Chef
Justin Wills
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Depoe Bay, Oregon, United States
i. Biography
Justin Wills is the Executive Chef at Restaurant Beck at Whale Cove Inn in Depoe Bay. The work there is shaped by precision and by place: a kitchen language that is technical, but grounded in the region around Lincoln County. He started cooking as a teenager at a local high-volume restaurant, where the pace of service taught early discipline. Long before that, the direction was already fixed; as he puts it, “I knew by age 12 that I wanted to be a chef.” What defines Wills’s cooking is not a single signature move, but a clear set of working priorities. At Restaurant Beck at Whale Cove Inn, that means a style built from technical fluency and close attention to the surrounding area, with ingredients drawn from nearby farms and producers. The result is food that keeps one foot in the modern and another in the local market, using a broader culinary vocabulary without losing sight of where it is being cooked.
At a Glance - Role: Executive Chef. - Cooking language: “my personal answer would be progressive local.” - Progressive means, in his words, “we cross paths between modern cooking techniques and modern classic French techniques.” - Local means “we buy probably 90% of the ingredients we use from Lincoln County.” Taken together, those two words—progressive and local—describe the structure of Wills’s kitchen. “Progressive” points to a line of work that values modern technique and the discipline of modern classic French methods. “Local” sets the sourcing standard in Lincoln County, where the ingredients are not an afterthought but part of the definition of the menu. That combination gives the cooking its shape: precise, regionally accountable, and built around what the area can supply. The career path behind that approach is marked by early commitment rather than drift. A teenage start in a high-volume restaurant provided the tempo and repetition that many kitchens demand, while the stated ambition at age 12 shows how early the profession took hold. At Restaurant Beck at Whale Cove Inn in Depoe Bay, that long-held direction now appears as a style that is disciplined in method and responsive to the region it serves.
In Their Words “Progressive, meaning we cross paths between modern cooking techniques and modern classic French techniques.” “Local, being that we buy probably 90% of the ingredients we use from Lincoln County.”
Recognition
Justin Wills has received James Beard Best Chef: Northwest semifinalist (2013).
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Justin
Who is Justin Wills?
He is the Executive Chef at Restaurant Beck.
What is Justin Wills known for?
His cooking is framed as “progressive local,” linking modern cooking methods with modern classic French technique and heavy use of Lincoln County ingredients.
Where does Justin Wills work?
He works at Whale Cove Inn’s restaurant in Depoe Bay.
