What makes a business an institution? I remember a wise man telling me before I opened a high-end retail wine shop – in what was perceived to be a less than hospitable environment – that to weather the storm and stay open for a year was commendable, to make it five years was a success, to stay afloat for 10 years was amazing, and to endure for 20 years makes you an institution.
Well, what if you not only survive, but also flourish more than 50 years in the business of providing a memorable experience to all those who pass through your doors?
That’s exactly what is happening every day at Canlis Restaurant, now beyond an institution, in Seattle.
The influence of this establishment has reached across the planet, and yet it is so close to home. At the south end of the Aurora Avenue Bridge, Canlis is still a force to be reckoned with, given the ever expanding Seattle cosmopolitan restaurant and wine scene.
As the family business has continued through the generations, the level of excellence, integrity and commitment to unparalleled service has continued to reach new heights. Canlis recently received the Wine Spectator Grand Award for 2004, the eighth year in a row that this prestigious prize passed their way. They’re one of only 88 winners in the entire world and the only recipient in the Northwest.
There isn’t a superlative grand enough to describe the depth and character of their wine list, which consists of more than 1,500 selections and 15,000 bottles.
On my first visit to Canlis to celebrate an anniversary, I was given the storied list (more than 60 pages) and promptly went about ignoring my beautiful bride to the point where a swift kick under the table jolted me from wine geek nirvana. I remember uttering the profound words, “Oh, my” initially, and “Ouch” later.
There is also a unified desire by all the Canlis family members to maintain freshness with new and exciting promotions and events. They have winemaker dinners on the horizon featuring Turley, DeLille, Brick House and, someone I like to consider my good friend, Robert Goodfriend of Harlequin Wine Cellars, who will pair his incredible wines with a customized menu guaranteed to dazzle on Nov. 4.
At a recent visit with Mark Canlis and his husband-and-wife team of Chris and Tammy Heldridge, the general manager and marketing manager, respectively, I got a glimpse into just what makes, and has made, Canlis such a success for so long: the obvious painstaking attention to detail and the total commitment to the concept of family.
“When we hire someone it is as if we are adding someone to our family, and we hold them to those same standards. Many of the people who have shaped this restaurant, worked alongside my family for over 20 years,” Canlis said.
The history of this multigenerational family-run business is as rich and interesting as the perpetually phenomenal menu and world-renowned wine list. In the afterglow of the summer Olympic Games in Athens, it seems appropriate to explore some history of the Canlis name.
Great-grandfather to Mark Canlis (fourth generation restaurateur) was Nicholas Kanlis who was born on the Greek island Lesvos in 1881.
He apparently was a wild spirit who quickly outgrew the tiny island that was oppressively ruled by the Ottoman Empire and left as a teenager to seek his fortune. He traveled to Egypt and found work at Cairo’s most famous hotel, the Mena House, that has attracted the rich and powerful from around the world. The likes of Sir Winston Churchill, Charlie Chaplin, Aga Khan and Omar Sharif graced its halls, but even before those glory days, Teddy Roosevelt took up residence at the Mena House in March 1909, preparing to launch a year long African safari.
He was getting staff for his great adventure when he met Kanlis and that fateful union set in motion a ripple effect that reverberates to this day at a restaurant (with a great view) in Seattle.
Kanlis eventually immigrated to America and through Ellis Island where, as with many who passed through, he experienced an adjustment in the spelling of his name. The “K” in Kanlis was replaced with a “C” and so the Canlis name arrived in America.
Canlis migrated to California and married a woman with an entrepreneurial spirit and a desire to bring the flavors of the old country to their new land. And so the first-generation Canlis restaurant was born in Stockton, Calif., where Canlis’ eldest son, Peter, learned the work ethic required for success in the restaurant business.
Like his father, he had the wanderlust and set out to claim his own fame and fortune, eventually leading him to establish Canlis Restaurant in Seattle in 1950. A quote from cook and author Clifford A. Wright sums up the Canlis story, “Cuisine is the tactile connection we have to breathing history.”
To have a treasure like Canlis Restaurant at our door step where countless special occasions have been realized during nearly 54 years is a gift.
I guess with Canlis, the word “institution” should be replaced with the word “legend.”
Jeff Wicklund, wine consultant and writer, is the proprietor of Colby Hospitality in Everett. He can be reached at 425-317-9858, or wick@colbyhospitality.com.
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