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 