Served With Love

by Julie Gunter

Liv Fun: Vol 1 – Issue 2

It’s a conversation that begins and ends with two simple, significant gestures: a mother’s hug and a father’s last-minute thought to press a pulled-pork sandwich, napkin-wrapped, unexpectedly into my hand. Though neither family member nor employee, I am welcomed as such, and fed. For Chris and Alice Canlis, second-generation owners of Seattle’s iconic Canlis restaurant, the art of entertaining and celebrating others is, at its essence, an investment in the formation, development, and strengthening of relationships over time.

As their sons Mark and Brian, now co-owners, glide about overseeing operations, and a team of chefs, intently bent over the day’s tasks, sends a din of reflections along the gleaming copper broiler that marks the threshold between dining room and kitchen, the hours mount, like purpose brewing. An office door’s sweep leaks telephone rings and brisk conversations; the unlit dining room’s elegant contours suggest a hushed, cozying-in anticipation.

Not long after Alice’s initial greeting, Chris appears for the interview with a quick meal of Raisin Bran still to finish, spooned from a cup. His trim presence, marked by the wonderful habit of listening attentively before offering precise, thoughtful responses, is both subtle and assuring; so at ease serving others, he begins by stating that his wife will lead the answers because she is the “chief celebrant in our family.” Later, their son Mark will confirm this assessment, adding that his parents’ celebratory response to life has always been “relationally driven,” a way of being and doing that flows from their desire to “enjoy and appreciate the goodness in others.”

Read Entire Article

Liv Fun

by Leisure Care
Summer 2012
View Table of Contents

Throw Myself a Surprise Party? Are You Nuts? 
by Skye Moody

You just made a hole-in-one, and nobody’s around to marvel with you. You call friends and they congratulate you, but in the end, what do they always celebrate about you?

Your age, of course. 
Read More

Served With Love
by Julie Gunter

This Seattle restaurant family remains rooted in the traditions of the art of celebration. Though neither family member nor employee, I am welcomed as such, and fed. 
Read More

 

Age With Grace Financially
by Sue Peterson, CFA

Seasons of life. Growth opportunities. Trials. Whatever one calls them, out of these experiences our character is formed. If we are so fortunate, we become acquainted with wisdom along the way.  
Read More