Tom Douglas Quotes

One of my favorite ways to eat albacore is tuna poke.

I'm just sick of food going in the garbage.

There's natural mentoring that goes on in my life every day.

I'm much less shy in conversation than I am on my own.

Oysters, such as Dabobs, Quilcenes, Westcotts, and Willapas, to name just a few, are often named after the place they are harvested.

If you just feel lazy and don't want to cook, then don't cook.

I think about sustainability all the time, whether it's with fish or farmers in Eastern Oregon.

Sustainability includes how you run your business, and my bottom line includes how you treat your people. Sustainability starts with your staff.

It's always a good idea to chill your crab cake mixture for a few hours, or even overnight, before frying because they'll hold together better.

I use ginger like garlic. I love it for steaming fish and making barbecue sauces or roasted chicken.

For a group of friends or a family dinner, fish tacos are popular and fun to make.

Razor clams are large, oblong clams, although not as big as geoducks.

If you're going to start a fire, why cook just one chicken?

Ling cod is a mild-flavored and somewhat delicate fish that takes well to poaching, braising and pan-roasting.

I think you owe it to your kids to teach them how to cook - you know, self-survival.

Entrepreneurial people are never satisfied.

I want to do the basic things, like putting my daughter to bed. It's the sweetest thing.

Sweet Washington cherries and Walla Walla onions are two of my favorite local treats.

Sometimes managers are a little shy to criticize another manager or another operation.

I don't answer my phone in a restaurant.

Thanks to the abundance of shellfish in Puget Sound, Washington State is the largest oyster producer in the country.

The lakes in Washington State give us tons of crawfish.

I don't know too many kids who ask to weed the garden.

When I was a kid and my mom made tomato soup, she would cut buttered toast into squares and float them on top of each bowl.

Cooks are an undervalued, awesome profession.

Farm to table is a personal choice.

Sweet, delicious Dungeness crab is always a treat.

At the fishmonger, choose fish with bright scales and clear eyes.

When I was young, I would make my parents breakfast in bed on Saturday mornings.

The two things that are going to make you a better baker without even trying are a scale and a thermometer in your oven.

Customers are more friendly when they've had a meal.

I try to eat in one of my restaurants every day, and I eat out in another restaurant every day. It's what I do.

Support a small chef. Not these big chains ... but support the people who are out there trying to do things right and working hard to do that.

When I eat oatmeal, I'm hungry by 10 A.M., but pho is a great way to start the day.

The one thing I could do with my eyes closed is my Grandma's schnecken.

I particularly like to make crunchy slices of garlic bread to serve with steamed clams.

Coho or silver salmon are very common and easy to get for a good price.

One-pot meals make a lot of sense ... because so much of what people hate about cooking is really the cleanup, the mess, the grease.

I would say a full-time waiter in a high-price house could easily make $75,000, $80,000 a year.

I was once made honorary mayor of my hometown of Newark, Del.

I would love to see McDonald's pay more money.

The state of Washington calls tips 'wages.'

Catfish has a nice firm texture and mild flavor.

Most of America doesn't pay dishwashers $10.

Some of the best things you do are the things you don't do.

Steaming is a great way to cook any firm fleshed fish, but it's often overlooked by the home cook.

I have a good flavor memory.

Another way I like to barbecue king salmon is as a whole fish stuffed, literally to the gills, with sweet onions, sliced lemons, and summer sage.

I know Jeff Bezos because I cater at his home.

If you want something beautiful to put on the dinner table, pick up a sockeye, the salmon species with the most vivid red flesh.

When you watch 'Shark Tank,' everything is about off-shore this, off-shore that.

The key to great fried squid is 'flash-frying' in hot oil for only a few minutes, which keeps it tender.

I've been taught by everyone I've ever worked with.

It's really fun to have a convection oven, even it if it's a little convection toaster oven. It really changes the way you bake.

We've become such a restaurant society.

My dad never explained anything growing up.

I don't ever preach to people.

Be sure to read a recipe all the way through before you cook. The time it saves you in the long run is invaluable.

When I wrote my cookbook, 'I Love Crab Cakes,' I asked some of my best chef buddies to contribute recipes.

Maybe there are too many restaurants. Maybe some of mine need to close. So be it. I'll live with the market place.

Some versions of crab cakes are mostly crabmeat lightly bound with egg, but I'm a firm believer that a crab cake should contain bread crumbs.

I think that people need to stand up with their backbone and not go to places where they feel like the workers aren't taken care of.

I love restaurants from top to bottom.

If deep-frying catfish, try a dredge of seasoned flour and cornmeal and add some bacon fat to the oil.

Salsa verde is delicious with trout or most any fish.

I'm kind of fat.

Every cook I knows loves to make pizza.

I'll never understand those greasy little deep-fried wings most bars serve.

I didn't go to university. I didn't go to culinary school, barely made it through high school.

Money is like manure: if you don't spread it around, nothing grows.

I crave my mom's Sloppy Joes.

I love being able to help promote Seattle to travelers worldwide.

I'm not exactly the best capitalist ever.

I can't believe how many people don't have time to cook but have time to watch football and 'The Voice.' They're certainly making a choice.

How can anyone live off of minimum wage?

I was $4,000 short on my first payroll.

Albacore tuna has a mild flavor that's delicious served raw or seared briefly on the outside so that it's still rare on the inside.

I was driving around the country when I was 19 and happened to run out of cash in Seattle, so I settled here.

Spanish chorizo is a spicy cured sausage that's especially tasty with clams.

In some cities, McDonald's rules, but Seattle is ruled by teriyaki joints.

Pork is my friend.

In the restaurant business, there's the concept of pivot. Pivot to the stove, pivot to the refrigerator.

It's important that your shucked oyster is clean and pristine.

The flesh of king salmon, which varies in color from white to pink to red, has a high fat content, making it perfect for grilling.

My longtime friend Steven Steinbock, who has worked with me for more than thirty years, is a master at panfrying fish and seafood.

I pay a living wage, I believe in healthcare, I declare all my income, and I don't cut corners.