Openers: Call of the Wild

At Wild Salmon, Jeffrey Chodorow has created a steakhouse where fish trumps beef.

By Kate Leahy, Associate Editor -- Restaurants & Institutions, 6/1/2007

Concept: Wild Salmon Location: New York City Opened: April 6, 2007 Owner: China Grill Management Cuisine: Pacific Northwest seafood Executive Chef: Charles Ramseyer Footprint: 9,000 square feet Projected Average Checks: $26 for lunch; $65 for dinner Seating: 200-220 in the main dining room; 80 in private dining room Staff: 110 full-time Key Equipment: Smoker Key Design Elements: A 30-foot-long raw bar, and 250 copper-glazed salmon suspended above the main dining room.

Frequent Flyers: “What I really tried to do with this last group of restaurants was focus on ingredients,” says Jeffrey Chodorow, principal of New York City-based China Grill Management. This means that Executive Chef Charles Ramseyer not only receives regular shipments of Pacific Northwest seafood—from sand dabs to giant scallops—but also he seeks out berries, chanterelle and morel mushrooms, and wagyu beef from the region.

Salmon-centric: As the name implies, salmon takes the stage at this restaurant, which offers different varieties of seasonal salmon and a choice of preparation methods and sauces, just as do many steakhouses.

Down the Road: Although China Grill Management has no immediate plans to expand the concept, Chodorow predicts that the restaurant could fill a niche in other markets. “In Chicago, this would be killer because it’s a steakhouse town, but people also like fish, and I think the Pacific Northwest connection would be very appealing.”

On the Menu

Raw Bar and Starters

Oregon Bay Shrimp Seafood Cocktail $12
Half-Dozen Humboldt Bay Kumomoto Oysters $15
Mount St. Helens: Four each of Pacific shrimp, Pacific oysters, Manila clams, Penn Cove mussels and smoked scallops $45
Chef’s Assorted Smoked In-House Salmon Platter: Alaskan King, Coho and Sockeye smoked salmon with warm potato cake, sour cream and paddlefish caviar $18

Seafood Specialties ($24 to $37)

King Salmon, Coho Salmon, Sockeye Salmon, Black Cod, Halibut, Ling Cod, Yelloweye Rockfish
Cooking Methods: Grilled, cedar-plank roasted, bronze-seared, poached or en papillote
Sauces: Spiced Yakima Peach-Raisin Chutney; Blood-Orange Tarragon Butter; Huckleberry-Port Wine Gastrique; Wild Oregon Morel Pinot Noir Sauce

Side Dishes $7

Sweet Walla Walla Creamed Corn With Oregon Black Truffle;
Pacific Northwest Wild Mushroom Ragoût With Thyme Butter Sauce