Tim O’Doherty: ‘Legends’ of local restaurant businesses set high standard

Recently I have noticed that some of the leaders – “the legends” – of the Spokane restaurant business are stepping down or, even worse, passing away. You go to bed a silly guy who serves Guinness and sings on the bar and you wake up suddenly as one of the senior members of your restaurant community.

Gone are mentors like John Edwards at the Viking and Jack Stockton at Jack and Dan’s. Retired are icons like Bob and Barb Materne of the Swinging Doors and my personal mentor Jerry Young of Milford’s. Now I read that Rich Culnane of the Maxwell House and George Talotti of the Red Lion BBQ are retiring. My buddies Jim Rhodes of Rock City and Terry Best at O’Doherty’s Pub & BBQ are thinking about stepping away from their restaurants.

These people were not “flash in the pan” successes. They were or are independent, bold restaurant veterans with 30-, 40- or even 50-year resumes. I’m writing this, my first-ever newspaper column, for one reason: to celebrate and remember these leaders.

The restaurant/bar business has a reputation for quick failure and broken dreams, but each of these people forged a long livelihood and a rich legacy with hard work, inspired choices and the love and support of families, especially spouses.

I have a sense that with the explosion of information that flows through the community via the internet today, there has been a tendency to fan the flames of competition between restaurants rather than grow a sense of mutual respect. In the long run, a good Yelp review is not as important or fulfilling as the mutual admiration that will grow if competitors reach out to others in their industry.

Despite me being a potential competitor, when these people discovered I wanted to learn their business, they embraced me and taught me priceless lessons. They also have some really, really funny stories.

The young restaurant people in our industry today show tremendous promise. I am excited to see the culinary scene grow and diversify, but I, for one, encourage all of us to stop for a moment and thank those “crazy dudes” who toiled before us. They have left a mark for hospitality, hard work and good food that will only be matched, never surpassed. Thank you all for your efforts. Well done!

Tim O’Doherty runs O’Doherty’s Irish Grille in downtown Spokane.