Canlis is a

fine dining Fine may refer to: Characters * Sylvia Fine (''The Nanny''), Fran's mother on ''The Nanny'' * Officer Fine, a character in ''Tales from the Crypt'', played by Vincent Spano Legal terms * Fine (penalty), money to be paid as punishment for an offe ...

restaurant serving New American and

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

cuisine in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington. Situated in the Queen Anne neighborhood, the restaurant has views of

Gas Works Park Gas Works Park is a park located in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a public park on the site of the former Seattle Gas Light Company gasification plant, located on the north shore of Lake Union at the south end of the Wallingford ne ...

and the

Cascade Mountains The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, ...

. It was built by Peter Canlis in 1950, and remains

family-owned A family business is a commercial organization in which decision-making is influenced by multiple generations of a family, related by blood or marriage or adoption, who has both the ability to influence the vision of the business and the willingn ...

. 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 by ''

Gourmet Magazine ''Gourmet'' magazine was a monthly publication of Condé Nast and the first U.S. magazine devoted to food and wine. The New York Times noted that "''Gourmet'' was to food what ''Vogue'' is to fashion." Founded by Earle R. MacAusland (1890–1980) ...

'', Canlis has been hailed by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "Seattle's fanciest, finest restaurant for over 60 years". Since 1997, Canlis has been a recipient of the ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...

'' Grand Award.

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 Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

, Hawaii. He was convinced to open a Seattle location by Jack Peterson, a local contractor who had met Canlis on a trip to Hawaii. Peter hired local architect

Roland Terry Roland Terry (June 2, 1917 - June 8, 2006) was a Pacific Northwest architect from the 1950s to the 1990s. He was a prime contributor to the regional approach to Modern architecture created in the Northwest in the post-World War II era. Terry wa ...

to design the Seattle building which soon became an icon for Northwest-inspired

Modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that form ...

. Peter later opened additional Canlis restaurants in Honolulu (1954),

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

(1959), and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

(1965). The restaurant is "credited with inventing Northwest cuisine when it opened in 1950", and Peter Canlis is personally credited for "singlehandedly develop ngwhat's now known as

Pacific Northwest cuisine Pacific Northwest cuisine is a North American cuisine of the states of Oregon, Washington and Alaska, as well as the province of British Columbia and the southern portion of the territory of Yukon, reflecting the ethnic makeup of the region, ...

". 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 usually features a live pianist;

Walt Wagner Walt Wagner (born 1943)Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and season ...

'': Jason Franey Best New Chef 2011 *

: Grand Award Winner 1997–2017 *

James Beard Awards The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...

: Outstanding wine program 2017

References

External links

Official website
{{Restaurants in Seattle Restaurants established in 1950 Restaurants in Seattle New American restaurants 1950 establishments in Washington (state) American companies established in 1950 Defunct restaurants in Portland, Oregon Pacific Northwest restaurants

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links