JON ROWLEY
Jon Rowley’s career has been a life-long exploration and quest to improve the flavor, quality and understanding of fish, shellfish, fruits and vegetables.
After attending Reed College, Jon Rowley began his career as a commercial fisherman in Alaska. In 1981, as a life-long scholar of the seafood industry from harvest to table, he began consulting to restaurants, retailers, seafood companies and other businesses.
Rowley has received national marketing awards and considerable media coverage for programs he has initiated such as Bruce Gore’s “Signature Salmon” and fresh Copper River King Salmon. He has a particular passion for oysters. He has organized restaurant oyster programs and promotions across the country and the Pacific Coast Oyster Wine Competition, an annual dating program for West Coast wines and oysters.
In addition to his consulting and marketing work for seafood producers and buyers, in recent years Jon has worked with farmers, restaurants and retailers to improve the quality, flavor and distribution of fruits and vegetables. Anthony's HomePort’s seasonal, local strawberry program based on hours-old local berries and the much-acclaimed Metropolitan Markets Peach-O-Rama promotion are examples of this work. He is also an accomplished forager of wild mushrooms and other wild foods.
A perceived correlation between organic matter in soil and flavor led Jon to the Seattle Master Composter training, several courses on soil and soil ecology and to the Interbay P-Patch Community Garden where he served as Site-Coordinator. His work at Interbay has been featured in a number of publications including the Christian Science Monitor and Organic Gardening. One of his proudest accomplishments was the Seattle P-Patch Program's "Most Beautiful Vegetable" award for his P-Patch grown leeks in 1999.
Rowley was inducted into the prestigious "Who's Who of Cooking in America" in 1987 for his work improving seafood handling, quality and information. He currently serves as Contributing Editor to Gourmet magazine. He was the recipient of the Seattle Weekly’s first annual Angelo Pellegrini Award and is a member of the Shaw’s Crab House’s Oyster Hall of Fame in Chicago.
