| Maria Hines | |
| Education: | Mesa College |
| Restaurants: | Tilth |
| Prevrests: | Agrodolce, Golden Beetle |
| Television: | Top Chef Masters (season 2) |
| Awards: | 2009 James Beard Foundation Award, Best Chef: Northwest |
Maria Hines is a Seattle restaurateur and James Beard Award-winning chef. She's also the co-author of the cook book Peak Nutrition: Smart Fuel for Outdoor Adventure.
Hines was raised in Bowling Green, Ohio and San Diego, California, and she earned a degree in culinary arts from Mesa College.[1] She worked in kitchens across the country and in Europe before becoming executive chef at Earth & Ocean in the W Hotel in Seattle.[2]
In 2005, she was named one of the “Top Ten Best New Chefs in America” by Food & Wine magazine, and she decided to open her own restaurant.[2] The restaurant was named Tilth, and it opened in Wallingford in 2006.[3] Hines worked with Nora Pouillon and Oregon Tilth to have the restaurant certified organic.[3] In 2008, the New York Times recognized Tilth as one of the ten best new restaurants in the country.[4] In 2009, Hines won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northwest.[5]
Hines opened two more restaurants: the Golden Beetle in 2011, and Agrodolce in 2012, both certified organic.[1] The Golden Beetle was not financially successful and closed in 2016.[6] In March 2019, Hines announced that she would sell Agrodolce to her executive chef, focusing her efforts on Tilth and on writing a cookbook and developing retail products.[6]
Tilth closed in October 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.[7]
In 2010, Hines won an episode of Iron Chef America, defeating Masaharu Morimoto in a battle of Pacific cod She also competed on an episode of Top Chef Masters,[8] and she appeared on Martha with Martha Stewart.[9]
Hines was a founder of Seattle restaurant week and is known as a pioneer of organic and Pacific Northwest cuisine. She was a notable proponent of Washington Initiative 522 which would have required labeling of genetically modified food.