Canlis
Canlis contest: Find the 1950’s menu, dine at 1950’s prices
Canlis is taking a cue from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The Seattle restaurant is celebrating its 60th birthday on December 11th. & nbsp; The mark the occasion, the grandsons of the original founder are taking the idea of Willy Wonka’s golden ticket and putting a high tech spin to restaurant.
The front entrance to Canlis
Canlis is a fine dining restaurant serving contemporary, New American cuisine in Seattle, Washington. Situated in the Queen Anneneighborhood, the restaurant has views of Gas Works Park and the Cascade Mountains. It was built by Peter Canlis in 1950, and remains family-owned. The restaurant currently employs 94 people.
It is one of the most award-winning restaurants in the greater northwest; it is ranked one of the top 20 restaurants in America byGourmet Magazine, Canlis has been hailed by the New York Times as “Seattle’s fanciest, finest restaurants for over 60 years.”
History
The restaurant was built by Peter Canlis and opened on December 11, 1950. Prior to coming to Seattle, Peter had run the Canlis Charcoal Broiler which opened in 1946 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Peter hired local architect Roland Terry to design the Seattle building which soon became an icon for Northwest-inspired Modern architecture. Peter later opened additional Canlis Restaurants in Honolulu (1954), Portland (1959), and San Francisco (1965). In 1977, Peter Canlis died of lung cancer and his son, Chris Canlis, took over the restaurant with his wife, Alice. The couple ran Canlis for thirty years before handing off ownership to their sons, Mark and Brian Canlis.
Canlis combines midcentury architecture with relevant and revered cuisine.
Canlis is a baby on this list, clocking in at just 62 years old, but it’s a treat for any traveler who appreciates lineage, architecture and high-caliber food. First, the building is a midcentury masterpiece — all windows and stone and soaring ceilings — designed by the father of Northwestern architecture Roland Terry and Honolulu-based Pete Wimberly.
Inside, diners find an elegant four-star restaurant, run by third-generation owners Mark and Brian Canlis. They revamped the menu offerings in 2008 when they brought chef Jason Franey on board, snatching him up from the Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park in New York. Now the restaurant is at the forefront of the Seattle dining scene, relevant and revered.
