Chef, author, speaker and National Geographic Fellow Barton Seaver is on a mission. He wants to restore our relationship with the ocean, the land, and with each other—through dinner. He believes food is a crucial way for us to connect with the ecosystems, people, and cultures of our world. 

Seaver’s first book, For Cod & Country (Sterling Epicure, May 2011), is a full-color exploration of those themes. It showcases seasonal seafood, vibrant spices, and farm-fresh produce. Recipes for family-friendly meals include easy-to-follow instructions, helpful tips, and purchasing recommendations for any cook who aspires to turn a meal into a doorway to community, warmth, and a better way of life. Seaver is in the process of writing his second cookbook, which will extend his style and message to meat, seafood, and vegetable recipes for the grill.

Seaver’s childhood in Washington, D.C. centered around the family dinner table. After graduating with honors from the Culinary Institute of America, he traveled extensively and found work at a small family restaurant in southern Spain. The casual, ingredient-based cooking style there would prove to be an important influence in his perception of food as an essential part of community. 

A transformative trip to Morocco landed him in the seaside village of Essaouiera, where survival is directly linked to the oceans. His experience with the locals, who taught him generations-old fishing methods, helped shape his belief that, at its root, sustainability is both an ecological and a humanitarian issue.

Seaver returned to D.C. in 2005 and began his career as a chef, first with Jose Andres at Jaleo, then as executive chef of Café Saint-Ex and later at its sister restaurant, Bar Pilar. In 2007, Seaver became owner-chef of the sustainable seafood restaurant Hook in Georgetown, which made the Washington Post’s Top 50, Washingtonian Magazine’s Top 100, and Bon Appétit’s Top 10 Eco-Friendly Restaurants. In a single year the restaurant served 78 species of seafood, and Seaver's devotion to sustainability led to national media attention. He was Esquire magazine’s 2009 “Chef of the Year,” and in 2008, he was honored as a “Seafood Champion” by the Seafood Choices Alliance and as “Rising Culinary Star of the Year” by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. Seaver has since left the restaurant business to use his knowledge and experience to link seafood to broader socioeconomic, ecological, health, and cultural issues.

In early 2010, Seaver received a fellowship from the National Geographic Society to increase awareness of ocean issues and inspire action. He has developed a list of ocean friendly substitutes for popular yet depleted seafood species, and co-created the Seafood Decision Guide to help consumers evaluate seafood based on health and environmental factors. Currently, he hosts the National Geographic Web series Cook-Wise, where he tells the stories of the fishermen, farmers, and scientists working to bring more sustainable food to the table. 

Locally, Seaver sits on the board of D.C. Central Kitchen, an organization fighting hunger through personal empowerment, job training, and life skills. He also collaborates with the School Nutrition Association, the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard Medical School, Future of Fish, Fair Trade USA, and other non-profit organizations supportive of his message that food is a catalyst for restoring health to ourselves, our communities, and our planet.  In Fall 2011 StarChefs.com presented Seaver with the “Community Innovator Award,” as voted by over 1,000 chefs and culinary leaders worldwide. 

A highly sought speaker, Seaver has given invited lectures at Harvard University, Yale University, Culinary Institute of America, National Geographic Society, and Duke University, in addition to serving on dozens of conference panels, including at the Aspen Environmental Forum, Blue Vision Summit, National Restaurant Association conference, Seafood Choices Alliance Sustainable Seafood Summit, Center for American Progress, The Savannah Ocean Exchange, and American Fisheries Society. Keynote addresses have been made at annual meetings for Basel World 2011, The Nature Conservancy, School Nutrition Association, and the American Culinary Federation.

Seaver’s insights and recipes have been featured in Cooking Light, O: The Oprah Magazine, Every Day with Rachael Ray, Lonny Magazine, ChopChop, the Washington Post, Fortune, TreeHugger.com, Grist.com, CNN’s Eatocracy blog, American University’s Kogod Magazine, Vanity Fair, and numerous online outlets. He has appeared on CNN, NPR’s All Things Considered and Weekend Edition, Bloomberg Radio, the 700 Club, and various local news stations across the United States. He is a regular guest on the radio show National Geographic Weekend with host Boyd Matson.  In 2010, he gave a TED Talk on sustainable seafood aboard the National Geographic Endeavor off the coast of Ecuador.

Seaver’s three-part television series In Search of Food premiered on the Ovation network in May 2011. The series tells the story of the locavore movement through local farmers, chefs, and food specialists in New York, San Francisco, and Minneapolis. 

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