Remembering Xinh Dwelley

Xinh Dwelley was a cooking legend, a champion oyster shucker, a philanthropist, and in her own words, "Julia Child in Shelton." Her radiant smile is the image that lingers.

The native of South Vietnam who created exquisite cuisine in Xinh's Clam & Oyster House in downtown Shelton and authored two cookbooks died Nov. 17 at age 72. Her life will be celebrated at a memorial service at 3:30 p.m. Dec. 12 at the Skookum Event Center at the Little Creek Casino Resort in Shelton.

The Shelton-Mason County Journal asked the members of the Facebook sites Shelton Talks, Mason County News and Well, You Might be From Shelton If ... to share their memories of Xinh.

"She was very kind and had a heart of gold," wrote Samantha Allen-Johns. "To those who knew Xinh know she was very blunt and hilarious! It didn't matter who was around, if she has something to say, she said it! She has a way of showing 'tough love' to those she truly cared about. She always tried to see the best in everyone and gave opportunities to many. She had a diverse group of employees and made all feel welcome. Her passion was in her food, and you could tell from every bite you took. One of the best chefs in the Pacific Northwest! She loved and missed her husband dearly and would always bring him up in every conversation. I was honored to watch her cook many times and I'll never forget the things she taught me."

Deatra Harrington wrote she was grateful to have taken Xinh's geoduck chowder class.

"She processed two geoducks in front of us, made it seen easy, delicious chowder we enjoyed and gave us the recipe she used. Went to her restaurant when we first moved home from New York in 2002. She came and spoke to us, enjoyed my husband's New York accent. That warm smile showed she knew life and chose to stay 'on the sunny side.' Thank you, Chef!"

"Our friendship began when I was in culinary school and competed at the OysterFest Seafood Cookoff at the West Coast Oyster Shucking Championship in 2001 and unfortunately the last time I competed was the last time I saw her," Kerinlee Lewis wrote. "She always had the warmest smile at the judging table and put the competitors at ease. We competed against each other often and she always stopped by to wish me luck. She will be missed by many. I will miss her! Happy Cooking, Xinh!"

Many experienced her warmth at her restaurant on West Railroad Avenue.

"Even though it was my first time enjoying her food, Xihh made me feel like she had known and loved me forever," wrote Carol Ann. "She prepared food especially for us and she was almost embarrassed at our delight. Xinh was humble, wise, creative and beautiful."

Carol Seeley remembers Xinh's "glowing smile, delicious cuisine, and caring for customers."

"A thousand other customers 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 restaurant 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 wonderful 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 American mess tent and soon was renowned for her fried chicken and hamburgers. That's where she met her first husband, a U.S. Army serviceman who was wounded.

"That's where she started to learn English," her daughter 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 and sold egg rolls at the farmers market while taking classes in the evening to learn English. She started shucking oysters at a company that became Taylor Shellfish. The company recognized her cooking talents and employed her to cook for management and VIP guests.

From 1989 to 1992, Xinh won the West Coast Oyster Shucking Championship, improving her time each year. The male competitors "didn't like it all because all of a sudden there was a woman and she was winning," her daughter said.

In 1996, Taylor Shellfish opened Xinh's Clam & Oyster House in downtown Shelton.

Xinh cooked for, and befriended, chefs including Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmerman. In 1995, she was invited to cook oysters for one her idols, chef and TV personality Julia Child. She was amused to watch Child attempt to open an oyster with a butter knife. "She absolutely loved Julia Child," her daughter said.

In 2006, Xinh was featured on an episode of the TV series "Dirty Jobs," where she demonstrated 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 Stephen 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 Shelton-Mason County Journal. She was promoting the publication of her second cookbook, "Xinh's Flavors 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 chemo(therapy) 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 really crazy 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 something good. That's what I'm doing and I'm grateful."

"I tell myself, I feel like Julia Child in Shelton. It's a tiny town and I do well and I'm happy and I'm grateful 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 accomplish because you know, over the years, I worked all the time but between work and stuff, I still do fundraisers and things on the weekend. I think now that I'm retired, I just 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, coordinator of Explore Hood Canal & South Puget Sound, was instrumental in preserving Xinh's culinary legacy. Hansen and her family for years celebrated special occasions at Xinh's restaurant. The two met in 2010 when Xinh volunteered to conduct a cooking demonstration at the Mason Area Fair.

"When she closed her restaurant, she was super, super ill," Hansen said in an interview with the Journal. "She was convinced she was dying."

Hansen's family sponsored the publication of Xinh's first cookbook, "Xinh's Pacific Coastal Flavors" in 2019, which Hansen edited. Xinh dictated recipes for Hansen to put into words for the second, "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."