Oceanaire Seafood Room
Conquering the niche
 Whether
you live in Seattle or are visiting, eating at good seafood restaurants
is one of your goals. We’re known for great seafood and are fortunate to
have many truly good dining options. When the Oceanaire Seafood Room was
being planned, what made them think Seattle needed another seafood
restaurant? It’s all about the niche. As General Manager/Operating
Partner Ed Grandpre explains, "The concept is steakhouse-style fine
dining for seafood. We’re the ‘power’ seafood restaurant."
Just past their sixth anniversary (they opened in January 2002),
Oceanaire has stayed true to their concept. They offer big cuts of fish,
10 ounces, a la carte, simply grilled or broiled or done as a
"specialty" with more handling. A fresh oyster bar, lots of starters,
side dishes and large salads offer plenty of options. The retro luxury
liner feel of the room still works as does the piped in big band music.
Opening after 9/11 was an experience for everyone. "People thought it
was crazy, but when you open a restaurant, you plan years in advance,"
explains Ed. With the decline in the industry, many people were looking
for work. "We interviewed over 3,000 people for 96 jobs," he recalls.
"We interviewed everyone three times; we wanted a top-notch staff. It
was a massive undertaking." Many of the original hires are still at
Oceanaire.
 Stability
of staff has been a big part of their success. Ed has a 40-year history
in Seattle’s restaurants and he’s an anomaly in that he hasn’t moved
around that much. He worked at the Windjammer at Shilshole Bay in the
mid 1960s and worked for 12 years at Canlis as one of the general
managers, building their wine program. He had a short stint with
McCormick & Schmick’s. He’s been at Oceanaire since the beginning. "In
the early years, I learned hospitality from Seattle’s greats—Victor
Rosellini, Peter Canlis, Walter Clark. But no one took you aside and
taught you all the different aspects of the business. We do that now.
We’ve sent five floor managers out of here to become managing partners
in other Oceanaire locations."
Photo: Executive Chef Eric Donnelly (left) and GM Ed
Grandpre
In six years, there have only been two executive chefs. Kevin Davis
opened and stayed five years, leaving to start his own restaurant. Eric
Donnelly, the current executive chef/partner, has been at Oceanaire
since 2003 when Kevin hired him as a sauté cook.
Eric was born and raised here and from a very young age knew he
wanted to cook. "It’s all I could see myself doing," he says. "We lived
on Vashon Island only for a short time, but seeing people grow their own
food really sparked my interest." He worked at restaurants in high
school, starting as a dish washer and moving up the line. "I wanted to
go to culinary school, but had the problem of needing money. So I worked
to make money, then when I was making money, found it hard to quit and
go to school," Eric says.
He was amazed by Jan Birnbaum’s food at Sazerac and asked Jan to give
him a job. "They said ‘okay kid, come in tomorrow’ and I was so scared.
I did the ‘fake it till you make it’ trick," he laughs. Jan took him
under his wing and he worked there 4-1/2 years, moving up to lead sous
chef. "Since I was employed by Kimpton, I also got to work with Walter
Pisano at Tulio for a bit. Then I decided to take a chef de cuisine job
at Semiahmoo," he recalls. "That was a great learning experience in a
beautiful setting. I really learned how to run a fine dining restaurant.
It was the first time I ran my own menu and handled the operations side
of things."
Eventually he missed being so far away from people he knew and wanted
to get back to the city. He checked in with Jason McClure at Sazerac
when he returned. That word got to Kevin who called him with the offer
of the sauté position at Oceanaire. He moved to the sous chef position
where he stayed for about a year before moving to the executive sous
job. In August of 2006, Kevin left and Eric took over. "He had groomed
me for the position," Eric says.
"Running the kitchen and cooking is second nature to me. I go to bed
thinking about cooking," Eric says. "But it took me about a year to
really learn how to run the whole operation." He spends the first 1-2
hours of his day procuring fish for that day or the next and looking out
for what he wants on the menu the following week.
 Oceanaire’s
menu has always been built around sustainable items, but 2007-2008 have
had a very green focus. "It’s a hard balance sometimes because we do get
fish from all over the world, but we want to have a Northwest-centric
menu," says Eric. "Fortunately, we have a lot of cultural influences in
this area. I like to go to the Pike Market and see what’s there. We go
with the ‘familiar fish, exotic preparation’ model."
Photo above: seafood tower
Mid-2007, they expanded their happy hour from offering half-priced
oysters to include drink specials and more food items, like pulled pork
sliders and mac ‘n cheese with rock shrimp and jalapenos. "It’s not all
seafood and there’s a feel of bar/comfort food," Eric explains.
In late February 2008, they revamped their lunch menu to offer a
lower price point and a quick turnaround. "Not everyone can come in,
stay for an hour or more and have a $25-30 lunch. We want to be more
accessible to our customers while still offering nice dishes," says Ed.
Oceanaire has proven their staying capacity. The niche is theirs.
Connie Adams/March 2008 |
