O U R  S T O R Y

As we move into our 15th year we still delight in the fact that every night at Flying Fish we have something new and exciting for our guests to discover. Whether it’s Monkfish from Maine, Opaka Paka from Hawaii, or Steelhead from the Olympic Peninsula, we change our menu every day to provide our guests with what’s fresh, what’s in season and well…what just tastes really good.

The idea for Flying Fish was born on a beach in Thailand. While traveling there I stopped for awhile on Koh Samui, an island in the Gulf of Thailand. There were several beach restaurants that served the catch-of-the-day simply grilled at tables perched in the sand on the water's edge. You could pick your fish out of the ice and it would reappear half an hour later in cooked form. It was so direct and so simple. It just seemed like a good idea.

When I returned, I didn't have any beaches in Seattle to set my tables on, but the idea of fresh fish simply prepared was still very appealing. So Belltown and First Avenue became my beach and Puget Sound was the Gulf of Thailand.

Sourcing our fish has always been a primary focus at Flying Fish. Many times I've promised to buy more than I need, just to get a supplier to bring in an interesting new variety of fish. When we first opened in 1995 no one here had heard of mong chong, opaka paka, monkfish liver or cod cheeks. Now some of those items are commonplace on menus around the city.