Tilth’s chef de cuisine, Larkin Young, with prized foraged mushroomsLarkin Young, chef de cuisine at Tilth, has just one day off this week. He’s been extra busy overseeing things at the restaurant while chef-owner Maria Hines is out of town climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. When reached by phone, Young reports that he has just emerged from the woods in North Bend.What are you doing on your day off?I just got done foraging. I’ve got a couple of mushroom patches I go to here. I got a bunch of lobsters and chanterelles. I also found some licorice fern! I’m going to use the root — it has a Pastis-like flavor — for an appetizer. I’ll infuse the cream for the fromage blanc (fresh cheese) we make in-house. How did you get started cooking?I’ve been involved with food since I was a youngster in Minnesota. My dad baked fresh bread almost every day, and we had a huge garden. My parents were sort of hippies. We lived off the land. We hunted and fished; we froze and canned everything.At school, I got a degree in water resource management and hydrology. But working in that field just wasn’t doing it for me. My sister, who is actually a chef, got me into a restaurant. That was my first real cooking job — real as in they asked me, “Can you make a vinaigrette? Soup?” And I couldn’t, but I learned. How did you end up at Tilth?I worked at the Salish Lodge on and off for about three years, then Oceanaire, Lowell Hunt Catering, and a country club or two. I hooked up with Mike Davis, who was starting 26 Brix in Walla Walla, and worked out there for two years. When I came back to Seattle I landed my sweet job at Tilth. I wanted to step into a restaurant that would continue my education and put me towards the next step of eventually opening my own place. And I wanted to work with a great chef. The timing was right. They needed a lead line cook, so I did that. Then Dana Tough left (to start Spur), so I filled the sous-chef position. Nine months later Maria promoted me to chef de cuisine. What’s it like working with Maria? She seems very supportive of her crew, and people she’s mentored have gone on to open their own places. I’ve worked with so many people — people who demand so much from you and provide you with so many tools. Maria does so much more. She educates her people, but she also makes time in the kitchen really pleasant and fun. She’s incredibly supportive and willing to give people chances to express themselves and grow. What’s your favorite ingredient?It depends on the season. I have a good repertoire of seasonal ingredients to play with. I really love fennel pollen. I like to sneak it into dishes like potato gnocchi, or I’ll finish a scallop with some. It has such a subtle flavor and wonderful fragrance. It’s a great way to bring flavors together. Where do you eat the most when you’re not at work?I usually cook at home. What do you cook?Well, right now it’s all about lobster mushrooms. I’ve got lobster mushrooms coming out of my ears. I made lobster mushroom hash for breakfast, using the mushrooms like potatoes. Last night I had rabbit and lobsters. I try to eat well on my days off. What are your favorite cookbooks?Right now I am reading through a bunch of cheese cookbooks. We just got a combination oven and it is the single coolest thing I have ever worked with. We steam cous cous in it, blanch gnocchi, and make cheese. So I’ve been reading about how subtleties in milk affect cheese. It’s important to me to keep up on stuff and continue to learn. I didn’t go to culinary school, so I used to spend hours and hours at the mall, reading as many cookbooks as I could in a day. I fill my head with all these cool ideas, and then when it comes time to be in the kitchen, I try to execute them. That’s the real challenge and fun in cooking.