Tom Douglas grilling up Copper River salmon to raise money for the Ballard Food Bank

Tom Douglas is hosting another Grilling for Good fundraiser at Serious TakeOut in Ballard, this time grilling Copper River salmon to raise money for the Ballard Food Bank’s new building.

Seattle Kitchen has partnered with Trident Seafoods, Alaska Airlines and the Copper River Marketing Association to provide the salmon meal. The grilled Copper River sockeye salmon dinners will be for sale on May 22nd at the Ballard Warehouse Kitchen located at 5118 14th Ave NW from 12- 3 p.m. To preorder visit the website here. 

“I love everything about Copper River salmon. I love the richness of its delicate flesh and flavor. Copper River salmon saved the importance of salmon, and wild fish in general, by increasing the value of the fish. Its very short season makes it a true delicacy,” Douglas said on his website.

Douglas’s kitchen will be cooking grilled Copper River salmon served with asparagus, new potatoes, pickled cucumbers, roasted red peppers, and will be served chilled with spring herb vinaigrette. There will be around 200 salmon meals; each is valued at $100 and all proceeds will go to the Ballard Food Bank, which will help finish their construction.

Chef Douglas will grill the first salmon at the cookout, and customers can eat their meals at the picnic tables at Serious TakeOut or take it to-go.

The fundraiser will help close the Ballard Food Bank’s funding gap as they finish construction on their new location on Leary Ave NW. As we reported back in March, the Ballard Food Bank announced they were still $1.7 million shy of their goal to finish construction on the new location. Amazon helped shrink that gap with their $750,000 donation in late March, but there’s still over $900k needed, according to the food bank’s Hope Beyond Hunger Campaign.

The food bank’s campaign website states that they’re 93 percent to the goal of their $13.9 million fundraising campaign. “We are so close to crossing the finish line to our new home and community hub at 1400 N.W. Leary Way,” they write on their website. This fall is their deadline to complete construction and move into their new location, which they hope to do before their lease expires.

This is the second Grilling for Good event: Last March, Tom Douglas hosted another salmon cookout at his Ballard kitchen to raise money for the Food Lifeline.

Stay up to date with Tom Douglas Seattle Kitchen on their Facebook at @tdrestaurant.

Photo: Tom Douglas