Executive Chef Aaron Wright

For Executive Chef Aaron Wright, fine dining is fine detail. Staying within the parameters of the trusted Canlis menu, Chef Wright makes sure each dish is a pure reflection of the best products he can find. His goal is to represent the best of the past and present in contemporary design.

Early in life Chef Wright was drawn to graphic design and illustration. Through the study of an artist's palette he discovered his culinary palate and the world of the culinary arts. He began his culinary career in local bistros, learning each step of the way. Chef Wright was hired on to open Andaluca in the Mayflower Park Hotel and was quickly promoted to Sous Chef. Feeding his need to grow and learn he found himself opening Earth & Ocean in the W Hotel with the Myriad Restaurant Group of New York.

Chef Aaron Wright was hired by Canlis Restaurant in 2000 and quickly promoted to Executive Chef in 2002. He has represented Canlis Restaurant at the James Beard House in 2004. He has made appearances on the Food Network, local TV and radio shows. Since 2002 Chef Wright has moved Canlis on Gourmet's 50 Best Restaurants in America list, from number 46 to number 19. Much of Chef Wright's success can be attributed to how he provides leadership to his culinary staff. He challenges them through new dish designs, the importance of food and wine pairings and getting them involved with local producers, farmers and charities. Chef Wright's guidance is perfectly suited for leading Canlis into the future of fine dining.

Chef de Cuisine Jeff Taton

Over the past 24 years, Canlis has become a part of chef Jeff Taton's lifestyle. Jeff began his career in the Canlis kitchen directly out of high school in 1981. He started as a part-time dishwasher while attending the University of Washington in pursuit of an engineering degree.

With no formal training, he worked his way to the top. Cooking alongside previous executive chefs Rocky Toguchi and Greg Atkinson, he established himself as the engineer of the Canlis kitchen. Jeff hand-picked chef Aaron Wright to be the visionary in the Canlis kitchen-using his creativity to sketch out culinary dishes either on paper or in his head.

Jeff plays the practical role: he determines which cuts of meat or types of seafood to work with as well as which of Wright's wonderful ideas are really feasible. He then physically creates each item, achieving the transition from creative ideas to edible delights.

Together, chefs Jeff and Aaron build the menu now acclaimed as the finest in the Pacific Northwest. Taton's longtime commitment to Canlis has given him a deep understanding of its culture, history and guests. He is a steady and trusted pillar of the Canlis team and has helped push the level of cuisine to its current rave status in the Zagat guide. In the past few years, Taton has expanded his knowledge by working alongside chefs at esteemed restaurants like Jardiniere, Chez Panisse, Le Cirque, Aureole and Valentino.

Sous Chef Steven Kekoa Ariel

Born in Honolulu, Steven was brought up on the Big Island of Hawaii, raised on his grandparent's coffee and macadamia nut farm. From an early age, the culinary influences of farm life and the indelible impression from his grandparents "live from the land" philosophy laid the groundwork for a career and life enriched by the culinary arts.

Steven began as a dishwasher at the Kona Lagoon Hotel while earning his culinary arts degree at the University of Hawaii. Having gained experience at several different properties, he landed a position alongside superstar Chef Alan Wong at Le Soleil in the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel. The relationship that followed would change his life.

In 1995, Steven helped open Alan Wong's Restaurant in Honolulu. Quickly becoming Chef Wong's right hand man, Steven accompanied the famed chef on his world travels, cooking for Maui Wine Symposium, the Singapore Raffles Food & Wine Experience, Greenbrier's La Varenne Cooking School in West Virginia, and returning back home to the Mauna Lani's Cuisines of the Sun. In 1995, Steven was made Sous Chef of the nationally esteemed Alan Wong's and by 1999, was selected as Chef de Cuisine to open Chef Wong's second restaurant, The Pineapple Room.

In 2006, after relocating his family to Seattle, Canlis Restaurant hired Mr. Ariel as Sous Chef under Chef Aaron Wright. As one of America's hottest, rising young chefs, Steven is a welcome addition to the Canlis team.

Pastry Chef Neil Robertson

Neil Robertson can't help but compose all that he touches. This former graphic designer followed his passion to realize a rich and rewarding career as a pastry chef, learning from French masters and working in some of the nation's notable kitchens. He finds his home at Canlis as the culinary team's newest addition.

Neil devoted his past four years to the pastry kitchens among the most esteemed levels of fine dining in Las Vegas: He's worked at Restaurant Guy Savoy, Mansion/L'Atelier du Joël Robuchon, and at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, working with Philippe Maury.

Motivated by the encouragement of cookbook consultant Judy Amster and her conviction of his abilities, Neil pursued professional pastry-making; his educational foundation in pastry began at Chicago's French Pastry School, a city in which he would remain to stage in the kitchens and pantries of Trio and the renowned Charlie Trotter's.

Outside the Canlis kitchen, Neil is a self-described Japanophile, at-home recipe tester from the sanctity of his Capitol Hill condo kitchen, and he admits to the occasional excess of television and movie-watching.