Chef Ethan Stowell tours Stemilt facilities

Stemilt Growers’ spokesman chef, Ethan Stowell, recently visited the company’s Fresh Center headquarters in Wenatchee, Wash.

Stowell, who has 14 restaurants in Seattle, treated employees to Pinata apple dishes. Stowell’s partnership with Stemilt is designed to highlight a farm-to-table connection with consumers.

The mid-January meet-and-greet featured Stowell’s winter salad featuring Stemilt’s signature Pinata apple, according to a news release.

“It was exciting to share Pinata apples, a variety that everyone at Stemilt is familiar with, in a new way,” Brianna Shales, communications manager, said in the release. “And chef Ethan was a big hit with our team.”

Stowell is well-known in Seattle, as a 20-year veteran of the foodservice sector who developed menus for Seattle Mariner games, and supported charities that support nutrition, women’s rights and the homeless, according to the release.

“It’s always interesting to see how the ingredients I’m using in my restaurants are produced,” he said in the release. “I was amazed at the precision technology used to pack apples and the extreme care that the smiling Stemilt team takes to ensure only the best apples make it to the market.”