Shellfest Returns January 6-31!

Join us for Shellfest Friday, January 6-31, 2023 and try an array of delicious new shellfish dishes created by our Executive Chef Kevin Murray and team!

We’re highlighting Dungeness Crab on our Shellfest menu with one dish representing a classic preparation from Ray’s history and the other a new dish created by Chef Kevin.

Shellfest Menu 2023

  • Oysters on the Half Shell GFred wine mignonette $4 each, 3 for $12,  6 for $22
      • Royal Miyagi – British Columbia, CAN smooth textured meats with a mild brininess and kiwi-like finish
      • Samish Pearl – Samish Bay, WA full firm meat relinquishes delicate cucumber notes and a crisp salty brine
  • Baked Oyster Rockefeller butter, parsley, bread crumbs, herbs $5 each
  • Chilled Peel & Eat Prawns GFOld Bay dusted, butter sauce, piquillo aïoli $22
  • Penn Cove Mussels GFsteamed in a spicy tomato broth $20
  • Manila Clams GFTom Kha, Thai basil, scallion, chili oil $20
  • Sautéed Prawns GFGarlic herb butter, charred lemon $21
  • Seared Yucatan Octopus Chorizo bean purée, ancho chili aioli, crispy potato, red radish, cilantro $26

Ray’s 50th Anniversary Celebration!

January Feature: Dungeness Crab

  • Black Pepper Crab Steamed gai lan, garlic, scallion, jasmine rice. Small (4oz) $30 or Large (8oz) $56 (classic Ray’s dish)
  • Crab & Avocado Salad GFJicama, winter citrus, arugula, citrus vinaigrette, candied pine nuts $28 (new dish from Chef Kevin)

Items subject to change throughout the month without notice. Menu is available for lunch and dinner daily.

This limited menu ends January 31, 2023 so make sure to enjoy it while it lasts!

Shellfest Returns January 5 to Ray’s Cafe!

We’re thrilled to kick off 2022 with the return of our beloved Shellfest in the Cafe!

Join us starting Wednesday, January 5 to enjoy new selections of delicious shellfish dishes created by our Executive Chef Kevin Murray and team.

Menu items include the following with new dishes popping up at the chef’s whim:

Alaskan Spot Prawn Appetizer shell on salt roasted prawns, lemon, thyme, butter sauce, fresh herbs (gf)
Manila Clams chorizo, sherry, oregano, butter (gf)
Penn Cove Mussels white wine, shallot, garlic, dill, butter (gf)
Baked Oyster Rockefeller butter, parsley, breadcrumbs, herbs
Coconut Fried Shrimp Thai-style chili dipping sauce

Items subject to change throughout the month without notice.

This limited menu ends January 31 so make sure to enjoy it while it lasts!

Ray’s Cafe is open Wednesday-Sunday from 11:30am to 8pm and is walk ins only. We’ll see you soon!

New Fall Dishes at Ray’s!

Satisfy your craving for cozy weather comfort food with an exciting lineup of new Fall dishes available now! Dig in to the hearty flavors of the season with fresh seafood, autumn vegetables, delicious desserts and more!

New for Lunch & Dinner

  • Grilled Wild Alaskan King Salmon with brown butter, squash purée, roasted delicata squash, sautéed maitake mushrooms and lacinato kale
  • House-Made Tagliatelle Pasta with roasted butternut squash, spinach, whipped ricotta, brown butter breadcrumbs and fried sage
  • Dungeness Crab Cakes with grilled zucchini, smoked piquillo pepper aïoli, frisee salad with blood orange, sweet peppers, pickled red onions and pickled watermelon radish
  • Potato Leek Soup with puréed Yukon gold potato and leek, cold smoked salmon, ikura, chive, crème fraiche
  • Kale and Washington Apple Salad with lacinato kale, Honeycrisp apples, toasted pine nuts, pickled shallots, lemon vinaigrette and Grana Padano
  • Smoked Sablefish Brandade with puréed potatoes and smoked sablefish dip topped with horseradish vinaigrette served with crostini

New Lunch Dishes

  • Fried Chicken Sandwich made with a crispy fried chicken thigh, spicy Brussels sprout slaw, mustard aioli and pickled red onion
  • Steak Frites made with grilled sirloin steak, French fries, green peppercorn sauce, frisee salad and a warm bacon vinaigrette
  • Prawns and Grits with Anson Mills grits, serrano chiles, scallions, tomatoes, and Del Pacifico prawns

New Dinner Dishes

  • Pan Seared Alaskan Halibut with spaghetti squash, Brussels sprouts and red pepper vinaigrette
  • Grilled RR Ranch Ribeye with roasted garlic whipped mashed potatoes, seared Brussels sprouts, and green peppercorn sauce
  • Dungeness Crab Risotto with saffron-scented risotto, fresh Dungeness crab and wild chanterelle mushrooms
  • Pan-Seared Scallops with celery root-parsnip purée, chanterelle mushrooms, roasted parsnips, sherry-sage gastrique and fried sage

For a little something sweet enjoy a decadent slice of Epic Chocolate Cake from The Sweetside Bakery plus our house-made Baked Washington Apple Pie a la Mode.

Salish Sea Chef’s Dinner at Ray’s November 14!

Sustainable Seafood Celebration is joining forces with five incredible Northwest chefs with a passion for seafood, for an evening focused on sustainable seafood practices and successes in the Salish Sea. Guests will learn about the many success stories of local seafood from excellent runs of Baker River Sockeye in 2019 to expanding tribal fishing practices and more. They will meet the people who are driving this forward and making changes from fishermen and women to chefs and activists.

Five featured chefs will create a multi-course dinner with each preparing one course that highlights local seafood including: Salish Sea Dungeness Crab, Baker River Sockeye Salmon, Salish Sea Halibut, reef net Salish Sea Pink Salmon, and fresh oysters.

Featured Chefs
Paul Duncan, Ray’s Boathouse
Renee Erickson, The Whale Wins
Kevin Davis, Blueacre Seafood
Wayne Johnson, FareStart
Adam Stevenson, Copperleaf at Cedarbrook Lodge

Salmon Safe Wines
Brickhouse Vineyards Chardonnay Ribbon Ridge, OR 2016
L’Ecole No. 41 ‘Perigee’ Estate Red Seven Hills Vineyard, Walla Walla Valley, WA 2015
Sokol Blosser Estate Rosé of Pinot Noir Dundee Hills, OR 2018

“We’re extremely excited to share the many successes coming out of the Salish Sea with folks. We are facing perilous times in our environment and it’s important for people to see and understand that visible progress is being made and that our salmon and halibut runs can get stronger”, said Riley Starks, Salish Sea fisherman, founder of Salish Center for Sustainable Fishing Methods, co-founder of Sustainable Seafood Celebration.

The dinner event is Thursday, November 14 at 6 p.m. at Ray’s Boathouse in Ballard (in the Northwest Room) where the Salish Sea has been their backyard for 46 years. The evening will be co-hosted by Sustainable Seafood Celebration co-founders Riley Starks and Larry Mellum, owner of Pike Place Chowder.

Each chef will dine at a table with guests for more intimate conversation about protecting and nurturing the bounty of the Salish Sea and why sustainable fishing practices is important to them.

Tickets
Tickets are $125 per person and inclusive of multi-course dinner, salmon safe wine and gratuity. Reservations are required to attend and tickets must be purchased online by Friday, November 1, 2019. All guests must be 21 years of age and older to attend. Ticket proceeds benefit Sustainable Seafood Celebration and its partners in the fight to restore sustainable fishing practices, wild salmon runs and local waterways. Tickets available for purchase here.

About Sustainable Seafood Celebration
Sustainable Seafood Celebration is a nonprofit group launched in 2018. Its mission is to raise awareness of the fruits of the Salish Sea – encouraging efforts to keep our local waters healthy despite rapid population growth; rebuilding healthy populations of wild salmon from the Salish Sea; supporting the survival of the Orcas; and highlighting the successful results of good policy and responsible management. More at sustainableseafoodcelebration.org.

About the Salish Sea
The Salish Sea is one of the world’s largest and biologically rich inland seas. Its name pays tribute to the first inhabitants of the region, the Coast Salish. The Salish Sea is an inland sea that encompasses Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and the waters off of Vancouver, B.C. The area spans from Olympia, Washington in the south to the Campbell River, British Columbia in the north, and west to Neah Bay and includes the large cities of Seattle and Vancouver.

About Riley Starks
A Washington native, Riley Starks took the less traveled fork in the road for the first time when he eschewed law school and bought his first fishing boat in 1973. He has been a commercial fisherman all of his life, and along the way explored other uncharted territory on Lummi Island by building Nettles Farm in 1992, buying and operating the Willows Inn in 2001, founding Lummi Island Wild, a reefnet salmon business, and finally owning and operating Nettles Farm B&B in 2013.

About Larry Mellum
Larry Mellum is the founder and owner of Pike Place Chowder in Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market. In the 1990s he and a partner opened the Charlestown Street Cafe in West Seattle where they held a weekly chowder contest that drew fans from all over the state and lead to first-place wins in several national chowder cook-offs. In 2003 Larry opened Pike Place Chowder where eight varieties of chowder are served daily. Four years later a second eatery was opened in the Pacific Place Shopping Center. In 2018 Pike Place Chowder’s New England Clam Chowder was acclaimed by Yelp, “The Most Popular Dish in America”.

Ray’s Cafe Limited Summer Menu Aug. 1-15!

Ray’s Cafe is offering an exciting limited summer menu August 1-15!

Join us on our famous Cafe patio to enjoy the best views in Seattle while you sip on our house Bloody Mary with a Bering Sea King Crab Leg(!), and a fresh Dungeness Crab Roll!

Grab your sunnies and we’ll see you on the patio!!!

Ray’s Cafe August 1-15 Special Menu

The Deadliest Cocktail” Ray’s Bloody Mary with house infused spicy vodka, a giant Bering Sea King Crab Leg garnish and a spicy rim, $44

Dungeness Crab Roll fennel and green apple slaw, New England style hot dog roll, $24

House Smoked Salmon Salad local snap peas, frisee, green goddess dressing, $14

Washington Blueberry-Passion Fruit Parfait coconut panna cotta, passion fruit chai, local blueberries, $10

Avennia ‘Oliane’ Sauvignon Blanc, Yakima Valley, WA 2017 $16 glass/$62 bottle. Barrel fermented with native yeast, the aromas of lemon verbena, lemon oil and herbs emerge. The flavors are tart, racy and acid driven, with a long, drawn out finish. It’s elegant and subtle.

Shellfest Returns to the Cafe Jan. 8-27!

Ray’s Café is kicking off the New Year with Shellfest this January 8-27!

Each winter our local icy waters deliver the freshest crab, clams and oysters available and Ray’s Executive Chef Paul Duncan has created an exciting, limited menu to celebrate this winter bounty. The new shellfish dishes are only available during Shellfest at our upstairs Cafe from January 8-27, and are offered in addition to our regular Café menu.

Reservations are available daily from 11:30am-9pm and are strongly encouraged during Shellfest. Guests can reserve at rays.com/cafe or at 206.789.3770.

Shellfest Menu

Dungeness Crab Bruschetta – garlic aioli, pickled shallot, Dungeness crab meat, avocado. $17

Bourbon-Garlic Prawns – blackened prawns, bourbon, sautéed garlic, grilled bread. $16

Oysters on the Half Shell – mignonette, lemon. $20

Scampi Fettuccini Alfredo – prawns, garlic, white wine, cream, herbs. $26

Pan Seared Pacific Oysters – lightly breaded, garlic aioli, chorizo vinaigrette, dirty rice. $18

Prawn Cocktail – poached and chilled prawns, cucumber, avocado, traditional sauce. $18

Popcorn Shrimp breaded, fried, Louis dressing. $16

Mussels Wilson  Uli’s chorizo, sherry, garlic, butter. $14

* Menu subject to change without notice.

Celebrate the Legacy of Ray’s Co-owner Elizabeth Gingrich Sept. 25

Please join us at Ray’s Café on Tuesday, September 25 as we celebrate the legacy and contributions of our beloved co-owner Elizabeth Gingrich who recently passed.

We will be offering a special a la carte menu of her favorite Ray’s dishes, dessert and cocktail from 11:30am to 9pm in the Cafe.

All proceeds from Elizabeth’s menu on this date will be donated to MultiCare Hospice of Tacoma where she was president of the board for five years and instrumental in establishing the program. We can also accept monetary donations to the hospice in the form of checks. Ray’s will match 100% of donations from the day!

Ray’s alumni will receive 10% off their Cafe bill that day (discount excludes the special menu), and are encouraged to share stories about Elizabeth and bring photos of her!

Elizabeth Gingrich Menu
Dungeness Crab Salad
King Salmon
Mixed Nut Tart
Bombay Sapphire Martini

Reservations strongly recommended. Contact the Cafe at 206.789.3770 or online to reserve today.