Way back when in the 1990s, I worked in various forms of editorial positions at
Thunder Lizard Productions , a computer training conference company that focused on Adobe products as well as specialty design conferences. It was where I really began my career here in Seattle as a writer/editor in the technical sphere, and was where I forged friendships and partnerships with a number of freelance colleagues. One of the designers that TLP worked with was Neil Robertson, and eventually I went on to guest-star with him on two editions of the
Real World GoLive book series that was mainly authored by Glenn Fleishman and Jeff Carlson.
Shortly after that, I got cold feet and jumped from the freelance world to the cozy corporate home of Amazon (returning to the freelance world with much more vigor in 2003). And I wasn't alone -- Neil turned in his Wacom graphic tablet for a pastry chef's tocque (definitely a change of pace), which brought him to the Bellagio in Las Vegas (where I got to sample his wares) amongst other stops. And now
Mr. Carlson pointed me to this Seattle P-I story of Neil's return to Seattle:
Robertson just returned to town after an intense course of study at the French Pastry School in Chicago, followed by stints at some of the fanciest kitchens in Las Vegas (and that's saying a lot) -- Bellagio, Joel Robuchon at the Mansion and Restaurant Guy Savoy. Robertson recently won the job of first pastry chef at Canlis (2576 Aurora Ave. N.).
"We scoured the country, and interviewed folks from all over, and it's a pretty intense process," said Mark Canlis.
"And we really liked what we saw." Look for Robertson's original creations on the Canlis menu in months to come.
