services. I spoke about building a business, maintaining a brand, and inspiring creativity.
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- The audience included more than 18,500 attendees – both in person and online.
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- I have visited The Spheres several times before. They first opened in January 2018. While used primarily for Amazon employees, the conservatories are open for weekly tours and various exhibits. This tree is Aloe tongaensis, a massive, slow-growing upright, branching tree that can grow up to 12 feet tall and six feet wide.
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- This is the 4th floor living wall – home to large specimen aroids, including Anthurium veitchii, Anthurium queremalense, Monstera deliciosa, and Philodendron plowmanii.
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- Heather Kirkland and Daisy Schwartzberg Toye from my traveling team are standing in front of a living wall and the giant leaf of Anthurium queremalense, a very rare specimen native to the tropical rainforests of South America, particularly in regions like Colombia. This plant produces some of the largest and most impressive foliage in the genus.
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- This is Anthurium veitchii, the king anthurium, an epiphytic species of flowering plant in the genus Anthurium with leaves that grow up to three-feet long.
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- Kerriodoxa elegans, the white backed palm, is a solitary, small to medium-sized palm with beautiful large circular fronds that are glossy green with whitish undersides.
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- Here is a scaled down version of the Spheres living walls. These all-in-one systems are being tested on site for viability in additional locations within Amazon.
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- This living wall system is planted with carnivorous plants including Nepenthes, Pinguicula, Drosera, and Sarracenia
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- Here is a well established living wall system with more than 25 different plant species – all so lush and green.
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- And still another living wall system includes Medinilla sedifolia, Disterigma campii, Peperomia puteolata, Sphyrospermum dissimile, and Pilea glauca.
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- I also visited Nathan Myhrvold’s expansive Modern Cuisine cooking lab.
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- The research laboratory has one of the best-equipped kitchens in the world and includes access to a full set of machining, analytical, and computational facilities. It is also equipped with a state-of-the-art photography studio for groundbreaking photography techniques.
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- Whenever I am in Seattle, I try to walk through the Pike Place Public Market Center, the city’s original farmers market and the center of locally sourced, artisanal, and specialty foods.
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- I visited the Pike Place fish guys who always have the freshest seafood options, such as halibut, king salmon, and rainbow trout.
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- There is also a huge selection of wild salmon from Alaska.
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- And then I had a wonderful dinner at Sushi Kappo Tamura. Owner and sushi chef Taichi Kitamura prepared a beautiful array of wild, sustainable sushi. His menu changes daily and always has the freshest seafood available. On this night he prepared live spot prawns, wild Alaska halibut, wild Alaska white king salmon, wild Alaska sockeye salmon, toro, geoduck, and wild Alaska black cod.
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- Here is a sampling of the beautiful sushi. The wild Alaska black cod belly was beautiful and the wild salmon from Alaska was so fresh and delicious.
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- Chef Kitamura also prepared some delicious ikura from coho salmon.
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- Here I am with Chef Taichi Kitamura. Chef is originally from Kyoto. He is also a James Beard Award nominee, and an avid fisherman.
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- And another quick snapshot with Chef Taichi, Toshi Asai who has worked at Sushi Kappo for years, Susan Roxborough from Clarkson Potter and the editor of my 100th cookbook, and my former VP of communications Katie Goldberg who now lives in Seattle and organized the fun dinner.
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