Tom Douglas (born August 2, 1958) is an American

executive chef A chef de cuisine (, French language, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that Supervisor, leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef ...

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, and

radio talk show Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. They may feature monologues, dialogues between the hosts, interviews wi ...

host, and winner of the 1994

James Beard Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

for Best Northwest Chef. In 2012 he also won the James Beard Award as Best Restaurateur. He is the author of ''Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen'', which was named the Best American Cookbook by the

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...

and

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, in 2001. In 2005, he appeared on an episode of the

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

's ''

Iron Chef America ''Iron Chef America'' is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's ''Iron Chef'', and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed ''Iron Chef USA'' that aired in 2001. The show is produced by Food Network, wh ...

'', in which he defeated Chef

Masaharu Morimoto is a Japanese chef, best known as an Iron Chef on the Japanese TV cooking show ''Iron Chef'' and its spinoff ''Iron Chef America''. He is also known for his unique style of presenting food. Career Morimoto was born in Hiroshima, where he rece ...

Early life, family

Tom Douglas was born on August 2, 1958, in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish colonization of the Americas, Swedish settlement in North America. It lie ...

. After relocating to Seattle, he started working in a variety of jobs from general construction to serving as a railroad car mechanic. , Douglas lives in the Ballard neighborhood in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, with his wife and business partner, Jackie Cross, and their daughter. Their farm in Prosser provides a variety of produce for use in his restaurants.

Restaurant career

Douglas's first restaurant job was working at the Hotel duPont, where he served as an assistant to the hotel's cook. In 1984, following working in a series of general labor jobs, Douglas began working at a Seattle restaurant, Café Sport. In November 1989, he opened his first restaurant, the Dahlia Lounge. In 1994, he was recognized as the Best Chef in the Northwest by the

, in a tie with fellow Seattle chef Monique Barbeau. In February 1995, Douglas and his wife opened Etta's Seafood. The following year, they opened the Palace Kitchen. In 2001, he opened the Dahlia Bakery, to complement the food of Dahlia Lounge. In July 2004, Douglas opened Lola. In 2006, he opened a pizzeria, known as Serious Pie. The original location, Serious Pie Virginia, is in downtown Seattle, and the second location, Serious Pie and Biscuit, was located in the

South Lake Union South Lake Union (sometimes SLU) is a neighborhood in central Seattle, Washington, so named because it is at the southern tip of Lake Union. The official boundaries of the City of Seattle Urban Center are Denny Way on the south, beyond which ...

neighborhood until its closure due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Douglas was one of the first restaurateurs in Seattle to close due to COVID-19. Work-at-home orders from companies near his restaurants had reduced his sales by up to 90%, and on March 11, he announced that 12 of his 13 restaurants would close until further notice, effective the following Sunday (March 15). Dahlia Bakery remained open to service a contract with a hotel across the street. The move proved prescient, as the Washington governor issued a statewide closure on March 16. Later he revealed that it had cost his restaurant group nearly $3 million to settle payroll, benefits, and other debts for the shutdown, and that it would be "tough" for half of the restaurants to return. Soon after, though, he was able to open a no-contact carry-out pop-up restaurant in the Ballard neighborhood, called "''Serious TakeOut''". The extended shutdown led to many closures among Douglas's restaurants. In July 2020, he announced that two closures, of the Brave Horse Tavern and Trattoria Cuoco, would become permanent, as both restaurants were reaching the end of their ten-year leases and the future remained uncertain. Douglas similarly declined to renew the lease for Serious Pie and Biscuit in September, and announcements of Dahlia Lounge's closure followed in March 2021. Dahlia Bakery was reopened in July 2021.

Radio talk show

Douglas co-hosts a weekly food radio show with longtime friend Thierry Rautureau. The show, ''Seattle Kitchen'', regularly focuses on local and national cookbook authors and personalities. The show is broadcast weekly on Saturdays and Sundays on KIRO-FM, 97.3. It is recorded on Tuesday mornings in front of a live audience at the "Hot Stove Society", Tom Douglas's cooking school in Seattle.

Published works

* Douglas, Tom (2000). ''Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen'', William Morrow Cookbooks, 288 pages. * Douglas, Tom (2003). ''Tom's Big Dinners: Big-Time Home Cooking for Family and Friends'', William Morrow Cookbooks, 288 pages. * Douglas, Tom; and Shelley Lance (2006). ''I Love Crab Cakes! 50 Recipes for an American Classic'', William Morrow Cookbooks, 160 pages. * Douglas, Tom; and Shelley Lance (2012). ''The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook, Sweetness in Seattle'', William Morrow Cookbooks, 390 pages.

Honors and awards

* 1991: James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant – Dahlia Lounge (nominee) * 1992: James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant – Dahlia Lounge (nominee) * 1993: James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant – Dahlia Lounge (nominee) * 1994: James Beard Award for Best Chef: Northwest (winner) * 1996: James Beard Award for Outstanding New Restaurant – Palace Kitchen (nominee) * 2001: James Beard Award/KitchenAid Book Award for ''Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen'' * 2005: Named

's Iron Chef (defeating

) * 2006: James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurant – Dahlia Lounge (nominee) * 2008: ''

Bon Appétit ''Bon Appétit'' is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center ...

Magazine'' Award for Restaurateur of the Year * 2008: James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur (nominee) * 2009: James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur (nominee) * 2010: James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur (nominee) * 2011: James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur (nominee) * 2012: James Beard Award for Outstanding Restaurateur (winner)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Douglas, Tom American male chefs Living people Writers from Wilmington, Delaware Businesspeople from Seattle American restaurateurs 1958 births Chefs from Seattle James Beard Foundation Award winners People from Prosser, Washington