Ericka

For Ericka Burke, cooking has always been about creating community. To provide simple, fresh, seasonal food, as well as a place to replenish, relax, and converse.

Ericka’s love affair with cooking and food began in college.  A Seattle native, the draw of sunshine propelled her to attend Loyola Marymount University in West Los Angeles, and as fate would have it, her freshman roommate’s dad was a chef.  Ericka became completely enamored with cooking and soon the girls where hosting weekly dinner parties in their dorm room. These dinner parties weren’t fancy; they were about sharing food and conversation, about creating a gathering place, a community, and a home away from home. 

After college, Ericka headed to New York City to pursue an acting career, studying at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. While there she waited tables and bartended, and although she had success as an actor, it was her passion for food and desire to cook that paved the road for her future.  In 1994, Burke opened Sweet Potato, a small eat-in/take-out storefront on the Upper East Side.  Ericka’s healthy, simple food was such a hit that over the next few years, she and her partners opened two more Sweet Potato locations on the Upper West Side.

With her New York adventure behind her, Ericka, a self-taught cook, treated herself to a six-month intensive at Greystone, the Culinary Institute of America’s campus in Napa Valley, California.  At Greystone, her instinctual beliefs about using local, fresh products and simple preparations were validated, and she found herself rejuvenated and full of new confidence. During her time in Napa Valley, Ericka was honored with a scholarship from the James Beard Foundation, and as a recipient, was immersed in a twelve-week wine program with renowned educator and author of THE WINE BIBLE, Karen MacNeil. The vast knowledge of wine and food/wine pairing garnered during this program still play an instrumental role in Ericka’s day-to-day life as a chef/restaurateur.

Returning to Seattle in 1997, Ericka became the Executive Chef at Carmelita, where she used her immense creativity and the abundance of local and fresh products available in the Pacific Northwest to create award-winning vegetarian cuisine. Ericka was the chef at Carmelita until 2000, earning a favorable reputing in addition to three stars from The Seattle Times, and gaining national recognition in Bon Appétit magazine.

After a brief time in San Francisco Ericka returned to Seattle to fulfill her dream of, once again, owning her own restaurant. In January of 2007, Volunteer Park Cafe became a reality.

Never one to slow down, Burke was the opening chef/consultant for friend and local restaurateur, Linda Derschang’s Oddfellows cafe + bar, which opened in December of 2008 in the Pike Pine Triangle neighborhood of Seattle’s Capitol Hill.