Paying Homage at Blackfish Grill
Paying Homage at Blackfish Grill
At Blackfish Wild Salmon Grill & Bar, Chef David Buchanan prepares salmon the traditional Tulalip way—slow-roasted over alder coals on hand-carved ironwood stakes. The method honors generations of Indigenous practice, where even a piece that falls is “fed to the fire” for the ancestors.
Blackfish Grill pays respect through cuisine
BY ELLEN HIATT
Past the playful and bright slot machines, and nestled near a series of tempting restaurants with pizza, sushi….and pasta, steaks and burgers, is a hidden gem of culture and cuisine.
Past them all and in a category of its own, Blackfish Wild Salmon Grill & Bar is serving seafood cooked traditionally, as Native Americans have done in the region for centuries.
There, in the Tulalip Resort Casino, the siren song of the slot machines fades into a distant din, and the gentle clink of wine glasses and dinner music come to the fore. Soon, though, with a meal of Heritage Salmon in front of you, every sense except your taste buds will fade away.
The melody of the meal will mesmerize…the lemon and dill, the sweetness of the corn in the fritter, and the story of the salmon staked over open coals behind the restaurant’s kitchen glass take over. The corn fritter brings it home like comfort food, a fitting way to remind the diner that the best things in life are really the simplest.
With the heritage method, Chef David Buchanan pays homage to the Tulalip Tribes, who traditionally prepare and roast wild salmon over the coals of alder, staked on hand-carved ironwood sticks.
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Buchanan, who has been a chef for 30 years and with the Tulalip Resort Casino for 18 of those, said when he first learned the method, an occasional salmon fillet would crumble off its stake, threaded through like a hair pin. He was going to throw it away till he learned the tradition required it to be fed into the fire.
“The ancestors are asking for their portion,” he said. “Feed it to the fire.”
The stakes he uses today are still of ironwood, also called Oceanspray, a native shrub with strong, hard wood. A member of the Tulalip Tribes hand carves them for the restaurant.
“They can last 100 uses,” Buchanan said.
Manning the fire might be Lucas Wilson, who learned the Heritage method of the salmon bake as a tradition handed down from his ancestors. It’s slow and steady, the staked salmon leaning toward the coals, expertly tended for radiant heat. Ask for it cooked to medium, like you might a steak. Delicious.
Maria Novakis might be waiting on you. She, like most of the staff there, has been on the team for years.
“We have a very good team,” she said. “We’ve all been here a long time.” As a former restaurant owner herself, she knows how to recommend the perfect pairing of wine with your meal.
The restaurant also provides steaks cooked to perfection. Though you can’t get more perfect than the heritage salmon. The Chilean Sea Bass is in the running for best meal, too, with its orange beurre blanc sauce and creamy Havarti polenta. Order it any way you want, with any number of sauces, generous portions of asparagus or golden beets.
Try the Smoked Pork Belly for an appetizer. It’s dry-cured for nine days and slow smoked and served with a butternut squash puree and a fresh kimchi laced with Granny Smith apples. There, Buchanan pays homage to his wife of Korean descent.
Consider Blackfish the next time you have a celebration. The longhouse table in the middle is meant for gatherings. And the food alone is worth celebrating.
