成人X站

This week, the owners of 鈥� which closed in March last year because of the pandemic — announced that they will not be reopening. But, not to worry, the world-famous Johnny鈥檚 Seasoning Salt is here to stay.

Johnny鈥檚 Seasoning Salt is one of those local products that historians and sentimental Northwesterners love to obsess about 鈥� like Mountain Bars, Aplets & Cotlets, Farman鈥檚 Pickles, Nalley potato chips, and Marie鈥檚 salad dressing. As is so often the case, the backstory of the beloved product is not just about a business, it鈥檚 also about a family or an individual.

The 鈥淛ohnny鈥� behind Johnny鈥檚 Seasoning Salt is Johnny Meaker. He grew up in Seattle in the early decades of the 20th century, and likely worked as a young man at the famous Crawford鈥檚 Seafood Restaurant north of downtown in the 1940s. Crawford鈥檚, with its prime location along Elliott Avenue and its up-close views of maritime activity on Elliott Bay, closed in the 1960s, but the building eventually became home to (which closed in 1991).

Johnny Meaker owned and operated his own restaurants beginning in the late 1940s, and opened Johnny鈥檚 Dock on Thea Foss Waterway in Tacoma around 1953. According to , that鈥檚 where the original seasoning salt and several variations were first developed.

It was around 1955 or 1956 when Johnny and his wife Bea started packaging the seasoning salt and selling it in the restaurant. They got a big boost in sales from having a booth at the 1962 Seattle World鈥檚 Fair, and they began to develop a series of other seasoning products along the way, including dressings and marinades, and found shelf space at Northwest grocery stores and now long-gone variety stores like Seattle-based Pay 鈥榥 Save.

Johnny鈥檚 in Fife was opened by Johnny Meaker in 1968, and then taken over by his grandson John Crabill in 1986. That鈥檚 the restaurant that announced a few days ago that it will not reopen. Johnny鈥檚 Dock is , and it looks like that parcel of land is now being offered for sale as part of a major redevelopment project.

According to old newspaper clippings, Johnny Meaker was a larger than life character who smoked cigars, vacationed in Vegas, and drove a red Cadillac El Dorado. He also came to the Johnny鈥檚 offices in Tacoma every day, practically up until at age 96.

Though the restaurants are closed, they have been separate from the seasoning salt manufacturing and distribution for many years. That portion of the family business was sold off a decade ago, and that company is still known as .

The President and CEO of Johnny鈥檚 Fine Foods is industry veteran . Ruda assured 成人X站 Radio on Thursday that the permanent closure of either or both of the Johnny鈥檚 restaurants has no effect whatsoever on the seasoning business or the availability of the company鈥檚 products. Though the restaurants bought seasoning and other products from his business in the past, Ruda hadn鈥檛 heard about the closures.

鈥淯ntil you told me this morning the restaurants were not reopening, I did not know that,鈥� Ruda said. 鈥淪o that was news to me.鈥�

In the decade he鈥檚 been running Johnny鈥檚 Fine Foods, Ruda says that the old-school seasoning salt and the au jus mix have remained the company鈥檚 two biggest sellers. Under Ruda鈥檚 leadership, he鈥檚 maintained company traditions but has changed a few things. MSG was eliminated from the seasoning salt, and the company has added a few organic products to its more traditional lines and expanded its market nationwide and overseas. Also, the company is still headquartered in the offices in Tacoma that were part of the purchase, but they鈥檝e moved manufacturing out of Pierce County to other parts of the Puget Sound area.

Exactly where, Ruda wasn鈥檛 willing to disclose.

Another secret that Ruda wouldn鈥檛 share is the formula for Johnny鈥檚 Seasoning Salt. The ingredients listed on the package are salt, sugar, paprika, garlic, spices, and something called but the ratios and blending techniques are, understandably, proprietary information.

鈥淚t鈥檚 what makes us different from or other competitive products,鈥� Ruda said.

And just how were those secret recipes physically transferred to Kevin Ruda when he bought Johnny鈥檚 Fine Foods 10 years ago?

They came in 鈥渁 big book, 鈥� a black folder, it鈥檚 nothing special,鈥� Ruda said.

Pressed for more information by an irritating radio historian who often obsesses about pedantic details, Ruda described a simple a three-ring binder filled with handwritten and hand-typed pages dating back years, if not decades.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a master file that has the recipe and process for each formulation,鈥� Ruda said, though he also says the information has since been transferred to a secure computer system for easy access by key staff.

For each product in the book, 鈥渨e follow that recipe and process every time we manufacture something,鈥� Ruda said.

Is the 鈥渂ig book鈥� with the original copies of Johnny鈥檚 secret formulas stored, like the famous Coca-Cola recipe, in a somewhere?

鈥淣o, it鈥檚 not. It鈥檚 in my desk drawer, I think,鈥� Ruda said. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 looked at it for so long I can鈥檛 even tell you where it is.鈥�

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 still in my desk, but I鈥檇 really have to look to tell you,鈥� Ruda said.

You can hear Feliks every Wednesday and Friday morning on Seattle鈥檚 Morning News, read more from him鈥�here, and subscribe to The Resident Historian Podcast聽here. If you have a story idea, please email Feliks鈥�here.