KINGSTON — Alan Chessman never thought he would be able to get the recipe of one of his favorite dishes in Seattle until it involved going on television.

Chessman will be featured on “KCTS Chefs 2003,” on Seattle’s public broadcasting system, today at 11 a.m., 3 p.m. and Sunday, May 18 at 2 p.m. with Chef Iganico Reyna of Agua Verde Cafe in Seattle.

Chessman nominated the restaurant’s Tacos de Boniato (Yam Tacos) to be featured on the station’s cooking special on local signature dishes. He had responded to a promotion from the station which asked for viewers’ favorite restaurant dishes or favorite chefs.

“We just heard the request and thought, ‘This would be fun — we should nominate one,’” he said. “And who’d ever thought they’d call me?”

While Chessman and his wife don’t know the chef personally, they enjoy the restaurant located on the Lake Union ship canal near University of Washington.

“It’s a little hole in the wall restaurant but the way we discovered it was an accident,” he said. The Chessman’s were kayaking in the lake with friends when they saw people eating outside the restaurant. “We thought it was a neat place.”

While they didn’t stop then, they eventually came back.

“Good food, cheap prices. It’s been over five years and it’s stayed consistently good,” Chessman described. “It’s kind of Mexican fare with a salsa bar. They have a vegetarian twist on the food.”

The menu features several types of open-face tacos, including the mushroom, lamb and the sweet potato taco.

“It’s mixed with onions, peppers, spices and ladled on the tortilla,” he explained. “It really has a yummy taste. You get that with some salsa and a margarita and you’re all set.”

One motivation for nominating the recipe was to learn how to make it, he said.

“I thought when I was eating this dish once, I thought I should learn how to make it at home,” he said, adding that he tried, but “it wasn’t quite the same. It will be fun for me to see the chef and talk to him and learn how to do it and do it right.”

While Chessman said he has no particular favorite food, other than “natural healthy foods,” Mexican seems to be a theme. He and his wife took a cooking class in Oaxaca, Mexico during a recent visit there.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the station and meeting the people you always see on the television,” he added.