"Erik Liedholm is the Company Wine Director for Seastar Restaurant and Raw Bar in Bellevue/Seattle Washington as well as John Howie Steak in Bellevue, Washington. Erik’s wine lists have received numerous awards including Best New Wine List in America by Food and Wine Magazine, Best Wine List in Seattle by seattle.citysearch.com and Best of Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator magazine. Erik was named Sommelier of the Year in 2004 by the Washington Wine Commission/Seattle Times and was the 2006 recipient of the Seattle Times Walter Clore Award for outstanding achievement in the wine industry.

 

Erik’s experience includes Director of Food and Beverage at the Elliott Grand Hyatt Seattle and as General Manager of the Pacific’s Edge restaurant at the Highland’s Inn -Park Hyatt Carmel, California; a restaurant named by Wine Spectator magazine as one of the Top Twenty Restaurants in the United States. Erik is also an accomplished chef who has cooked alongside such culinary luminaries as Gordon Ramsay, Eric Ripert, Takashi Yagahashi and the late Jean-Louis Paladin.

 

Erik is a Cum Laude graduate and Honorary Faculty member at Michigan State Universities School of Hospitality Business. In addition, he was the youngest member ever to be inducted into the Chicago chapter of Les Amis d’Escoffier, he is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, The Sommelier Society of America and is a Master Sommelier Candidate. Erik’s expertise is featured in many news papers and magazines both locally and nationally including Food and Wine, Sunset, Gourmet and The New York Times. Erik was also featured in a PBS documentary on Washington wine.

 

When Erik isn’t pouring wine he is spending time with his wife Zoey, cooking, running, cycling or playing with their son Carl.