Get your Celtic swell on, Eastern Mediterranean-style.

The Scoop: Chef Maria Hines cooks from inspiration. Travels across the nation, and then the pond to France, were the inspiration for  Tilth, her Wallingford restaurant. Golden Beetle, her Eastern Mediterranean joint in Ballard, took form after a handful of trips to Turkey, Greece, Israel, Egypt and Morocco. The James Beard Award-winning chef utilizes seasonal and organic ingredients that are locally available, while focusing on the reasons that led her to cooking in the first place.

In 2005, Hines was named as one of Food & Wine Magazine’s 10 Best New Chefs for her work at the W Hotel’s Earth & Ocean. She opened Tilth the following year. In 2008, The New York Times named it one of the top 10 best new restaurants in the country. She appeared on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America to win the “Battle of Pacific Cod” in 2010 against the unconquerable Iron Chef Morimoto.

Crave Factor: Some bartenders refuse to shake anything other than ice with Hendrick’s Gin. Produced by a Scottish distillery, Hendrick’s is traditionally infused with juniper and uses Bulgarian rose and cucumber to add flavor. It’s also stored in a dark bottle (as opposed to clear, like most gins) to preserve the quality of the liquor without exposing it to sunlight, which can cause damage. Needless to say — it’s pretty tasty.

Golden Beetle bar manager, Andy McClellan, created the Cargill, a concoction of Hendrick’s gin, homemade lavender liquor, black pepper syrup and lemon juice ($9). “I wanted to give the cocktail a name that was inherently Scottish,” McClellan said. “Cargill or Cargile is one of the oldest surnames in Scotland and there have been many well-known Scottish lords that have carried that name. I like to dream of being a Scottish lord living in a castle, sipping a Cargill cocktail and playing lots of golf.”

Fun Fact: Oregon Tilth, a non-profit research and education organization that certifies organic farmers, processors, retailers and handlers throughout the country, named Golden Beetle as the third restaurant in the nation to receive organic certification in 2006. Hines’ Tilth was the second.

Golden Beetle | 1744 NW Market St, Seattle | (206) 706-2977