Meet the chef shaking up dining in Alaska’s capital city

01.12.2023 - 10:34 / nationalgeographic.com

It’s hard to talk about Alaska's capital without the conversation turning to nature. Juneau’s privileged position on the Gastineau Channel — where temperate forests reach seafood-rich glacial waters — has birthed a city of foragers, fishermen and hunters. And with the return of Cordon Bleu-trained chefs such as Lionel Uddipa, Juneau is taking Alaskan cuisine to new heights, where sustainably sourced salmon, wild game and foraged fare all take centre stage. We talk to Lionel to learn more about farm-to-fork cooking in the region and how new eateries are combining Alaskan traditions with sustainable practices.

I was nine when I fell in love with the kitchen. My aunt had a diner called the Valley Restaurant, which is still in town. We lived above the restaurant, and me and my cousins would play after school. My mom would say, “You kids are making too much noise. I need one of you to help with the silverware.” I would always volunteer. There was something about the kitchen: I loved the noise and the sense of urgency.

My aunt opened two more restaurants, and I washed dishes in them until I went to culinary school in Georgia. I went on to work for luxury hotel groups and Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago and Southern California, before moving back to Juneau ten years ago.

The seasons play a big role. From spring to autumn, we go foraging, fishing and hunting, so there’s a lot of wild game and seafood. Autumn is the season for venison, moose, caribou, mushrooms and berries, while in the summer, it’s all about seafood. Wild salmon and halibut are popular, but we also have giant octopus, king crab and shrimp.

I love working with seafood. When I moved back to Juneau, locals only wanted to eat salmon one way: smoked. But me and a couple of other chefs are working hard to diversify Alaskan cooking. We’ve introduced cured, raw salmon, which is increasingly popular.

The first restaurant I opened in Juneau in 2015, called Salt, was very ‘forward moving’. I’d come from a fine-dining background, so we went for high-end tasting menus and fine wines. Their menu still uses local produce and, in my opinion, is one of the best spots in town for fresh seafood dishes and butcher cut steaks. 

Despite this, fine dining wasn’t allowing me to do the things that I moved back to Alaska for, like being out in nature, hunting and foraging for food. There’s also a lot of food waste in fine dining that I don’t like. I opened Red Spruce in January 2020 with the concept of global street food — creating and serving delicious food in an approachable way while minimising waste. We try to make as much as possible in-house. Inspired by Japanese and Filipino fermentation techniques, we make our own vinegar, soy sauce, yeast and kombucha