Allison Lind Canlis photos: John Granen
Crush photos: Thomas Barwick

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Partly traditional, with timeless appeal, the Canlis look is also both sophisticated and youthful. For the restaurant’s latest refurbishing in 2005, interior designer Doug Rasar led the way in shaping the restaurant’s interior to stay relevant to the times.

“The idea has always been that we don’t want to offend any of the old guard that dines there, while still making it feel very new and sexy for the younger crowd, the next generation,” Rasar says. To achieve this, Rasar stayed within the restaurant’s color palette, directly influenced by its architecture: raw umber and other hues drawn from fir beams and stonework. He then edited the space to create a cleaner and sleeker design environment, replacing flowers on tables with candles, for example. “When you decorate a place that already has an established point of view, I’ve discovered that it can be a lot more about what you take away that makes something better,” Rasar explains.

Angkor Wat fabric in taupe from Glant Textiles’ Asia Collection, available to the trade through Wayne Martin, Inc., 5811 Sixth Ave. S., (206) 224-7171.	Riedel Vinum Collection stemware, $16–$27 per stem at Williams-Sonoma, several locations including downtown and University Village.	Barbara Barry Collection side chair, No. 3446, available to the trade through Baker Knapp & Tubbs, Seattle Design Center, Ste. P-170, (206) 763-3399.
Custom Jubilee Zurich Stark rug, available to the trade through Jane Piper Reid & Co., 835 S. Fidalgo St., (206) 621-9290.	Himalayan Milk Bottle Lamp, $425 at Glenn Richards Asian Furnishings & Antiques, 964 Denny Way, (206) 287-1877.	Candleless Votives by Gulassa & Co., available to the trade through Terris Draheim, Seattle Design Center, Ste. P-228, (206) 763-4100.

Simple touches such as low lighting, candlelight, rich upholstery and the warmth of a fireplace create coziness. “There’s an intimacy when you’re being lit with candle glow instead of fluorescent lights,” Rasar says. 

“We’re not in the business of just putting something tasty on the plate and serving it to you with your eyes closed,” says managing owner Mark Canlis. “We put it on a plate and serve it inside a room that makes you feel special.”

To further enhance the enticing atmosphere at Canlis, there isn’t a white wall in the entire place. “A rich glow and rich textures enable you to relax, enjoy the view and appreciate what’s happening on the table,” the designer adds.

For an exquisite dining experience in your own home, aim for achieving the inviting elegance for which Canlis is so often applauded. But note that the Canlis appeal is due to much more than lighting level or the right accessories.

To truly achieve a Canlis look, there “must be a commitment to a high-end quality that involves custom design as opposed to off-the-shelf style,” Rasar notes. “It’s truly a high-end residential experience packaged in a restaurant.”

In lieu of the commercial furnishings that most restaurants use, Canlis incorporates a selection of homelike touches, such as designer fabric by Gary Glant that covers the banquettes, and a Rasar-designed coffee table and bench fabricated by Stephan Gulassa in the lobby area.

Glant and Gulassa are local talents, another important element in the restaurant’s design, which also incorporates artwork by Northwesterners such as Kris Cox and Paul Horiuchi. The Canlis look focuses on real Northwest style, Rasar says. “It’s a commitment to quality: hand-woven fabrics, custom furnishings using all local materials and a nature-inspired color palette.”

“As leaders in the industry, this [restaurant] has to be the most beautiful, the most defined, the most timeless expression of the Northwest,” adds Mark Canlis. “Everything in here needs to be genuinely Northwest.”

Canlis, 2576 Aurora Ave. N., (206) 283-3313