Erik Englund

The Climb

Today, Culinary Director and Executive Chef at Flying Fish Company is the role held by Erik Englund. The title sits on a career built around focus and restraint: seafood treated with attention to detail rather than excess. The point is not to hide the ingredient, but to let it come through with precision, clarity and a quiet kind of confidence.

Today

Whole fried gurnard with Thai chili paste, fish sauce and lime is the signature dish attached to Erik Englund. It reads as a direct expression of his specialty: sustainable seafood handled with specificity rather than abstraction. The combination brings heat, salinity and citrus into contact with the fish’s grounded character, with each element doing a clear job on the plate.

Signature

Erik's signature dishes include albacore sando and whole fried gurnard with Thai chili paste and fish sauce and lime. Taken together, they show a working fluency in seafood, whether through the familiar format of a sandwich or the more direct presentation of a whole fried fish. The throughline is in the details: texture, seasoning, balance and a coastal logic that keeps the plate tied to the place.

In Their Words “A lot of what we bring in here is coming from the Oregon coast.” The line lands as practical rather than polished, which suits a kitchen built around supply, seasonality and geography. It places the Oregon coast at the center of the work, as both source and point of reference.

Recognition

Executive Chef at the Portland restaurant is the clearest professional marker attached to Erik Englund. The role matches the tone of the cooking: unflashy in presentation, but exact in values. At Flying Fish Company, the focus stays on sustainable seafood and on the kind of kitchen authorship that starts with knowing where the food comes from and how to handle it once it arrives.