Chad Clift – Preparing to Sell Your Restaurant

Chad Clift hopes that he will never have to sell his restaurant, the Swanky’s, but he is not naive enough to believe that it could never happen. Even successful restaurateurs can find themselves in a situation that would require selling their venture. When a business stagnates, or worse, it never really takes off, having these notions are obviously even more legitimate. Sometimes it comes down to it, and there is nothing anybody can do to avoid the painful solution.

Doing an Appraisal

There are four major aspects that influence the value of the establishment: location, architectural and infrastructural quality, the financial situation of the restaurant, and finally the management.

Location

One of the most obvious factors, the location of a restaurant highly influences its general productivity. An average location can be overcome with high quality food and good management, but being in a bad location likely forever hinders the development of the restaurant.

Presentation

The quality of the building and how well the kitchen and the dining area are situated within the restaurant, play a huge factor in the appraising process.

Management

If a restaurant has a quality management in place that creates a good team with certain camaraderie and willingness to go the extra mile for the others, these factors will raise the value significantly. A restaurant that is still under management is more valuable for a variety of reasons, one of them being flexibility. When someone buys a restaurant with the management intact, they can basically start their new business overnight. As of now, Chad Clift would almost certainly reject any offers for his restaurant, but certain factors could change his mind in the future.

Sources:

https://marketing4restaurants.com/preparing-to-sell-your-restaurant-tips-to-improve-your-chances-of-selling-and-the-price-you-get/

 

Chad Clift – Hiking Regulations at Yellowstone

Chad Clift loves the Yellowstone National Park for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of its unique atmosphere and amazing flora and fauna, which allows him to really get away from the everyday grind. Hiking in the park is one of the most profoundly coolest experiences a hiker can enjoy, but there are certain regulations that need to be followed and respected.

Things One Cannot Do

The park completely prohibits people to do the following activities: following wildlife and purposefully remaining close to them, leaving boardwalks, throwing stuff in the thermal waters, swimming in the thermal waters, removing and possessing anything that can be considered a cultural source, leaving side mirrors attached when they are removable (this does not apply while pulling trailers), using a bicycle off the designated area, and spotlighting the animals (viewing them with the spotlights on).

Using Firearms in the Park

The February 22, 2010 federal law now allows people to carry firearms if they have an open carry permit for it. With that said, the visitors have the sole responsibility for being able to interpret and comply with the state laws and regulations. Yellowstone spans over three different states; Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, which means that one should be well-versed in the gun laws of these three states, especially since all three have different regulations in place. Even if one possesses an open carry permit, they are not allowed to have their gun on them in certain facilities of the park, including the government offices. Lastly, hunting and the discharge of the weapons remain outlawed in Yellowstone.

Chad Clift likes to revisit the park annually, discovering new hiking routes during the process.

Sources:

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/management/lawsandpolicies.htm

Chad Clift – How to Improve Your Cooking

Chad Clift is an expert chef who has his own restaurant in Mossyrock, Washington. As he so often experienced while being with his friends and family members, not to mention his beloved son, possessing cooking skills goes much beyond the realms of practicality. It brings groups together, giving them much needed cohesion. Bonding over food is a hundred thousand year old habit of the human race. Learning to cook at an adequate level is great, but the process doesn’t have to stop there. Regardless of their general skill level, one can always improve.

Chad Clift

Trying to Create Food from Scarce Ingredients

One of the best – and often funniest – exercises is trying to create quality food from limited ingredients. This improves one’s skill level because it forces them to think outside the box, to be creative and most of all, to create mistakes. It’s a cliché, but mistakes are excellent for learning, at least when it comes to cooking.

Reading the Entire Recipe

A common mistake is not reading a recipe all the way through. It’s important to be familiar with the process and until someone learns a recipe from top to bottom, they have to rely on its words.

Improve Your Knife Skills

Everybody wants to improve their knife skills, but this doesn’t happen overnight. A good way to practice it is choosing food items that come without clear instructions as far as the ingredients’ cutting process goes. In other words, everybody should choose a recipe where they can cut everything up in the same way, creating perfect practice time. As a master chef who learned from some of the best culinary experts, Chad Clift has expert cutting skills.

Sources:

http://www.thekitchn.com/14-free-ways-to-improve-your-cooking-life-in-the-kitchen-211196

Chad Clift – What First Time Jumpers Usually Experience

Chad Cliff is an avid extreme sports enthusiast who has completed more than two dozen jumps, some of them in tandem. Skydiving for the first time can be an overwhelming experience. The conscious mind wants the adventure, but the body’s fight or flight system is often triggered during the endeavor. This results in a sudden rush of adrenalin that can be quite off-putting if one is not ready for it. That is also the main reason why nobody should jump solo for the first time. There is no telling how someone will react, even if they are the most confident, brave person in the world.

You Don’t Have to Possess an Innate Athletic Ability

Skydiving doesn’t require too much athletic ability, only good health. In fact, one doesn’t even have to be in a particularly good shape. Gravity does the lion’s share of the work. With that said, weight limits are fairly common, their maximum often being set at 200 pounds. There are exceptions; when someone is really tall but generally in good shape, most companies will allow them to jump.

The Height Is Not That Scary

Those who developed a chronic fear for heights should obviously not jump until they have dealt with that phobia, but a healthy fear of heights is actually common, and rarely a limiting factor. The reason for that is the unique atmosphere that awaits these people in the clouds. They can imagine what it’s like to stand on a tall ladder or looking down from a bridge, and they are often afraid of these situations because they have experienced them, meaning they can imagine it. Up there it is entirely different and because of that unique, almost surreal atmosphere, most first timers will not even realize the height.

Jumping Out of an Airplane Rarely Makes Anyone Sick

Many first time jumpers dread the possibility of being sick during the free fall, but this rarely happens. If it does, it’s because of the nerves, and not because of the fall itself. It is much more likely to become sick while sitting on a rollercoaster. The ascending phase starts gradually, and once the body reaches a certain speed, the whole experience becomes even smoother. Experienced divers can even reach terminal velocity.

Breathing is Not a Problem

In addition to the thought of getting sick, many first time jumpers are afraid that they will not be able to breathe. Any skydiving expert would tell that these concerns are unfounded. Skydivers, who panic, often hold their breath and that’s the real reason why some people experience the phenomenon of not being able to breathe. Once they consciously realize this, the whole experience changes.

Chad Clift is a professional chef and avid skydiving enthusiast who has completed his fair share of jumps both in the tandem and solo varieties.

Sources:
https://www.groupon.com/articles/skydiving-tips-for-beginners
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/JianHuang.shtml

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.

 

Chad Clift – Three Essential Ingredients for Home Japanese Cooking

Chad Clift is the founder and head chef of a Japanese restaurant in Seattle called Futoji Aji. He is constantly looking for new ways to wow his customers with his spin on new and traditional Japanese dishes. Clift first drew and interest in Japanese cooking when his father, who is from Japan, taught him how to cook at home using traditional Japanese ingredients and methods. Over time, he discovered a talent for Japanese cooking that his mother, a local small business owner, helped him refine into a business model. He gathered experience at the Oregon Culinary Institute and later at a Thai restaurant in San Francisco, where he worked as an apprentice. He returned to Seattle to open his own Japanese restaurant and serve his dishes to his community.

Chad Clift encourages everyone to cook at home, at least when they’re not dining at his restaurant, that is. He learned how to be an excellent chef and how to start a career in cooking at home and he encourages anyone else to do the same if they are passionate about cooking. He especially encourages people to try Japanese dishes in their homes to create new experiences and tastes for themselves. In order cook Japanese food at home the right way, you have to find the right ingredients. Here are three essential ingredients to excellent Japanese food in your own kitchen:

• Mirin. This is an essential condiment used in many Japanese dishes for any reasons. Chad Clift learned early in his life cooking with his dad that Mirin can be used to sweeten dishes, cut down the smell of fish dishes and to give some vegetables their signature shiny appearance. Mirin is a kind of rice wine similar to sake, but with much less alcohol content. It’s about 50% sugar.
• Fish stock powder. Hon Dashi, or fish stock powder is used in almost every Japanese meal much in the same way that chicken stock is used in many Western dishes. It adds a subtle flavor to many dishes. Think of miso soup. That dish is made with Hon Dashi, water, and fish stock alone. Almost all Japanese dishes call for Hon Dashi in one quantity or form or another. Make sure you stock up on this if you’re planning on cooking many Japanese meals.
• Japanese mayonnaise. Chad Clift says that you should be very careful about using mayonnaise in any Japanese dish, and to never think that Western mayonnaise is the same as Japanese mayonnaise. Japanese mayonnaise is nothing like Western mayonnaise made with eggs and has a spicy kick to it that makes it perfect for use in curries and the popular Japanese dish, Ebi mayo.

Chad Clift hopes you can try your own Japanese dishes at home with these ingredients.

 

Chad Clift – A Brief History of Futoji Aji

Chad Clift grew up in Lake Forest Park in Seattle where his father, born in Japan, taught him how to cook in the Japanese tradition. Clift of course learned how to make popular Japanese dishes like sushi, but he also learned how to make many other dishes that aren’t as popular today. Clift grew up eating and preparing meals with the freshest ingredients that his father made sure to always provide for his son. Clift’s mother ran her own business, and when he was old enough, she started showing him how to properly manage a business in the way that she learned during her many years of business management experience. From an early age, Clift had the tools and the desire to start his own restaurant some day. Nearly 20 years ago, he did, in his hometown.

Futoji Aji means “bold taste” in Japanese. Chad Clift named it that to remind him that he can never be complacent with the food dishes and tastes that his kitchen produces. After high school in Seattle, Clift moved to Portland to attend the Oregon Culinary Institute, for which he had earned a scholarship. After three years there, he worked in a San Francisco Thai restaurant as an apprentice. With little money and even less time on his hands while he worked as an apprentice, Clift didn’t have a place to live for the first few weeks in San Francisco. He slept in the kitchen most nights until he was discovered by the restaurant owner, who offered to help him find a room. Clift was able to find a place to sleep, but he mostly lived in the kitchen.

It was this passion for cooking that kept him working the long hours as an apprentice in San Francisco and what eventually led him to start his own Japanese restaurant in his hometown of Seattle a few years after he got his first job in the Thai restaurant. By the time he returned, much to his parents’ delight, to Seattle, Chad Clift had the experience and the skill to be successful running his own restaurant. He wanted to create new ways of expressing the traditional tastes and textures of Japanese cuisine for his community to enjoy. Clift has always kept a rotating menu along with what he calls his “staple” menu, full of the traditional dishes that he knows people are expecting from a Japanese restaurant such as his.

Chad Clift keeps bringing in new talent to his kitchen to help him produce his fresh and bold new menu items and test them for taste and originality. He treats every day as a new challenge to test his food preparation skills and creativity in the kitchen.

Chad Clift – Why Scuba Classes are at Your Own Pace

Chad Clift did everything he could to pass his scuba classes and become a certified diver as quickly as possible. He took the online basic knowledge course ahead of time, he completed all the tests and answered all the questions he knew he had to ask before he signed up for classes including, is he healthy enough to do this? Does he have time, etc.? All of these things are recommended by scuba instructors around the world. Clift wanted to scuba dive because he wanted to explore the underwater marvels of his surroundings on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. He wanted to get in the water as quickly as he could to explore both the deep waters off of Washington’s coast and the unique habitats of Puget Sound. He would only learn later that it’s best to learn at your own pace.

 

In order to earn your scuba certification, you have to pass a test for certification and complete a certified course in scuba diving, usually provided by your local diving or surf shop. Chad Clift signed up for the class thinking that he would be able to pass the class without much trouble. He struggled for the first several days, however. Finding your breath and learning how to deal with the underwater pressure pushing down on you and your lungs is hard work. Chad Clift had to stay behind most of the other classmates and learn on his own time. His instructors were very patient, however, and helped him through all the necessary and difficult physical skills he had to learn, and he was very grateful for this when he dove unassisted for the first time.

Chad Clift lives and works in Mossy Rock.

 

Chad Clift – How to Find the Perfect Ingredients

Chad Clift is the owner of the Japanese restaurant in Seattle called Futoji Aji. Located in the International District, Futoji Aji has long been known as a place where Japanese food purists will find their favorite dishes and those seeking newer twists on Japanese cuisine will also be satisfied. Clift was trained in his home with his father as a boy in Japanese culinary traditions before he moved away from his home in Seattle to Portland, where he attended the Oregon Culinary Institute. He had earned a scholarship to attend the culinary school and there he learned how to blend in his own twists on traditional Japanese fare by combining the principles from many different culinary traditions from around the world.

Chad Clift

Chad Clift today constantly travels the world looking for new sources of ingredients for his menu at Futoji Aji. He always looks for the freshest ingredients grown by local farmers or producers in the many regions he visits. Clift, as a rule always tries to track ingredients back to their source to buy directly from their producers. This ensures that the products he uses for his ingredients for his dishes are the freshest they can be and the most useful for his menus. Working directly with producers themselves also saves on costs because he avoids the markups that many distributors charge. Clift also seeks out local markets in the places he visits, to find ingredients fresh from the farms. He wants to ensure that he pays the producers themselves for their products whenever possible.

Chad Clift puts his ingredients first on his priorities list because, as any chef knows, the ingredients are the foundation to any delicious meal in any culinary tradition. Clift has many years of experience blending ingredients found in many different traditional dishes around the world, boosting his knowledge of many other culinary traditions and allowing him to borrow from them to help his own dishes at his restaurant in Seattle. In a city full of many different Asian restaurants of all kinds, distinguishing his restaurant has been a challenge, but with his intrepid attitude and his willingness to include the best, freshest ingredients to all of his dishes, has kept Futoji Aji on the map for Asian food connoisseurs in the area. By working with many farmers and ranchers from all over the world directly, he keeps his ingredients fresh and high-quality at all times.

From his foundation in always getting the best ingredients directly from food producers and by keeping his menu fresh and new, Chad Clift has boosted his standing in the local culinary community in Seattle. He encourages everyone to seek out the freshest ingredients possible for their home cooking or their restaurants.

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.