A first look at Puyallup Tribe’s restaurant with Roy Yamaguchi, now open on waterfront

The 95-degree heat did not stifle the celebration at 3017 Ruston Way as Puyallup Tribal members gathered outside for a blessings ceremony of their new restaurant, Woven Seafood and Chophouse by Roy Yamaguchi.

Inside on Tuesday afternoon, cooks sliced corn, roasted over a wood-fire, off the cob; they molded balls of dough for fry bread to accompany a smoked-salmon dip, prepared with Tribal-sourced fish. Carafes of pineapple-infused coconut rum, the fruit from Maui and the spirit from Kauai, waited to be shaken into the house martini. The tables in the upper and lower dining rooms were set with small plates, polished silverware and wine glasses. The live-fire grill, which will catch your eye not long after the unique salmon art installation in the entryway, was about to be stoked with its first logs of the day.

“We wanted to do something that’s very, very special, you know — one-of-a-kind,” Yamaguchi told The News Tribune in an interview.

He recalled meeting Tribal Chairman Bill Sterud and the Council to discuss the potential project. “I said, ‘This is not going to be a Native Indian restaurant.’”

Instead, the concept, as the name implies, hinges on the weaving of cultures and ingredients .

Executive chef Dexter Mina, who at 31 years old worked his way up in Yamaguchi’s restaurants after attending culinary school in Oahu, pointed to the cedar-plank salmon as a dish that represents the idea in practice: Tribal-caught fish served with confit potatoes, roasted tomato and a ponzu-maple butter glaze.

Mina’s Filipino-Hawaiian heritage plays into the menu in various ways, including lumpia with mint and basil and the seafood “pillows,” a dumpling of sorts filled here with pork, crab and shrimp paired with chili-soy vinaigrette.

Dishes (most starters $14-$28, mains $28-$46) highlight Tribal and local ingredients, with plenty of seafood both cooked and raw, as well as a few meaty proteins to fulfill the “chophouse” part of the name, such as a tenderloin with marinated grapes and lemongrass balsamic to a rack of lamb with salsa verde. Local draft beer and ciders — IPAs, lagers and blondes among them — fill the taps (most $7-$8), while wines by the glass focus on Washington, including a house sparkling brut and rosé (most $12-15). “Zero-degree libations” include an herbal tea with hibiscus, vanilla and agave and the pink-hued Pearness with prickly pear and ginger beer.

Chef Yamaguchi is a pioneer of Hawaiian Regional Cuisine and creator of Roy’s Restaurants with footprints on several islands. He partnered with the Puyallup Tribe in 2022. Construction on the 1970s-era building, which now is hardly recognizable aside from the structure itself, inched forward this spring. Designed by Ferguson Architecture with crews from Korso Construction and Kirby Electric, the space capitalizes on tall windows peeking over Puget Sound.

Gone are the dark woods of its steakhouse origins, and welcome are light woods, natural textures in chairs and lights. A rope wall with pops of Puyallup red and black separates but does not shroud the view from the dining room to the “exhibition kitchen,” as Yamaguchi described the expansive cooking line that’s viewable from most seats, save for the bar and lounge. In the latter, you’ll find plenty of stools along with plush chairs along the wall. A table area opens to doors that lead to the newly raised deck.

Artwork, tastefully scattered throughout the otherwise minimalist-modern space, hails exclusively from local Tribal or Hawaiian artists.

In our interview, Yamaguchi referenced the Hawaiian word, pāʻina.

“It means to connect and to move forward with great respect for each other,” he said. “That’s the whole feeling that we give to our guests. Doing great things not only with our food but how we want our community to be.”

BLESSINGS AT WOVEN

Despite the jitters that can accompany a restaurant’s first day in service, the mood was rapt but buoyant. Council Chairman Bill Sterud began the ceremony by calling Tuesday “a special, special day.”

The new waterfront restaurant expected to serve around 200 people during its inaugural service, with reservations filling up the week post. Prior to doors opening at 5 p.m., Connie McCloud, Heritage Division manager, offered blessings while Tribal drummers played and dancers circled the crowd huddled in tented shade. Members of the Tribal Council then spoke about the significance of this moment.

“For thousands of years this was our village site, right here, and it was stolen,” said Sterud. “But we’ve made a commitment to get back as much of our land as we can.”

The two acres the Tribe re-acquired in 2021 encompasses the RAM Restaurant and also holds a Kenmore Air seaport terminal, with seasonal flights to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

Council Member James Rideout said he asked Yamaguchi, “Why did you choose the Puyallup Tribe ? Because of our culture.”

“Our job is to protect and preserve what we have right now,” added Fred Dillon, “and we’re leaving something for the future.”

Anna Bean thanked elders “for showing us the way,” adding that her favorite dish so far is the caprese salad, which boasts shiso-leaf pesto and homemade granola.

Annette Bryan, beginning in the Tribe’s native Twulshootseed, gestured toward Yamaguchi and said, “Roy, your food in Hawaii was magical, but I think the food here is even better. Tacoma, you’re in for a real treat.”

Before joining Sterud in cutting the requisite red ribbon with over-sized scissors, the chef noted that he hadn’t intended to open another restaurant, but this opportunity was too powerful to pass up, especially one that held so much promise for the next generation.

Asked if the Tribe had additional plans for this land or others, Sterud said he was, for now, “happy, relieved and excited” for what’s next. “Nobody is in charge of the future, but let’s just say we’re not done.”

WOVEN SEAFOOD & CHOPHOUSE

▪ 3017 Ruston Way, Puyallup Tribal Land (Tacoma), eatwoven.com

▪ Now Open : daily 5-10:30 p.m.; lunch service, happy hour and weekend brunch expected in coming weeks

▪ Reservations : recommended for dining room and patio seating, via OpenTable ; bar and lounge walk-ins only