A Seattle Classic! Ray’s is celebrating its 35th Anniversary. And for those of us that know how hard the restaurant business is – that is quite a statement!

Most recently I had dinner at Ray’s with my husband John. It was a super beautiful sunny Friday evening and the place was packed! We started with the Ray’s ultra martini – made with my friend Ryan’s Aviation Gin distilled in Portland and garnished with a delicious piece of house hard-smoked salmon –wow!

Then moving on to salads we had the Boat House Salad: a classic combination of butter lettuce, point reyes farmstead blue cheese, dried NW cranberries and almonds– drizzled with a raspberry thyme vinaigrette. Our other salad was the Dungeness Crab Salad, loaded with chunks of delicious crab and sprinkled with peanuts – a tasty and light combination.

For our entrees John had the Smoked Sable Fish with a “chowder”  of corn, potato and chef Peters housemade smokey bacon – WOW– this dish is one of the best preparations of Black Cod I have ever had – it was a knock out. I, being in a lighter eating mode, enjoyed the grilled Wild White King Salmon beautifully cooked and served with a bing cherry puree – nice and light! I asked not to be temped with the sexy potatoes that it was paired with, and instead had local pea pods and asparagus as my accompaniment – the whole dish was perfectly prepared and really d’lish!

And service too was stellar. Tiffany, our server, was fantastic. It was the kind of crisp efficient service I almost had though was a thing of the past these days. Thank you Tiffany for making our dinner even better.

And to General Manager extraordinaire “Moe” and her team – congratulations on your anniversary – Ray’s is and deserves to be a true Seattle icon!

Here’s to another 35 years and I hope to be there.

To get the most out of your summer grilling follow these tips from Ray’s Executive Chef Peter Birk

1. Hot fire, but not too hot – you should be able to hold your hand a few inches above the grill for a couple of seconds
2. Clean, well oiled grill
3. Enjoy what you’re doing – don’t stress about over or undercooking – if you worry to much, your food will show it

Recipe for Teriyaki Coho Salmon courtesy of Ray’s Boat House

Note: Requires at least 4 hours marinating time

4 6-ounce wild coho salmon fillets, skin on
1 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
3 tablespoons peeled and chopped fresh ginger
2 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar

Combine soy sauce, sherry, sesame oil, ginger, green onions and brown sugar, and mix well. The marinade should be made a day in advance and refrigerated to allow flavors to blend. In a shallow glass baking dish, cover salmon fillets with marinade. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours, according to how strong a flavor you prefer.

Heat grill to medium-high heat.  Place fillets flesh side down on the grill and cook for about 3 minutes. Turn over and cook just until the center of the fillet becomes opaque, about 3 additional minutes. Total grilling time is approximately 6 minutes, depending on thickness of fish. Serve with steamed rice.

This marinade is excellent for other kinds of fish, as well as chicken and meats.