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STELLA FONG The last of the best plates
For nostalgia, romance, and family, head to Juliano’s Restaurant in the hospital corridor near downtown Billings. Twenty-six years ago, head chef Carl Kurokawa, along with Dave McCurdy and Tim Keating, bought the 1902 Austin North House that was attached to the neighboring Castle. Even today, continental cuisine with an Asian twist is served in the old Victorian building.
The restaurant kept its original name from two previous owners, although Kurokawa’s booming personality would have warranted a change to “Carl’s Restaurant” or “Kurokawa’s”. Although the name has stayed the same, there is a painted picture of Kurokawa on the sign in front of the door.
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After finishing the culinary program at Hawaii Community College in Hilo, Kurokawa apprenticed at the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and worked at the Kona Surf Hotel before moving to Montana. “I came here with a couple of suitcases and a box of books,” he said of his move in the mid-1980s.
On the mainland, he then worked at the Riverside Country Club in Bozeman and the Twin Lakes Village in Coeur d’Alene before coming to Billings to cook with Paul DeVerniero at DeVerniero’s Ristorante. Then he stepped into the kitchen of the Northern Hotel for a year and made a detour to the Sheraton Hotel, where he claims to have married the “Salad Girl”. Their union gave birth to two children.
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Fast forward to the current times when Kurokawa is playing restaurant host and other roles due to staff shortages caused by the pandemic. Last year he stepped down from the head chef to make way for his new head chef, Seth Carlson, his son-in-law.
Carlson started out in the restaurant world at age 13, washing dishes at the Little Nevada Kitchen, and jumping in line when a chef failed to show up for work. He remembered working at TC’s Diner when his father Jim cooked there.
“I was the little toast boy and worked my way up to line cook when I was 17,” he said. “When I graduated from high school, I wanted to work outside in the hopes of backpacking guests and serving gourmet food, but he had bills to pay and he took a job at Shooters Casino in 2004. Carl called my father to find a cook. My father said to me, ‘If you want to stay in the game and learn something, work for Carl.’ “
While learning the trade at Juliano’s, he also worked on side gigs at McCormick’s Café, Rex and Bistro Enzo, where he worked with Chef Laurent Zirotti.
“Watching him cook was like seeing poetry in motion,” he added. “I wanted to learn from as many people as possible.”
In 2010, he started dating the boss’s daughter, Carlie.
“I worked Tuesday through Saturday and took midnight trips to Bozeman,” he said. “Our first date was at the museum in the Rockies and we got some sushi.”
Kurokawa didn’t find out they were dating one day when he met Carlson when he signed up for work. Everything went well because the couple have been together for 11 years and have two children, Jack and Elliott. Five years ago, on Pearl Harbor Day, when he was cutting a Christmas tree, Carlson proposed and Carlie accepted.
Juliano’s Restaurant is a popular lunch spot for ladies. The menu is varied and creative, but the “crispy chicken grapefruit salad” and “seared pepper ahi tuna salad” as well as the “warm flourless chocolate cake” are still the most popular options. Every dessert is always given a crown of fine puffs of spun sugar, a signature of the sweet finish.
“On the 15th of every month we talk about what protein we have. We look at the season – light in summer and more hearty in autumn. We work with local suppliers. We work with Lady Kate’s Garden and Greybull Valley Produce. “
Special theme nights, usually announced on social media, where lamb or wine or beer go with the meal, showcase the culinary talents of the kitchen.
During my interview in the kitchen, Carlson made a “Gram’s Roll”, a sushi roll with salmon, pickled carrots, celery, shiitake, tamago (sweet Japanese omelette), celery and spring onions. The rolls are served as an amuse bouche for the dinner guests.
“Sushi must contain at least five ingredients. Four is a bad number and sounds like the word for death, ”said Carlson.
He makes this sushi with his mother-in-law as an annual ritual. “We start at 6 a.m. on New Year’s Eve,” he affectionately shared.
With the addition of a new chef in the Juliano kitchen, one can only hope that the tradition will continue for 26 years.
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Warm flourless chocolate cake
The warm, flourless chocolate cake made from butter, eggs, sugar and cocoa powder is brought to the table with Chantilly cream, swirled with chocolate sauce and topped with a touch of spun sugar.
Julian’s Restaurant
The sign in front of Juliano’s Restaurant bears the picture of owner and chef Carl Kurokawa since he bought it with partners Dave McCurdy and Tim Keating.
Carl Kurokawa and Seth Carlson
Chefs Carl Kurokawa and Seth Carlson present the popular warm, flour-free chocolate cake, topped with the restaurant’s unmistakable hint of spun sugar.
Seth Carlson
Chef Seth Carlson holds “Gram’s Rolls” and the popular warm flour-free chocolate cake in one of the upstairs rooms of the Victorian house, once the table of the Austin North House or “Castle”.
Gramm’s Rolls
“Gram’s Rolls” made from salmon, pickled carrots, celery, shiitake, tamago (sweet Japanese omelette) and spring onions, served as an amuse bouche for dinner, is a recipe from Kurokawa’s mother Jane and Carlson’s mother-in-law.
Warm flourless chocolate cake
The warm, flourless chocolate cake made from butter, eggs, sugar and cocoa powder is brought to the table with Chantilly cream, swirled with chocolate sauce and topped with a touch of spun sugar.
Julian’s Restaurant
The sign in front of Juliano’s Restaurant bears the picture of owner and chef Carl Kurokawa since he bought it with partners Dave McCurdy and Tim Keating.
Carl Kurokawa and Seth Carlson
Chefs Carl Kurokawa and Seth Carlson present the popular warm, flour-free chocolate cake, topped with the restaurant’s unmistakable hint of spun sugar.
Seth Carlson
Chef Seth Carlson holds “Gram’s Rolls” and the popular warm flour-free chocolate cake in one of the upstairs rooms of the Victorian house, once the table of the Austin North House or “Castle”.
Gramm’s Rolls
“Gram’s Rolls” made from salmon, pickled carrots, celery, shiitake, tamago (sweet Japanese omelette) and spring onions, served as an amuse bouche for dinner, is a recipe from Kurokawa’s mother Jane and Carlson’s mother-in-law.
Stella Fong, author of “Historic Restaurants of Billings and Billings Food” presents “Flavors Under the Big Sky: Celebrating the Bounty of the Region” for Yellowstone Public Radio.
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