January 4-29, 2009 (Sunday - Thursday)

Dan Thiessen - Chef/Owner

As a native of our state, Chef Dan Thiessen hails from Asotin, a small town in eastern Washington. He grew up working on his family's cattle ranch and spent leisure time sport fishing on the Snake River. Thiessen has always had a passion for life in the Pacific Northwest so moving to Seattle was important to him and his career.

Chef Thiessen studied at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and graduated with honors in 1992. He continued to learn and grow in the culinary world and chose to go to Europe, working three years in notable restaurants in Switzerland. Upon returning to the Northwest, Thiessen was hired as an instructor for the new Culinary Arts Program at the Art Institute of Seattle. He used his time and talents coaching his students into winning medals in national competitions.

He then moved on to lead some of the top culinary teams in the Seattle area as Executive Chef of SkyCity at the Needle, The Golf Club at Newcastle, Chandler's Crabhouse and Corporate Chef for Salty's Restaurant Group.

Chef Thiessen's talents have been well publicized in the area and around the nation. His food has been featured on the cover of the Savor Seattle Cookbook, Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Mercer Island Reporter, Seattle Weekly, Seattle Magazine, Seattle Metro Magazine, Nation's Restaurant News, and Seafood Choices Newsletter. In 2005, Thiessen was tapped by the Puget Sound Business Journal as one of the "Top 40 under 40" business professionals through his leadership and involvement in charities.

Thiessen has recently taken the next step in his lifelong passion for the business by opening up his own, the 0/8 Seafood Grill and Twisted Cork Wine Bar. This gorgeous new restaurant is located in the Hyatt Regency Bellevue, featuring the freshest of Seafood from around the world. The menu highlights over 20 appetizers to match the wine lists incredible 50 wines and 20 champagne/sparkling wines by the glass or taste. The Wine Bar features live entertainment 5 nights a week with Happy Hour daily from 4-6 PM.

In it's first year, the restaurant has been voted by NWSource as Best New Restaurant, Best Seafood Restaurant, by CitySearch as Best Wine Bar, Best Lounge, by Seattle Magazine as Best Lounge, Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, Washington Wine Commission a Grand Award as well as Most Innovative Wine List for 2008.