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Newspaper Archive of
Shelton Mason County Journal
Shelton, Washington
November 30, 2023     Shelton Mason County Journal
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November 30, 2023
 
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Above, Xinh Dwelley holds a geoduck. Above right, she shows her oyster shucking skills. Below right, she befriended celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who spent a week in her restaurant kitchen in Shelton. Courtesy photos Thursday, November 30, 2023 — Shelton-Mason County Journal — Page 9 Xinh: Downtown Shelton restaurant opened in ’96 continued from page “A thousand other custom— ers will probably say this too,” Seeley wrote. “Xinh would come into the dining area and flash her warm smile, and ask if there is anything she can do for us. A talented and caring professional.” “We ate there as often as we could, and she never failed to come into the dining room to check on her clientele, with her radiant smile.” wrote Teri Fiscus Christensen. “We lived and ate in Seattle restaurants for many years before moving here, and her food put most of} those restaurants to shame. We were blessed to have her here, I’m so sorry she’s gone — but I’m glad she no longer suffers. Thank you Xinh, you spoiled us!” “I was sorry that her res— taurant closed; it was one of the few places where I could have geoduck,” wrote Lee Rentz. “And yes, she came into the dining area to ask how we liked the meal. It was a won— derful part of Shelton for a long time.” BEGINNINGS Born in 1951, Xinh was raised on a rice farm near Saigon in South Vietnam. As a teenager, she was hired to cook for officers in an Ameri- can mess tent and soon was renowned for her fried chicken and hamburgers. That’s Where she met her first husband, a US. Army serviceman who was wounded. “That’s where she started to learn English,” her daugh- ter Carrie Craighead said in an interview with the Journal. “That's why she cussed a lot she got that from the GIs.” When Xinh was 19, the couple married and moved to Olympia in 1970 with their infant son. She lost all contact with her family for a long time after North Vietnam took over her native country in 1975; ,she would return several times decades later. Xinh picked blueberries and mushrooms. dug clams Rachel Hansen, owner of Explore Hood Canal and Fjord Oyster Bank, who ass/sled in publishing and editing X/‘nn ’s cookbooks and sold egg rolls at the farm- ers market while taking classes in the evening to learn English. She started shuck— ing oysters at a company that became Taylor Shellfish. The company recognized her cook- ing talents and employed her to cook for management and VIP guests. From 1989 to 1992, Xinh won the West Coast Oyster Shucking Championship, im- proving her time each year. The male competitors “didn’t like it all because all ofa sud- den there was a woman and she was winning,” her daugh— ter said. In 1996, Taylor Shellfish opened Xinh’s Clam & Oyster House in downtown Shelton. Xinh cooked for, and be— friended, chefs including An— thony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmerman. In 1995, she was invited to cook oysters for one her idols, chef and TV per- sonality Julia Child. She was amused to watch Child at— ' tempt to open an oyster with a butter knife. “She absolutely loved Julia Child,” her daugh- ter said. ' In 2006, Xinh was featured on an episode of the TV series “Dirty Jobs,” where she dem— onstrated the cleaning and preparing of geoduck. She was also hired by Red Hot Chili Peppers lead singer Anthony Kiedis to make dinner for him and his wife. ' Xinh’s second husband Ste- phen Dwelley died in 2017. Two years later, Xinh closed her restaurant while battling cancer. RECENT YEARS In December 2021, Xinh sat down with reporter Matt Baide for her final interview with the Size/to/i-llilason County Journal. She was pro— moting the publication of her second cookbook, “Xinh’s F la— vors With Friends.” Here are some excerpts: “The second one, when we were talking about it, Rachel. (Hansen) and I, I had to go back to chemoitherapyl again. She asked ‘How about we do a second cookbook?’ ” Xinh said. “We do some meals and some recipes that you do best; I put my head together and we test it where I write down everything and I always come up with the recipes and I’m pretty good at it. This is re- ally craiy because I go to sleep thinking about the recipe and wake up thinking about what fillings and all this stuff, something crazy inside my head is always thinking about ' what makes food taste better.” “I feel really proud and happy because you know what? People are so happy and they support me and buy all my cookbooks and they’re happy to cook. I don’t want the cookbook to go home so people can just chuck them in a corner. I want to do some— thing good. That’s what I’m doing and I’m grateful.” “I tell myself, I feel like Ju- lia Child in Shelton. It’s a tiny town and I do well and I’m happy and I’m g‘ateful for all of that” “I want to pay it back to the community and the people while I can. Things turned out really good for me and I’m really proud of what I can ac-‘ complish because you know, over the years. I worked all the time but bei ween work and stuff, I still do fund— raisers and things on the weekend. I think now that I’m retired, Ijust want to be healthy enough so I can do more. Unfortunately, you can’t predict your destiny I live halfway between Olympia and Shelton, but all my heart and my business is in Shelton. I love Mason County and try to support whatever happens. If I can help, I will help.” ‘ Rachel Hansen, coordina- tor of Explore Hood Canal & south Puget Sound, was instrumental in preserving Xinh’s culinary legacy. Han— sen and her family for years celebrated special occasions at Xinh’s restaurant. The two met in 2010 when Xinh vol- unteered to conduct a cooking demonstration at the Mason Area Fair. “When she closed her res- taurant, she was super, su— per ill,” Hansen said in an interview with the Journal . “She was convinced she‘was dying.” Hansen’s family sponsored the publication oinnh’s first cookbook, “Xinh’s Pacific Coastal Flavors” in 2019, which Hansen edited. Xinh dictated recipes for Hansen to put into words for the sec- ond, “Xinh’s Flavors With Friends.” A revised edition of the first book was published ‘ this year. Xinh created the menu for the Hansens’ Fjord Oyster Bank in Hoodsport. “Her legacy is she always treated everyone like she loved them She felt she has to be there for everyone,” Hansen said. A week before Xinh died, she prepared a dish of salmon topped with shrimp at the Hansen home. “She was the messiest cook ever,” Hansen said with a laugh. “She was creating to her last day."