When Byron Shultz joined Ivar’s Inc. in Seattle three years ago, he was given a mission: to show off the best of the Pacific Northwest’s seafood and produce with fresh, contemporary menus for restaurants ranging from upper-end casual, full-service dinnerhouses to quick-service fish bars and stadium concession stands.
Shultz knew he had to stay true to the 70-year-old brand’s chowders and fish-and-chips—the dishes that customers throughout the region knew well.
But in addition to the more casual, fried options, customers now might see lacquered tiger prawns with Parmesan flan, arugula salad and lemon vinaigrette on the menu, for example, or wild Alaskan halibut with pea tendrils and roasted baby beet salad with spring chive vinaigrette and organic purple Peruvian fingerling potatoes.
Ivar’s Inc. operates the full-service restaurants Ivar’s Acres of Clams, Ivar’s Salmon House and Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing, all in scenic waterfront locations in and near Seattle. The company also has 25 quick service Seafood Bars throughout the region, as well as concession stands in several sports venues. In addition, the company owns and operates the 10-unit Kidd Valley hamburger chain.
Ivar’s soup-and-sauce plant is a commissary that serves the restaurants and also develops retail products, some of which are now sold in Costco stores.
Ivar’s was once known as a fried seafood and chowder concept, but the menus now include dishes that you’d see at high-end seafood dinnerhouses elsewhere. Is that your imprint?
I’m trying to make Ivar’s more culinarily relevant. We’re not your grandma’s Ivar’s anymore. You can still come here for some great halibut and chips, but look what else we’re doing.
BIOGRAPHY
Title: executive chef, Ivar’s Seafood Restaurants, Seattle
Birth date: May 20, 1965
Hometown: Orange, Calif.
Education: bachelor’s in public health from San Diego State University; culinary science degree from the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago
Career highlight: Working with Wolfgang Puck as part of the team catering the Governors Ball at the Academy Awards ceremony three years ago
We do have customers who come here every year on the same day because they had their first date here or their anniversary, and they always order the same thing. But we also have people entertaining business clients from elsewhere, and they have a more sophisticated palate. People are blown away. That’s the primary reason why I was brought on board: to move the culinary program forward.
Iunderstand you’re ramping up development of retail food products. What are you working on now?
We’re building on the brand we have. Everyone knows Ivar’s and our chowder, so we’re building on our chowder line. We recently introduced frozen crab cakes in Costco as well as Dungeness crab legs. We’re also working on various flavors of cocktail and tartar sauces, which are sold in grocery store outlets as well as Costco.
What are the challenges in developing new products?
A lot of products we’re talking about bringing into mass production started at the store level. It’s the multiplication factor that’s difficult. I can make a gallon of chowder and it’ll be really good. But how do I make 65 gallons of chowder and maintain the integrity and quality?
How much time do you spend on retail development, compared with the various restaurants?
Probably about 30 percent on the restaurants, 30 percent on retail, and 30 percent on sports outlets.
What trends are you seeing in the industry now?
People are more concerned about where the food comes from. Anytime we can brand a product, like eastern Washington asparagus, that resonates with people.
CHEF’S TIPS
We are slaves to technique. Don’t use shortcuts. All our sauces are made from reductions, we don’t use roux, bases or thickeners. There’s always time to do it right.
One of the biggest parts of the job is training. You’re only as good as your lead line cook. You can spend a lot of time developing a great dish, but if the gentleman working the sauté station can’t execute, it’s all for nothing.
You hear about people eating lighter. We have eliminated trans fats from the menu. We’re also initiating a grill program at our Seafood Bars with sandwiches and entrées. And we’re starting a salad program with shrimp, salmon, chicken and a lot of Asian flavors.
Is using local products difficult when working with seafood that’s seasonal?
We work very closely with local seafood associations. We’re using Washington albacore tuna that comes right off the coast, or Alaskan halibut. There’s a low carbon footprint, and the product is fresher. We also use organic farmers from the eastern part of the state for produce. Literally, a farmer calls on Wednesday and says, “This is what I’m pulling out of ground on Thursday, what do you want?”
In some ways we are limited by what the fish and game department says they can take from the water. We may have to work with a different salmon, for example. But we’re flexible. When Copper River or Yukon season is over, something else is around the bend.
How are you dealing with rising commodity costs?
Shopping locally helps. The halibut season has reopened, and we can call fisherman and ask what they have today. We can get lower prices by letting the market tell me what I’m going to use.
Chain restaurants in Seattle will have to post nutrition information soon. How will you deal with that?
The Seafood Bars will have to comply with menu labeling, and we’re working on that. We’re literally taking products over to a chemist to determine nutrition data. I’m not sure whether we will reformulate recipes once we see the numbers.
What is your typical day like?
It’s mostly chefs bringing me ideas for menus and things they want to work out, talking about how to exalt the flavor of the salmon or Brussels sprouts. My mantra is “first do no harm.” My goal is to take that beautiful piece of salmon or fiddlehead fern and not to mess it up.
