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Claude Sterling has his own booth at Spud's Fish and Chips in Kirkland. Another regular stops by to shake Sterling's hand and join him for lunch.
The cook throws two pieces of halibut and zucchini into the fryers. It's 11 a.m. Someone behind the counter at Spud's Fish and Chips in Kirkland just saw Claude Sterling drive into the parking lot.
The 78-year-old carpenter eats lunch at Spud's seven days a week. He's as much an institution as the restaurant that's been there since 1969. A booth near the back wall says: "Claude's seat."
Sterling can't recall when he started coming to the restaurant — maybe the first or second year after George and Marty Benner opened the spin-off of the original Spud's at Alki Beach. Sterling does remember that Juanita Drive was still a gravel road when he first discovered the place.
Sterling outlasted the Benners, who sold the place 14 years ago to Dan and Staci Cole.
"Claude's more than a customer," Dan Cole said. "He's extended family."
The "Claude's seat" sign has been around for decades; the tale behind it lost in the mist of grease and time. At first the engraved nameplate was kept by the cash register. When Sterling arrived, a worker set it at his favorite counter seat. When the Coles remodeled earlier this year, they eliminated counter seating and installed the sign above a two-person booth.
When Sterling sits there, it becomes the social center of the restaurant.
Other customers stop to talk, shake hands and ask, "How's it goin'?" Friends rotate through the booth with Claude, pausing to say grace when their food is delivered.
"I don't cook," Sterling said. "This is my main meal of the day. I eat it, and I don't get hungry until the next day."
Sterling was touched when the Coles put up the sign, but he doesn't expect special treatment.
With a stream of customers flowing through, his booth will sometimes be occupied when he comes.
He delays eating until the booth is free, wandering through the restaurant to chat or visiting the Coles in their office.
He's been married a couple of times, but now he lives alone in a house he built in Kirkland. He was born in Texas, moved to California, joined the Air Force and came to Seattle to see the World's Fair in 1962. He stayed.
Sterling likes to put together 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles. That skill plays into another hobby. He designs and builds ¼-inch-to-the-foot scale buildings.
His three children, five grandchildren and a couple of great-grandchildren live in California.
Despite being long past the traditional retirement age, Sterling still works more days than he's off.
"As a carpenter, I can frame or finish or do just about anything," he said.
Anything means working on residential construction projects, doing handyman work or helping people in his church with remodeling projects. Church is a big part of his life, he said.
"I've been an usher for 20-some years at Overlake Christian Church," he said. "I go to two services every Sunday."
His jobs determine his arrival time each day at Spud's.
Some days, work keeps him from his halibut and zucchini until midafternoon.
His drink order changes by the season (Pepsi in the summer, hot chocolate in the winter), but his food order hasn't changed in years — not since a cook convinced him to add zucchini.
"He told me I needed some vegetables in my diet," Sterling said. "I've been eating them ever since."
That and the halibut, he said, contribute to his excellent health. He can't remember the last time he visited a doctor.
"It's the fish," he said. "It's good for you."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003176768_claude05e.html
The cook throws two pieces of halibut and zucchini into the fryers. It's 11 a.m. Someone behind the counter at Spud's Fish and Chips in Kirkland just saw Claude Sterling drive into the parking lot.
The 78-year-old carpenter eats lunch at Spud's seven days a week. He's as much an institution as the restaurant that's been there since 1969. A booth near the back wall says: "Claude's seat."
Sterling can't recall when he started coming to the restaurant — maybe the first or second year after George and Marty Benner opened the spin-off of the original Spud's at Alki Beach. Sterling does remember that Juanita Drive was still a gravel road when he first discovered the place.
Sterling outlasted the Benners, who sold the place 14 years ago to Dan and Staci Cole.
"Claude's more than a customer," Dan Cole said. "He's extended family."
The "Claude's seat" sign has been around for decades; the tale behind it lost in the mist of grease and time. At first the engraved nameplate was kept by the cash register. When Sterling arrived, a worker set it at his favorite counter seat. When the Coles remodeled earlier this year, they eliminated counter seating and installed the sign above a two-person booth.
When Sterling sits there, it becomes the social center of the restaurant.
Other customers stop to talk, shake hands and ask, "How's it goin'?" Friends rotate through the booth with Claude, pausing to say grace when their food is delivered.
"I don't cook," Sterling said. "This is my main meal of the day. I eat it, and I don't get hungry until the next day."
Sterling was touched when the Coles put up the sign, but he doesn't expect special treatment.
With a stream of customers flowing through, his booth will sometimes be occupied when he comes.
He delays eating until the booth is free, wandering through the restaurant to chat or visiting the Coles in their office.
He's been married a couple of times, but now he lives alone in a house he built in Kirkland. He was born in Texas, moved to California, joined the Air Force and came to Seattle to see the World's Fair in 1962. He stayed.
Sterling likes to put together 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzles. That skill plays into another hobby. He designs and builds ¼-inch-to-the-foot scale buildings.
His three children, five grandchildren and a couple of great-grandchildren live in California.
Despite being long past the traditional retirement age, Sterling still works more days than he's off.
"As a carpenter, I can frame or finish or do just about anything," he said.
Anything means working on residential construction projects, doing handyman work or helping people in his church with remodeling projects. Church is a big part of his life, he said.
"I've been an usher for 20-some years at Overlake Christian Church," he said. "I go to two services every Sunday."
His jobs determine his arrival time each day at Spud's.
Some days, work keeps him from his halibut and zucchini until midafternoon.
His drink order changes by the season (Pepsi in the summer, hot chocolate in the winter), but his food order hasn't changed in years — not since a cook convinced him to add zucchini.
"He told me I needed some vegetables in my diet," Sterling said. "I've been eating them ever since."
That and the halibut, he said, contribute to his excellent health. He can't remember the last time he visited a doctor.
"It's the fish," he said. "It's good for you."
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2003176768_claude05e.html
