RIP Ron Zimmerman, Founder of Iconic Woodinville Restaurant Herbfarm | Eater Seattle

"Co-founded by Ron Zimmerman, I remember this legendary farm-to-table restaurant as having begun on an actual herb farm in Fall City, where Zimmerman and his wife Carrie Van Dyck taught herb-gardening and cooking classes and started serving luncheons to promote herb sales. Over the years it grew into one of the state’s most famous (and also expensive) dining destinations, routinely winning accolades for its nine-course meals typically built around a seasonal theme and focused on local ingredients, making it a pillar of the Slow Food movement. It maintained strong educational roots—the chef delivers a lecture on the night’s menu, Zimmerman and Van Dyck gave guests tours of the farm, and you can still book packages that let you help in the fields before eating—and it now offers only dinner with a single seating each night. The original Fall City restaurant burned down in 1997 and reopened in Woodinville in 2001; after the founders began looking to sell in 2018, chef Chris Weber and then-sous chef Jack Gingrich bought it in 2021 (Gingrich is now general manager)." - Harry Cheadle