Chad Clift - Why Freshness Matters

Chad Clift owns a Japanese restaurant in Seattle’s International District called Futoji Aji. As any Japanese restaurant would, he has an extensive sushi menu there, full of traditional Japanese favorites, a mix of sushi popular in the United States, such as the good old California Roll, and a few of his own inventions that he continues to create with his sushi chefs in his kitchen to keep his menu fresh. According to most sushi experts, the number one way to ruin sushi is to settle for fish that is not fresh. Since sushi relies on raw fish as its primary ingredient, this is not appealing and could even be dangerous. Before Clift opened his sushi menu at his restaurant, he made sure he could always get his fresh from his suppliers fresh and ready to be turned into the most delicious sushi dishes he could possibly make.

 To people like Chad Clift and anyone who enjoys food, fresh ingredients is a no-brainer. But many customers would be surprised by how many restaurants settle for less than fresh food. Most wouldn’t serve you spoiled meat or fish, of course, but there are ways that restaurants can save on operating costs by buying refrigerated fish that has been sitting around for a time after it was caught. Japanese restaurant owners like Clift must take care to get their fish from the source just as soon after it has been caught out of the ocean as possible. This preserves the natural flavor of the fish and allows it to be fully appreciated by customers expecting fresh sushi.

Fresh fish isn’t always easy to come by. Sometimes local suppliers, even in Seattle, a place known for its fresh fish market, can be it with shortages at times. Chad Clift keeps his suppliers local and also has several options for his restaurant to buy from. He maintains these supply lines with relationships that he has formed over his many years in the industry. Clift learned during his days at the Oregon Culinary Institute and by working as an apprentice for a Thai restaurant chef in San Francisco that getting the freshest ingredients is all about maintaining trusting relationships with all of his suppliers, something that he takes very seriously.

Chad Clift encourages everyone interested in Japanese cooking to try it at home. But, he warns that the results won’t be you expect if you don’t’ commit to supporting local markets that always have the freshest ingredients. For all chefs in the Japanese tradition, fresh ingredients are what make their dishes what they are. Don’t try it without getting the freshest ingredients for yourself first. Clift is currently enjoying running his own business while teaching his daughter the ropes of Japanese cooking as well.
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Chad Clift - Three Tips to Top Your All-Time Bowling Score

​Chad Clift is the head chef, owner, and founder of Swanky’s in Mossy Rock, Washington. As someone in the food business, his job is very stressful most of the time. Clift takes his stress out on the bowling pins at the local bowling alley. Over time, Clift has become famous to the locals at the alley and its proprietorship. Clift has risen from a newbie bowler to one of the best in the local amateur bowling leagues in Mossy Rock. Here are his three top tips to beating your bowling score:

• Find your mark on the lane and concentrate on it. You need to put your bowling ball in the “pocket,” the place in the lane just behind the first pin and in front of the second pin. Chad Clift is right-handed, so he aims for the arrow on the lane just to the right of the center arrow. Almost all balls hook at least a little bit, whether you’re putting spin on the ball or not. If you try to put the ball right down the middle, you’ll find yourself facing split after split. 

• Tweak your approach so that your opposite foot lands in front of the lane. A good way to test a bowler’s skill is to watch her follow-through. For years, Chad Clift came off balance during his follow-through, and it cost him.

• Speed makes it easier to pick up stragglers. To pick off those pins that refuse to go down, it’s usually easier to toss the ball with some pace. Think about the velocity of the ball as it’s leaving your hand and try to throw harder.

Chad Clift lives and works at Swanky’s in Mossy Rock.

Chad Clift - Three Things to Know before you Skydive for the First Time

One of the many passions of Chad Clift includes skydiving, a pastime that he has grown fond of in recent years. He has been running the community upscale restaurant Swanky’s in Mossy Rock, Washington for over 15 years, and skydiving has a relaxing effect on him. Still, there were many facts that he wished he had learned before he took his first jump off of a plane. Here are his top three facts he wished he knew:

• Yes, your skydiving partner is certified and experienced. To be a certified skydiving partner, you have to have jumped hundreds of times and you have to pass many tests and exams to do it professionally. They always prepare you in the event of any emergency.
• Emergencies happen in the air. Chad Clift was worried about every possible thing that could go wrong skydiving before he took his first jump from a plane, don’t worry, the skydiving instructors always tell you what to do in rare cases involving instructors passing out or somehow incapacitating themselves in the air. You’ll be fully prepared to land safely even in the extremely rare event of an emergency.
• The scariest part of skydiving isn’t jumping from a plane. Chad Clifton knows that the scariest part of skydiving is actually riding up to jumping altitude in a small plane that seems sketchy but is actually safe. Jumping out of the tiny aircraft might actually be relieving in a way.

Chad Clift has jumped out of many small planes that don’t seem safe, and he loves it. He recommends skydiving to anyone who wants an intense adrenaline rush.
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Chad Clift - How to Break into the Food Industry

Chad Clift took an unusual route to break into the food industry. He moved to New York City and attended Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts after he graduated from high school—which isn’t unusual, but then he did something extraordinary: he moved back home to found the community five-star restaurant Swanky’s in Mossy Rock, Washington. Here’s a more conventional track that you can use to break into the food industry:

• Get an apprenticeship. Chad Clift went to school to learn from top-notch chefs in a classroom and mock kitchen setting. He worked briefly as an apprentice to a top chef in New York before he returned home to Washington. Most chefs start their career apprenticing for more experienced chefs because the time with an expert who trains them gives them an excellent resource for references in the future and they can tell you about job openings themselves.
• Learn a wide range of skills. Retail workers call this being cross-trained. If you know how to make and do a wide range of things, you’ll find more opportunities in different areas of the food industry.
• Communicate and network. Working as a chef, as Chad Clift knows, is just like any other job. Opportunities will be there for those who have friends in the industry. Clift got much of his initial funding for his project in his hometown from connections he made in chef school.

Chad Clift took his culinary industry skills and used them to open a restaurant that would help everyone in the community he grew up in.
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Chad Clift Makes Great Pho

In the city of Seattle, Pho is one of the most popular dishes served in many restaurants. Chef Chad Clift is serious about his Pho, and makes a superb version of this Vietnamese noodle soup. Pho, pronounced “fuh”, is named after the rice noodles that are included in every variation of the dish. Traditionally, Pho is a combination of broth, noodles, herbs, and meat. In the Asian country of Vietnam, Pho is considered to be a street food, sold by vendor off of their traveling carts. In the United States, Pho has become a trendy alternative to the typical Asian takeout option.
                                  

While Western countries have only recently caught on to the Pho craze, in Vietnam, it is a staple meal. Southern Vietnamese residents eat Pho for lunch or even breakfast. In Northern Vietnam, Pho is enjoyed any time of day of night. After the conclusion of the Vietnam War, many refugees from the country were displaced, and forced to emigrate to other lands. As these Vietnamese peoples moved out of their home land, they took their cooking methods with them. This lead to the introduction of dishes like Pho to nearly each continent of the globe.

The Pho that Chad Clift makes is one to remember. He starts with a rich and hearty beef broth that is seasoned with the traditional spices of ginger, clove, and star anise. While he sometimes makes Pho with chicken as the main source of protein, he prefers to use a good cut of beef, such as brisket.

Chef Chad Clift Debunks the Myths on Fat

With obesity rising to an alarming level, Chef and restaurateur Chad Clift works hard to educate his staff and customers about the dangers and benefits of fat. It is widely accepted in the scientific and medical communities that a low fat diet is one of the keys to a healthy and long life. Most people, however, do not realize that you should not remove all sources of fat from your daily diet. In reality, there are fats that are good for you, and vital to your growth and development. While the bad fats increase your chances for heart related illnesses and obesity, good fats work to protect your heart and help your brain function properly.

 All dietary fats stem from the plant and animal based foods that we consume. The four types of dietary fats are saturated fats, trans fats, polyunsaturated fats, and monounsaturated fats. All four types of fats will deliver the same amount of calories to the body. If you are counting calories, one is not better or worse than the others. Yet, if you desire a body that is healthy, you should work on replacing the unhealthy fats that you eat with the super fats that promote health. This means that your fat intake should be limited to only monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats. Chad Clift states that these types of healthy fats can be found in ingredients like avocados, walnuts, olives, fatty fish, and natural peanut butters.