Chris and Alice Canlis

For 30 years, Chris and Alice Canlis lovingly ran their restaurant as a team, each bringing uniquely different strengths to the table. They considered Canlis to be a celebration that flowed naturally out of the dynamics of their own 37-year marriage. Like Chris, Canlis has been steady, trustworthy, and honest. Yet like Alice, it has always carried a sense of adventure, romance, and fun. Says Alice, "We are constantly adapting and evolving as we serve each another with respect, kindness, and consideration. That's been the foundation of our relationship with each other and with our restaurant."

A former Navy pilot and Stanford University graduate, Chris Canlis always brings a sense of tradition, success, and order. While his father and Canlis founder Peter was quite the showman, Chris preferred an understated approach to running a fine dining restaurant. Says Chris, "I always wanted the food and the service to take center stage. The idea was for our guests to enjoy the music, not watch the conductor."

Alice Canlis was raised in a large southern family where life's celebrations and events centered around boisterous suppers at a country table that could seat 18 people. From that background, she brought to Canlis the warmth and hospitality of her family traditions. As President of Canlis for many years, Alice was the visionary whose drive, risk preference, and attention to detailÊpushed Canlis to stay focused always on the future. Taking the traditions of her past, she moves them always forward toward the true art of hospitality.

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Mark Canlis

The second of three sons, Mark grew up in a restaurant family. By the time he officially joined the company in 2003, he had earned a degree from Cornell University, served as a Captain in Air Force Special Operations, and worked in 10 separate restaurants across the country. He met his wife, Anne Marie, while working for famed restaurateur Danny Meyer in the opening of Danny’s fifth restaurant, Blue Smoke.

Returning to Seattle after two years in New York City, Mark has eagerly stepped into a world of rich family history, loyal and committed guests and exciting opportunities for the future of the family business. His addition to the team has spawned a revolution at Canlis in setting the national standard for guest dining experience. At the forefront of Canlis 3.0, Mark’s drive and passion are well suited to write new chapters for the restaurant, and for future generations to gather and celebrate as they have for so many years.

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Brian Canlis

Brian Canlis has finally returned to Seattle after 12 years of studying and working abroad. His college education saw him in England, Austria, and Spain before finishing a business and restaurant management degree at Cornell University. Commissioned as an Air Force officer in 2001, he soon led his base’s food service team to win the coveted Hennessy Award for the Air Force’s best food and dining experience. Just prior to his promotion to Captain, Brian was transferred to the nation’s capital to help lead an elite protocol squad that played host to world leaders and international heads of state. (There’s a good chance you’ve seen him saluting the President on CNN).

Lured back to the family business by an unwavering desire to join the restaurant legacy, Brian has joined Mark in leading the company. While Mark is the leader of staff, guest and community relations, Brian focuses more on business development, product reinvention, and future opportunities. Together, they make a dynamic team who are just as great at being business partners as they are at being brothers.

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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.

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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.

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Kellie Sholdt

Born in the Skagit Valley, Kellie is a Washington native who loves the beauty of the out-of-doors and enjoyed growing up in the simplicity of the small-town life. Finding herself drawn to Seattle in later years, she graduated from Seattle Pacific University and found herself drawn to the world of fine dining as the setting to grow her passion for event planning.

The connection with Canlis was a perfect fit. A born “organizationalist” and an unusual passion for details, Kellie has a knack for letting guests feel that any party can be pulled off without a hitch. A trusted member of the Canlis team since March of 2004, she orchestrates Seattle’s most beautiful parties, in the city’s most beautiful private rooms.

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David Kim

At an early age, David developed a passion for the service industry that would serve him well through the rest of his career. Beginning as a dishwasher at the age of 14, he eventually worked his way through the industry, and through college, earning his bachelor's degree from the University of Washington in 1998.

In 1999, David told Chris Canlis in an interview that he "wanted to work at Canlis because he wanted to learn from the best." That desire to grow, not only won him the job as a server's assistant, but would quickly raise him to the top. In 2006, David was promoted from lead server to Canlis Service Manager; "an essential move for Canlis if we are to continue to lead the industry in service and hospitality," said Mr. Canlis.

An alumnus of over a dozen local restaurants, and an apprentice of Mr. Canlis for seven years, David was perfectly positioned to lead the restaurant into the next generation of hospitality. His vision is to champion the Canlis' family values into the very definition of fine service. David believes that hospitality has to be in your soul and comes naturally to people who think of others before themselves. Hospitality is something that he has learned from the kindness and generosity of his own family, and the one he works for.

The James Beard Foundation has three times nominated Canlis for most Outstanding Service in the nation.

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Nelson Daquip

Canlis Sommelier Nelson Daquip has been the most rapidly promoted employee in Canlis’ history, rising from server assistant, to server, to assistant sommelier, to wine director in only four years. We weren’t the only ones to notice –Food and Wine Magazine featured Nelson in their June profile of up-in-coming sommeliers.

After earning a culinary degree from Kapiolani Community College through the University of Hawaii, Nelson served at the prestigious Alan Wong’s restaurant in Hawaii for three years.

He found Canlis in the summer of 2002 and within the year, Nelson had earned his place in the much coveted six-month Canlis “vinternship” program, aimed at developing young sommeliers within the Seattle wine community. Under Master Sommelier and Canlis Wine Director Shayn Bjornholm, Nelson learned how to run a world-class wine program. He has recently been selected to sit for the Advanced Course with The Court of Master Sommeliers in October of 2005 and has just received his Sommelier Diploma from The International Sommelier Guild.

Nelson brings the aloha spirit to the table—a welcoming tradition where he shares a piece of his life with each guest. As Queen Lililuokalani stated in her last message to the people of Hawaii, “Kulia I ka Nu’u”—strive for the highest.

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Doug Kawasaki

Doug's rapid rise in the restaurant industry has been, as he puts it, "a great amount of hard work, and an even greater amount of serendipity." He has had the blessing of being mentored by some of the city's best restaurant professionals, and Canlis will continue in this capacity. As a former general manager with broad management skills, he enthusiastically hopes to help Canlis build on excellence, and bolster its position as one of the nation's elite restaurants.

Spare time for Doug rarely means sitting around. He often helps out at a local wine shop, tries to keep up with his constant home improvement projects, and stays fit by playing a dedicated amount of Ultimate Frisbee. During college football season however, it's next to impossible to pull him away from the TV when USC, his alma mater, is lighting up the scoreboard.

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Laren Waterbury

1200 cocktails is what our top mixologist, Laren, will shake up in just one weekend! We estimate he has made nearly 1,000,000 cocktails over his 12 year career as the lead bartender at Canlis.

Laren started hand shaking cool cocktails in Iowa. His quest for the perfect place to serve his beautiful libations took him through Houston and California before moving to Seattle where he found Canlis in 1995.

Laren's contribution to the dining experience at Canlis is vast: introducing seasonal, cutting edge cocktails such as the pepper delicious, and the pear apple sidecar to an exclusive clientele at Canlis, while maintaining the classic integrity of the oldest bar list in town (Canlis was the first restaurant in Seattle with a liquor license). Laren also helped in the reconfiguration of the Canlis lounge, and facilitated our latest lounge renaissance. Over the years, Laren has inspired, developed and trained dozens of ambitious bartenders who have learned the tricks of the trade from his lifelong experiences.

Currently, Laren is very active in his two son's lives. When not developing a new crazy cocktail for Canlis, Laren can be found volunteering his time with the Kirkland Boys & Girls Club, spending time at the PTA, or coaching little league. Next time you're in the bar, ask him about his new skateboarding hobby...

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Were it all to start over, I would have listened more, I would have watched more, I would have made myself in the likeness of them for they were champions of a forgotten age, a forgotten wisdom, a forgotten beauty. Here’s the list of our champions.

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Susan Canlis, grandma

Known for her deft culinary skills and as the only woman to keep a reign on Peter (she was after all, his mother), Great Grandma Sito left a rich heritage of authentic cooking to our family. Her anise cookies are legendary, and her cheesecake recipe is still used by the restaurant to this day.

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Peter Canlis, founder

In 1950, visionary Peter Canlis opened a Seattle restaurant “where Peter Canlis is your host.” From the start, he served the finest seafood and steak in America, allowing the food on the plate to speak for itself – no sauces. He opened the kitchen to the dining room a full 40 years before that trend would sweep the country. He pioneered a unique style of team-concept service that redefined fine dining hospitality nationwide. At the end of the evening, with cars magically awaiting the guests under the porte cochere, there was Peter standing by the fireplace at the door to shake your hand good night.

Peter passed away in 1977 after a difficult bout with lung cancer. Though a tough and demanding entrepreneur, he had a teddy bear heart and, in the restaurant business, a Midas touch.

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Joe Ching, executive chef

Born in Hawaii, Joe Ching was brought to Seattle in 1950 to open Canlis restaurant as executive chef. With Joe at the helm of the Canlis kitchen, this fledgling Seattle restaurant became nationally famous and garnered many culinary awards. Joe’s skills with wild salmon—whether catching or grilling or smoking them—made him famous throughout the northwest. Joe was a chef who mixed with his guests. He loved talking to everyone, and he became as much a part of the aura of Canlis as Peter Canlis himself. Joe was a pioneer breaking through the post-war prejudice against Asians and becoming one of the first people to appreciate and embrace organic gardening. Joe passed away in 2005.

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Doug Guiberson, maitre d’

For 25 years, Doug Guiberson was the face on the front door at Canlis. His memory for names and his gracious ability as the perfect host marked him as the most important person in the city to know on a first name basis. “Doug will get me in” was the hope and prayer that well-heeled Seattleites relied on to gain access to a coveted table on an impossibly full night. Almost always their prayers were answered, and Doug found a way to not just get them in but to bring them back again and again.

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Rocky Toguchi, chef

Of all who have served this institution, none worked so hard, said so little, and made such a difference as the great Rocky Toguchi. When he retired New Year’s Eve 2000 after 30 years in the Canlis kitchen, Rocky had set a record that not even the great Cal Ripken Jr. could match. In all those years, he never missed a single day of work.

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Dick Sprinkle, valet

Hired on opening night, when Peter realized he had no one to park cars, Mr. Sprinkle brought a charisma, photographic memory, and charm that would serve him well in his 40 years at Canlis. In all that time, he never gave a valet ticket and nary a guest made it out the door without their car being already there to greet them. Dick is the creator of the legendary Canlis valet service.

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Yoko Farley, server

When I was three, Yoko welcomed me to my first dinner at Canlis. At 29, I was proud to have her serve in our wedding. I can think of no server in 55 years who better embodied the spirit of Canlis. She was warm and gracious, humble and wise, loved and respected by every guest and every member of the staff from 1977 till 2003. Such a small tribute cannot thank her sincerely enough.

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