our team
 Chef
Brian O'Conner - Eyes lit up, hands waving, words coming out in
a rush. Disaster? Insanity? Nope, just Chef Brian getting passionate
about something he loves—FOOD! Brian O’Connor’s passion for cooking with
fresh ingredients started as a young child. Both of Brian’s parents
worked outside the home, so he spent time with a grandfather who was an
avid gardener and a grandmother who transformed those simple garden
ingredients into delicious morsels for the growing boy. His career as a
chef was born when he started making after-school snacks for himself. “I
learned how to make the best out of what we had and I can still make
anything out of nothing,” laughs Brian. Time spent with his working
parents was precious, so Brian was always eager to hang out with his dad
while barbecuing outside. Even in the tough winters of upstate New York,
Brian would shovel his way to the barbecue and stand close by to stay
warm. “It was a good learning experience. I burned a lot of chicken on
that barbecue and had to finish the family dinner in the oven.”
In high school, Brian turned to vocational classes in junior and senior
years to begin the process of taking his love of cooking to a
professional level. At 17, he signed up for the two-year culinary
program at the Baltimore International Culinary College. He considered
the CIA in New York, but it was too close to home; he wanted to go away
to school. The travel bug has led him to explore the kitchens in
Baltimore, New York, Daytona Beach, San Diego, San Francisco and
Seattle—each location, each kitchen teaching him something new.
In Baltimore, Brian worked at Savannah restaurant under Chef Cindy Wolf,
a James Beard nominee for the Mid-Atlantic. Cindy was instrumental in
mentoring him in the art of Southern fine dining, a skill that serves
him well at Blueacre. Returning to New York, he worked as sous chef at
the Troutbeck Inn before
deciding to move west. With just $146 in
his pocket and a Greyhound bus ticket, he landed in San Diego. Brian was
lucky and walked into a job at The Cohn Restaurant Group on his first
day in town. For a year, he went in at 2 a.m. to bake bread and make
pastries for five restaurants. “I loved that job. In those hours, it’s
like you’re the only person on earth.” He became a sous chef for the
same group and stayed for another two-and-a-half years. He left to work
as executive sous chef at the high-end French restaurant Bertrand at Mr.
A’s under Chef Fabrice Poigin. “I had a huge interest in Asian food, but
realized that
French cooking is the base of all Western
cuisines and took the opportunity to learn all I could. Fabrice taught
me everything I know about Mediterranean and Basque cuisine.” Brian
stayed three years.
In 2004, Brian left San Diego for Seattle to
become chef de cuisine at Madison Park Café. Known as a classic French
bistro, he created a side-by-side menu of old school/new school bistro
items. It was a big hit, garnering interest from Gourmet magazine and an
invitation to the James Beard House. In August of 2006, San Diego called
again with an offer to become executive chef at Laurel, creating French
and Mediterranean dishes. He stayed two years, entrancing the customers
and food writers, earning the restaurant a Four Star rating from Mobile
in 2006, 2007 and 2008. His next step was executive chef for Sutro’s at
The Cliff House in San Francisco. When famed chef George Morrone was
hired as a consultant, Brian recognized the opportunity to learn from
one of the great chefs in America. He suggested that George take over as
chef de cuisine, moving Brian to executive sous chef. This move allowed
Brian to be mentored by George. “I learned about simplicity in flavor. I
learned a lot from George about professionalism and how to extract the
most flavor out of the most basic ingredients.”
Knowing he
wanted to be back in the Seattle area, Brian came home. The timing was
excellent—Kevin and Terresa Davis were embarking on their next
restaurant, Blueacre, and Kevin needed a chef de cuisine. “Interviewing
for the job at Blueacre Seafood was intensive. I interviewed with both
Kevin and Terresa. Kevin and I ate a lot of seafood and talked a great
deal. I’ve never had gray hair before, but I tease Kevin when I say he
gave me gray hair through this process! I’m excited to be in this
beautiful restaurant, creating amazing seafood that’s sexy and simply
done, and giving good value to guests.” You can visibly see Brian’s
passion about Blueacre: as he talks about the look and feel of the
restaurant, but especially the food, his hands are waving, his eyes are
flashing and he’s speed talking again. Blueacre can do that to a person.
 Bruce
Sturgeon, General Manager - Bruce comes to Blueacre Seafood
with a wealth of experience in the restaurant industry. He sees his role
as taking his 35 years of experience in the business to help bring the
vision of owners Chef Kevin and Terresa Davis to life. “The whole
package of the food, beverage program and décor make this a very unique
space,” says Bruce.
Entering the industry at the age of 16,
Bruce became a dishwasher at Paine Field in Everett—the weekend of the
Air Show where 100,000 people surrounded the one small restaurant at the
airfield. It was an auspicious start to his career. When not washing
dishes, he did prep work in the kitchen. The cook didn’t show up one day
and, at 16, he became the cook, learning a great deal very quickly.
His next industry job was dishwashing at Sambo’s in Everett. Within a
few months, he was cooking again. In 1974 when he was 17, he was part of
the training crew that opened the Sambo’s in Ballard, training people
from 5-15 years older than he was. After a break, he returned to
restaurant work at Fasano’s in Issaquah, noted at the time as the best
food on the Eastside. He worked there for a year as a broiler cook.
Sambo’s recruited him back as a floor manager, scheduling a staff of 27
and cooking as well. He was 20.
Looking for adventure, he moved
to Aspen, Colorado, to ski and work when he was 22. He hired on at Ute
City Banque, a well-known, upscale restaurant written up in Bon Appétit
and Gourmet magazines. He started as a prep cook, but was moved into a
lead role after just two months. Asking for more hours, he began working
behind the bar as well as the stove. That led to even more hours when he
was hired at the bar across the street from Ute City Banque. The
following summer, he began work in the kitchen at Patty Bugatti, a
high-end Italian seafood restaurant. “I learned more about food there
than anywhere. The chef would show you the ingredients, but not the
amounts because no onion or other ingredient is always the same. You
made the dish by taste and had to trust your palate.”
At the age
of 23, he returned home and took a job at Arnie’s in Mukilteo as a
waiter, starting his front-of-the-house career. He stayed one year
before moving to McCormick’s Fish House in downtown Seattle in 1981. It
was here that his interest in wine began, working with more
knowledgeable waiters and studying books. He stayed 3-1/2 years. He
moved on to work at both Café Sport and Le Taste de Vin which had 1000
wines on their list. “I got really into it, studying every night and on
the bus.”
After visiting Aspen as a tourist, he realized how
much he missed it and returned in 1985, ultimately creating a perfect
job for himself: maître d’ and sommelier at Ute City Banque plus two
nights per week at another famous Aspen restaurant, Charlemagne, as
cellar master and sommelier, with four days a week to ski. In 1988, he
was hired to open a new French restaurant, Le Cadeau, as general manager
and wine director. The restaurant had an extensive wine list.
He
moved a different direction in 1990, to Newport, California, where he
started as a waiter at the high-end Cano’s and became the manager and
wine program director. Although happy with the job, when a friend
offered him a position in Seattle in 1992, he took the opportunity to be
closer to his aging parents. He signed on as the bar manager with Wild
Ginger as the company began planning an expansion. In 1994, he took over
the wine program, ultimately growing a small list to a cellar with over
20,000 bottles. He was their general manager from 1997-2001 and part of
the move from Western Avenue to Third Avenue. In 2003, he opened The
Triple Door as Beverage Director for the company, coordinating cost
control for all five bars. When Wild Ginger opened in Bellevue, he
trained the service team and helped write their manual. He was with Wild
Ginger for 18 years.
During his time there, he met Terresa Davis
who worked as Operations Manager from 1999-2002. She introduced him to
her husband, Chef Kevin Davis. “Kevin was at Sazerac and it became one
of my favorite places. After meeting him and eating his food, I consider
him to be Seattle’s best chef.”
In early March 2010, Bruce
became the General Manager of Blueacre Seafood and in charge of the wine
program. He has passed his introductory sommelier course as well as the
Certified Sommelier Exam. “I’ve watched how successful Kevin and Terresa
have been and am very excited about the chance to be part of the team,
creating something from scratch. I think their concept is just right for
this moment in Seattle.”
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