Chef Tom Douglas … "The West Coast Catch"

By Chef Armand

If you enjoy watching Iron Chef America on the Food Network, you possibly could have been engrossed watching the episode where a husky curly haired chef from Seattle brought famed Japanese Iron Chef Morimoto to defeat. Iron Chef groupies were in utter shock to see Morimoto lose a match in which salmon was the secret ingredient; this should have been a no-brainer to a man known for his high-end utilization of fish at his chic sushi restaurants Morimoto and Nobu located in Manhattan.

The conquering chef from Seattle was Tom Douglas, the highest rated chef/restaurateur from Washington State, known for his excellent restaurants, James Beard awards, cookbooks, spice rubs and appearances on many national TV shows.

Last year at a food show in NYC, I had the pleasure of running into Tom Douglas while he was manning his booth in promotion of his prized line of spice rubs. His friendly demeanor and enthusiasm about cooking left such a great impression on me, that I knew I wanted to do an article on him. A quick phone call to his office sealed the deal and before I knew it, I was hearing Tom say, “We all should eat more seasonal fish!”

Douglas’ initial cooking experience started at Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware.  “I was nineteen and actually a cook’s helper at this really fancy hotel. It was a great experience and because a hotel has so many outlets, it was an essential part of my future as a restaurateur being exposed to many levels of cooking. Hotels are great starting points for young chefs, yet the only pitfall is the occasional feature of unions, which limit the flexibility of management and underlings to have the freedom needed to dabble in different avenues and food station rotations - I guess I was lucky!” Douglas recollects.

Douglas, a restless adventurer, eventually packed his knives and went west.  “It was time for me to see the world, so, with about $500 in my pocket and my hands on the steering wheel of an old Chevy station wagon, I just kept driving west until I ran out of gas and money, which ended up being the rainy city of coffee empires and future birthplace of grunge rock - Seattle!”

In his newly adopted hometown, Douglas worked his way up from sous chef to head chef and eventually became the highest paid chef in town at the popular Café Sport. Wanting to still try something new, Douglas left this position and went to work as a sales manager at a local wine shop where he met his wife Jackie. After his stint there, he decided to open his own place. Douglas and his wife opened Dahlia Lounge which soon became one of the Northwest’s premier restaurants, winning wide acclaim both regionally and nationally from publications such as Gourmet magazine, The New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times to name just a few. Douglas was awarded the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef Northwest in 1994 and in 1999, Food & Wine magazinenamed Dahlia Lounge the "Quintessential Seattle" restaurant.

One of the key elements to his success as a restaurateur and a multi-winning James Beard honoree was his early recognition and utilization of the vast bounty of local ingredients in Washington State.  I asked him if he thought it was fair to say that he was an innovator of regional cuisine in Seattle. “I guess it is fair to say that I was one of the pioneers in the induction of local ingredients with a few other local chefs. I packaged the local Washington State wines with the native foods which at that time were not yet explored within the restaurants!” Douglas explains.
With Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market within a stone’s throw of his restaurant, it must have been a great inspiration for him as a chef and restaurateur. In various Food Network episodes, this is the market where they toss the salmons around to the great delight of the shopper. “The Pike market is my great inspiration and source for local ingredients. It is not just a market, it is a neighborhood. Some folks like me call it the spirit of Seattle or the first “Whole Foods Market” before the latter store chain ever existed.”  Douglas points out with great pride.

The Food Network certainly has been good for Douglas, featuring his restaurants in various shows and as a guest on Emeril Lagasse’s show. However, his greatest achievement with the network was the incredible show-stopping performance on Iron Chef America, where he defeated Iron Chef Morimoto in the preparation of salmon.  I asked how he got on the show and what it was like for him.  “I received a phone call from the production company that handles Iron Chef America, asking me if I would be interested in the challenge. During the contest I can honestly tell you that it was not as stressful for me as people would think. Any decent chef with plenty of line experience in an ultra-busy restaurant knows that this is business as usual.” He also states, “For the record - anyone that thinks the show is edited or more time is allowed than an hour is dead-wrong!”

Douglas’ creativity with local ingredients and his admiration for Seattle’s cultural traditions have helped him win numerous awards and accolades including the James Beard awards for Best Chef Northwest in 1994 and 1999. I asked him what his thoughts were on these achievements. “Winning the James Beard awards was a milestone for me in my career and I can proudly boast that we have been the only restaurant empire that won combined multi awards for me as a chef, author and an award for one of my restaurant chefs - Eric Tanaka. It is an honor to receive industry peer recognition,” he states.

In July of 2004, Douglas and his wife Jackie opened Lola right across the street from the Dahlia Lounge. His love for fish and Jackie’s family roots in Greece inspired them to implement a Mediterranean-spirited restaurant which was something unique for Seattle but which we here in Astoria and Manhattan find in vast numbers.  “We strived from day one to combine the Greek approach of solely utilizing fresh local ingredients in a simple way yet with great flavor. Let me make clear that we are not a Greek restaurant per se - we only took the philosophy and ran with it Seattle style! We make fresh pita bread to order, serve kabobs on a flaming plate with ouzo to the table and only use local fish - you will not find imports on the table.” he affirms with great seriousness.

Speaking of seriousness, another fresh venture is the launch of Douglas’s new pizzeria Serious Pie. In an apple-wood burning oven, his vision of the perfect pie is brought to existence in the form of a blistering crust with delicious toppings such as fresh house made mozzarella, fresh sausage, pancetta, foraged mushrooms, local clams and farmers’ market produce. “The idea for the pizzeria was to create an extension of our bread bakery where all the bread for my restaurants is made. This was also an opportunity for me to do something more simple and fun after having established high maintenance full service restaurants. The pizza is a result of placing great thought in the process. I use a different dough structure and bake it at 650F rather than commonly used 800F, in order to protect the cheese from breaking. The newspaper Seattle Times has already rated it the best pizza in town - a proclamation I am thrilled about.” Douglas said.

In the retail field, he has launched a spice rub that has exceeded sales expectations in a market that is saturated with chef-driven products who often just slap their name on a packer product. Douglas’ “Rub with Love Spice” are produced with premium herbs and spices, freshly roasted, ground and mixed at Spice Rub World Headquarters by his own “Spice Girls.”  “The whole spice-thing started by my customers asking for the spice rub on my cold-smoked salmon entrée served at my restaurant Etta’s. Since I did not want to reveal the recipe, I decided to package it in plastic bags and sell it directly. We quickly sold 3000 of them in no time, which inspired me to professionally pack the rub, which we now sell in twelve flavors. The process into mass production was harder than most folks would think. You have to deal with package regulations and realize that the set-up costs of the first batch are very expensive - after that point you either sink or swim,” he explains.

Douglas is also an acclaimed cookbook author. He has penned three of them - Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen (Morrow, 2001), which won a James Beard award for Best Americana Cookbook, Tom’s Big Dinners (Morrow, 2003), and I Love Crab Cakes (Morrow, 2006). When asked about the crab cake book and how to make the best crab cakes, he replies, “When I came to Seattle back in the day, crab cakes where not to be found. I introduced them and now they are the most popular item on my menus. To make a good one, you need fresh or good quality canned lump crab meat and fresh white bread crumbs. Do not over mix them and fry them in butter.”

On a final note I asked about his favorite restaurants across the country and what his future plans are. “I enjoy Avec in Chicago, Boulevard in San Francisco, Mozza in Los Angeles and while visiting NYC recently I had lunch at the Union Square Café, a dig I have not been to in a while…it was still very good. I also love recent James Beard winner Momofuko as well the Fatty Crab, Spott4d Pig and Babo. I see my future as buying more real estate and retiring as a professional BBQ master in my very own back yard.

After summarizing Tom Douglas’ career, vision and approach to cooking, it is very noticeable that we are dealing with a man who instills great passion and dedication to all he does without losing the important element of having fun with it. There are no short cuts and he seems to go beyond where not many chefs have gone, always seeking the very best for his patrons and seeking to make difficult solutions work for him. His philosophy has paid off since critics cannot rave enough about his food establishments as listed on his website www.tomdouglas.com. Tom is a true chef and an example to live and cook by. When visiting Seattle, skip the coffee shops and head over to one of his popular establishments. While in town you can listen to his very own radio show on Saturday between 4-7pm on news radio 710 KIRO as he discusses the bounty of “Seattle’s Kitchen.”

Cooking at Home with Chef Tom Douglas

In conjunction with Tom Douglas’ Seattle restaurant empire, fans of his cooking jubilated on the fact that now they could cook up some of his dishes at home through his 3 cookbooks and use of his secret spice rubs when preparing everyday dishes such as whole chicken, salmon and ribs. Under the moniker of his first cookbook Seattle Kitchen, an exciting product line has been rolled out offering 8 dry rubs, 3 teriyaki sauces, and two beer-based BBQ sauces.  The philosophy behind this line is to offer a high-end product that lends itself to a range of cooking methods such as grilling, baking and barbequing.

In comparison to most chef ventured product lines, these products are actually very good, not just a generic product slapped with a celebrity chef label. The rubs such as Spicy Tokyo, Steak, Chinese Five Spice and African Peri Peri, have the perfect balance between flavor, spiciness and sweetness.  The latter is what makes the spices so good: a good rub should always have the component of brown sugar implemented. Before I even met Tom Douglas, I always used his spice rubs for my personal cooking use and still use them to this day.

Spice rubs are easy to use, such as in this recipe which is on the lid of his salmon rub.

Etta’s Salmon
6 salmon filets - 7 oz. each
4 Tablespoons Tom Douglas salmon rub
2 Tablespoons olive oil

Method:
Coat each filet with 2 teaspoons of rub. Heat olive oil in sauté pan. Cook salmon on both sides over medium heat. Watch carefully so that the rub does not burn. Reduce heat if necessary. Cook 6 – 9 minutes until done to your liking.

Tom has successfully published three cookbooks, which all reflect his jovial philosophy on cooking, cleverly utilizing regional ingredients infused with international cooking techniques and influences.

Tom Douglas Seattle Kitchen (William Morrow, 2001) – In his first publication which was awarded a James Beard award, Tom Douglas redefines the cuisine of the Seattle region, craftily blending a style of down-home cooking intermingled with worldly cooking styles and regional ingredients. Similar to Paul Prudhomme, who brought Cajun cooking to an international arena, Tom manages with his book to showcase the world, the bounty and availability of wonderful products and wines of Washington State.  Examples of mouthwatering creations are dishes such as buttermilk fried quail with corn and blueberry salad, or ling cod in grape leaves with pine nut fig butter.  This book is the ultimate reference on what Northwest inspired regional ingredient cooking is all about.

Tom’s Big Dinners (Harper-Collins, 2003) – Tom’s second book is honorably an inspired dedication to home cooks and to his big family where his mother and grandmother served home-cooked meals in his native Newark, Delaware.
You will always find that the greatest chefs are the ones who grew up in a family where life was focused around the dinner table. It is an essential part of developing the palette and for that reason alone it is understandable why people are hooked on Tom’s cooking – it does taste like home. In this book, home cooks are invited to cook some of Tom’s favorite recipes as he prepares in his free time with his wife Jackie Cross. Delicious and fairly simple recipes to pick from are, chilled cracked Dungeness crab with sea salt and ginger mayonnaise or as dessert a scrumptious pine nut marzipan tart.  Good food from a man whose heart starts at home.

I Love Crab Cakes! (Harper-Collins, 2006) – In his most recent publication, Tom offers us the chance to create at home many variations of one of the most popular seafood appetizers in America – Crab Cakes! This is the ultimate book for crab cakes, as Tom really goes into detail on how to create the best ones. How to cope with crab cake related issues such as: what bread crumbs to use or more importantly, what crab meat to use. From the ingenious hush crabbies (a clever variation of hush puppies), to Tidewater crab cakes with Smithfield ham, this book is fun and simple to use and a must for the crab cake aficionado.

Tom Douglas’ Seattle Restaurants and food establishments:

Lola
Palace Kitchen
Dahlia Lounge
Dahlia Bakery
Etta’s
Serious Pie