Tilikum Place Café

European-inspired Northwest food

Day or night, this appealing place draws you in with its dark wood, brick and sparking glass bottles behind the bar. It feels like it's been there forever. Actually, in Seattle, 10 years is kind of forever.

Chef/Owner Ba Culbert and business partner Paul Dormann were looking for a neighborhood space. Ba liked the character of this building and the owners were keen on renting. A print shop had taken up the whole space, then Taco del Mar went in (now wa'z), and a hair salon. "It was a raw space," recalls Ba. "There was a lot of construction debris. They took everything out, but we did the remodel. I came up with the design and a friend helped make it reality. He built some things and found people to build the rest."

Ba at Cooking with Class fundraiser September 2018

Ba knew what she wanted food-wise, keeping the menu small. "I like to be able to change the menu at will. We print our own menus, so when we want to change something, it's easy. We knew we wanted both lunch and dinner. At first, we thought we'd do a good coffee business. We really weren't set up for that and there wasn't much street traffic. The neighborhood had Mexican food and pizza, so no one was doing what we planned. Even now, we offer something different than anyone else in the neighborhood. Our menu changes frequently and we have a few signature dishes."

Dishes are a good mix of protein and vegetables. "We try to integrate everything well and offer options for people. There's a vegan soup at lunch every day. I don't avoid flour or wheat but do try to offer other choices for people with dietary issues. Sometimes our vegetables are the starch; it doesn't have to be potato, sometimes it's celery root. I'll never get rid of meat on the menu but, ultimately, I think it needs to be more a part of the dish as opposed to the main thing. It's best to eat better quality and less quantity. I support the idea of grass-fed meats, organic ingredients, sustainably-farmed/fished products, but you have to balance things. Can we afford the product at the price point we can ask? Is it available consistently? We don't use farmed salmon. I prefer to use small farms/producers, just because mass-produced food is still mass produced, whether it's organic or not."

Seared scallops over grilled heriloom tomato with chorizo and corn salsa

Having worked at a number of different venues over the years, Ba knew where she didn't want to work. It seemed like a logical step to open her own place. "It's difficult to make a living as a line cook, and the opportunities coming my way at the time didn't feel right. Paul wanted to invest, so we became business partners."

Ba was born in England, and the family moved to California when she was an infant, then to Whidbey Island when she was in second grade. By middle school, she was at Overlake School in Bellevue. She attended Oberlin College in Ohio, focusing on history and psychology and finishing in 1991. She then worked in a cannery in Alaska, making enough money to move to Prague for a few years, taking a crash course in how to teach ESL. "I was there as the wall was coming down. It was a good experience to see the awakening of an area. I never really wanted to be a teacher, this was just a means to an end. I returned to Alaska when I was 22 or 23 to work at the same cannery to make enough money to go to culinary school."

Grilled pluot and calamari salad

She has always enjoyed traveling as well as cooking. In high school, she spent a summer in France with friends of her mom. "Their mom was a good cook and they lived in a rural area with ducks and a garden; the days revolved around meals. I also visited my aunt in England and there are still certain tastes that take me right back there."

Her first kitchen job was at Salty's on Alki, starting before her culinary school graduation in 1994, and continuing for a short while afterward. She worked in the banquet kitchen and helped with the Sunday brunch. "I learned about production and catering. There was a lot going on: the upstairs restaurant, pastry department, catering, brunch. It was interesting to see all in one place." She then moved to Wolfgang Puck's Obachine downtown. "I felt the dishes were pretty authentic. They had a sushi bar downstairs, woks upstairs, dim sum. I learned a lot about Asian food and ingredients I hadn't worked with before, as well as Asian cooking techniques. I was there about a year."

She took a job at Palace Kitchen in 1997, and became a line cook there, staying three years, learning to use the woodfired grill. At that time, Palace was the commissary kitchen for Tom Douglas, so everything was done there. "It was good experience managing the line and the tickets. Tom has some principles of hospitality that he instilled in me, like 'you don't say no.'" She then moved to Avenue One, taking the sous chef position. "I was probably not ready for that job, I wasn't a natural manager. But there were fewer people there than at Palace and you had to do it all. Fewer resources, good experience."

Steak and vegetables

Ba left to travel for a few months: Guangzhou, China; Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Viet Nam. "Chinese people are very proud of their food and there is a story behind every dish. It was very interesting." She returned to a line cook job at The Ruins on lower Queen Anne, then became the sous chef of the Bistro after about eight months, and the chef after that, staying over three years. "We served dinner nightly to the members. It was a small menu that changed monthly. When I started Tilikum Place Café, I wanted to do something similar."

Despite opening in October 2008 during a recession, her business has increased each year. "I've learned a lot and it's a constant evolution. It's rewarding to have a place that means something to people and to nourish them. You just try your best to make people happy."

Tilikum Place Café
407 Cedar Street
Seattle, WA 98121
206-282-4830

tilikumplacecafe.com

Food photos courtesy of Tilikum Place Cafe Facebook page

Connie Adams/November 2018