Tom Douglas (chef)

The extended shutdown led to many closures among Douglas's restaurants. In July 2020 he announced that two closures, of the Brave Horse Tavern and Trattoria Cuoco, would become permanent, as both restaurants were reaching the end of their ten-year leases and the future remained uncertain. Douglas similarly declined to renew the lease for Serious Pie and Biscuit in September of that year, and announcements of Dahlia Lounge's closure followed in March 2021. Dahlia Bakery was reopened in July 2021.

In July 2004, Douglas opened Lola. In 2006, he opened a pizzeria, known as Serious Pie. The original location, Serious Pie Virginia, is in downtown Seattle, and the second location, Serious Pie and Biscuit, was located in the South Lake Union neighborhood until its closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In February 1995, Douglas and his wife opened Etta's Seafood. The following year, they opened the Palace Kitchen. During the first year of operation, the Palace Kitchen was nominated for a James Beard Award as one of the best new restaurants in the United States.

In 1984, following working in a series of general labor jobs, Douglas began working at a local restaurant, Café Sport. In November 1989, he opened his first restaurant, the Dahlia Lounge, which quickly became a prominent fixture in quality dining in the Pacific Northwest. In 1994, he was recognized as the Best Chef in the Northwest by the James Beard Foundation, in a tie with fellow Seattle chef Monique Barbeau. In 2001, he opened the Dahlia Bakery, to complement the food of Dahlia Lounge.

Tom Douglas (born August 2, 1958) is an American executive chef, restaurateur, author, and radio talk show host, and winner of the 1994 James Beard Award for Best Northwest Chef. In 2012 he also won the James Beard Award as Best Restaurateur. He is the author of Tom Douglas' Seattle Kitchen, which was named the Best American Cookbook by the James Beard Foundation and KitchenAid, in 2001. In 2005, he appeared on an episode of the Food Network's Iron Chef America, in which he defeated Chef Masaharu Morimoto.

Tom Douglas was born on August 2, 1958, in Wilmington, Delaware. Douglas moved to Seattle in 1977. Soon after arriving, he started working in a variety of jobs from general construction to serving as a railroad car mechanic. As of 2006, Douglas lives in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle as well as Prosser, Washington with his wife and business partner, Jackie Cross, and their daughter, Loretta. Their farm in Prosser provides a variety of produce for use in his Seattle restaurants.