Business

<< Previous   of   Next >> Dan Bates/ Herald staff  (click to enlarge) Perry Mascitti is Tulalip Resort Casino's executive chef. He was photographed during the complex's construction.   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Mike Benbow, Business Editor benbow@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, August 24, 2008 Tulalip Resort Casino's restaurant 'glorifies the local bounty,' chef says By Debra Smith Herald Writer Don't expect typical steam-table casino food if you eat at BlackFish, the Tulalip Resort Casino's new restaurant. Expect an upscale dining experience that celebrates fresh local ingredients and American Indian culture. "I wanted a restaurant that glorifies the local bounty, not just touches on it," said Chef Perry Mascitti. BlackFish is set to open Wednesday, not long after the rest of the new hotel and conference center. The casino already offers a fine-dining restaurant, Tulalip Bay, run by chef Dean Shinagawa. Tulalip Bay combines Northwest ingredients and tropical flavors in pan-Asian cuisine. At BlackFish, Mascitti wants diners to get the true Pacific Northwest experience. That experience includes fresh oysters shucked to order at a raw bar, fresh-off-the-boat fish and salmon cooked on spears over an open fire pit. Admittedly, it's a view of the Northwest from a California guy. Mascitti grew up in Los Angeles and worked in an architecture firm before attending the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park. Now 48, he has built a career working in California casino resorts before taking an executive chef position at Tulalip last year. As an outsider, he appreciates the bounty in the Pacific Northwest and the polite locals, he said. Mascitti writes all the menus for the casino's dining outlets, with the exception of Tulalip Bay. He oversees a staff that includes seven chefs, 14 sous chefs and 110 cooks. Mascitti wrote the menu for BlackFish and he plans to hand over the restaurant to David Buchanan, a chef with extensive fine dining experience. Both have been in the kitchen the last two months testing and developing the recipes. The concept of BlackFish is to incorporate as much of that fresh local bounty as possible, he said. The restaurant will feature blackboards that will change daily, and even hourly, with the latest catch. Diners can choose to have that fresh fish prepared any way they like: sauteed, steamed, seared, baked or broiled, and they can pair it with a variety of relishes and sauces and a menu of sides, such as Walla Walla potato cakes, corn and bacon fritters or local grilled vegetables. "It enables guests to be their own chefs," he said. For those who prefer to leave choices to the experts, there will be a selection of chef's signature dishes, such as Alaska halibut with chanterelle mushrooms and chervil relish with Walla Walla crisp potato cakes, or black cod with dark miso glaze and shaved cucumber relish served with red curry toasted orzo. Desserts include huckleberry souffle and fritter trio of apple pear. Creativity is a hallmark of Mascitti's cooking, he says. He searches for fresh ways to combine flavors, and he appreciates chefs who do the same, rather than retooling the same tired flavor combinations. "When I go out to dinner, I know what I appreciate," he said. "You know when the chef really thought about the marriage of different tastes." The chef also likes to understand the unique cultural context of food. That's why this restaurant includes salmon prepared in a traditional Salish method called salmon-on-stick. Salmon fillets are skewered onto ironwood spears and cooked over the open pit. The menu will include an extensive wine list of Northwest wines along with local microbrews. The 130-seat restaurant will resemble a long house with wood beamed ceilings and a long community table in the center for large parties. The centerpiece will be a glassed-in alderwood pit adjacent to the kitchen. The curved raw bar will be semi-open to the casino. "This was never intended to be a quiet, subdued restaurant," he said. "The whole idea is that this is not a white-table cloth restaurant. It's more on the casual side." Appetizers will cost $8 to $14, salads $9 to $16, entrees $26 to $48 and desserts $7 to $11. BlackFish will be open for lunch and dinner. Mascitti said it would thrill him if diners leave thinking "they have people here who really care." "When people leave I want them to say, 'Wow, we had a great time. He really woke up our taste buds. He made us rethink food a little bit.'" Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com

1. Good grief! 2. Swine flu lingers, making traditional flu season unpredictable 3. Two vie to serve as Snohomish County prosecutor 4. Last hurrah for Huskies’ Locker? 5. Koster for Congress? He’s still undecided 6. Here’s how home foreclosure sales really work 7. A store credit card can save you cash, but is it worth it? 8. New site sought for Snohomish pool project 9. Families get an early gift: free Christmas trees 10. Prep Roundup: Lake Stevens wins two wrestling meets 2 - Top 10 Stories Most Talked about 3 - Top 10 Stories Most Emailed

• Wildcats fall to familar foe in semis • ‘Nutcracker' times three • Road warrior • Mavericks reloading • Holiday Lightings & Santa Sightings • Cities prepare for winter blast repeat • Wolfpack duo takes last shot at state tourney • This Weekend in Your Town • Tips for the stormy season • Boeing will build, flight test and deliver 787s in South Carolina to spe ... • Snohomish County EDC promoting job growth in key industry clusters • $4 million grant to advance brain tumor research has Everett links • Providence medical center construction tops off its 12-story steel frame ... • Tulalip affordable housing project to be financed by KeyBank, Raymond Ja ... • Arlington's Lak of Ink has a growing following for Luke Kooyman's creati ... • Bank of the Northwest formed • Cascade Bank earns $1.6 million