SEATTLE -- Just 10 months after a fire of mysterious origin reduced the Northwest's most famous eatery to a mound of nostalgia-tinged ashes, Ray's Boathouse is coming back -- complete with fish and boats for rent.
The result of intense labor and no small amount of pleading from seafood lovers nationwide, the rebuilt $4.5 million Boathouse opened its doors again April 9. Even the red Ray's sign, visible from diverse points around Shilshole Bay, has been refurbished and relit.
Chef Wayne Ludvigsen is back in the kitchen, preparing the simple, supremely respectful dishes that showcase the Northwest's seafood bounty.
And co-owner Russ Wohlers, after all these months of tromping through destruction and then construction in dungarees, is finally getting a chance to dress up to welcome diners again.
'It's tough to duplicate,' Wohlers said. 'It's more expensive, but we've made a real commitment to re-make the same old Ray's Boathouse, not build a new-and-improved one.'
Before its demise last May 26 (when a blaze devoured the restaurant along with 10 boats tied to its docks), Ray's was a Seattle landmark. It was also, thanks to glowing coverage in all the major gourmet magazines, a destination in itself for many pilgrims to the Northwest.
The restaurant took its name from Ray Lichtenberger, who moved his boat rental business to the bay in 1940 and converted it into a dock, boat launch and supply store.
For a time, Ray's operated as a casual fish-and-chip outlet, but in 1973 Wohlers led a group of local entreprenueus in transforming the place into a full-service fresh seafood restaurant.
Much of the credit for this transformation goes to Ludvigsen, who grew up just a few miles from Ray's and took a summer job at the restaurant when he was just 16.
Before rising to the improbable position of head chef in 1975, Ludvigsen had rented boats to fishermen, given the restaurant a fresh coat of paint and washed more than a few dishes. Along the way, he had learned several lifetimes worth of truths about fish.
Ludvigsen tends to keep preparations simple and the product first-rate, a philosophy he picked up from Northwest seafood guru John Rowley. With Rowley's help, the chef has not only mastered the science of judging seafood but made his back door the favored transaction point for dozens of local fishermen.
Today, still only 28, Ludvigsen has a lot better things to do around the new Ray's Boathouse than rent out fishing boats. But that doesn't mean Ray's has gone completely uptown.
According to Wohlers, destroying that part of the restaurant's past would be surrendering too much to the flames.
'Ray's will still be a place where people can rent a boat and go salmon fishing,' he said. 'We're a Northwest business, and what's more Northwest than salmon fishing?'
Here are two recipes that reflect Ludvigsen's approach to fresh seafood, Scallops in White Wine, Shallots and Herbs and Sauteed Shrimp in Olive Oil With Garlic.
