Community

Contributions and Donations

Diane has had a lifelong commitment to her community. For her, it is not just what she does, it is who she is. Although she started her business on a shoestring, from the moment she opened her doors in October of 2006, she has given back to her community. In her first year of business her donations raised over twelve thousand dollars for local non-profits. In 2007 -2008 the amount increased to more than fifteen thousand. Her goal when she was developing her five year business plan was to be able to contribute $ 50,000 annually to non-profits.

Community Partnerships

Diane’s community reaches far beyond the Pacific Northwest. Since she opened her doors, she has been a conservation education partner with the Seattle Aquarium. If it is not sustainable and responsibly raised or harvested, the fish and seafood do not come into the kitchen. In October 2008, she partnered with her friend Sushi Chef Phillip Hensyel and the Seattle Aquarium to kick-off the release of the new Seafood Watch card designed for Sushi.

Diane has been an active participant in the Chef’s Collaborative since she opened. This is a national organization which facilitates personal relationships between producers and purchasers, people who are committed to growing, using and encouraging farming and fishing practices which create a vibrant and economically sustainable local food community. She has found through this organization dozens of like-minded chefs who share her commitment to purchase locally and who delight in using the seasonally available products from the Northwest.

Diane has been a member of the Downtown Seattle Association. For two years she has served as Committee Chair for the West Edge Neighborhood Marketing Committee. Her involvement in her neighborhood comes from her desire, as a business owner and resident, to create a neighborhood which celebrates diversity and where business owners can find a venue for discussion and collaboration.

A member of the Seattle Visitors and Convention Bureau since 2006, Diane can be found celebrating and extolling the virtues of her home town. A resident for more than twenty seven years she delights in the opportunity to tell her tour groups or passersby about the sights to see, places to dine, her favorite shops and perhaps a story or two about the places and people of the city she loves.