When you walk into Teriyaki Grill, after a while you might feel like you’ve been transported to Hawaii.

It’s not an immediate, overt sensation. Rather, the connections exist in the details.

It’s partly the soft, Hawaiian flavored music, and a few small items of décor that line the walls, and the small stack of Northwest Hawaii Times resting on the front counter.

It’s also the scent of garlic, ginger, and the unmistakable aroma of barbeque.

And it’s Doug Fairchild’s warm, sincere “Aloha” to his customers.

Mostly, it’s Fairchild himself that ferments this Hawaiian connection inside his otherwise standard mainland style restaurant at 723 N. Park Centre in Selah.

The signature teriyaki sauce is Fairchild’s own invention, created by his knowledge of several different sauces he has tasted over the years.

Fairchild sells bottles of the sauce, and has tried to market it nationally, though the complex requirements to make that endeavor successful would force him to steer away from his hometown restaurant.

Back in 1991, Fairchild wanted to bring this unique Hawaiian barbeque flavor to Yakima, since he noticed not many other places around town offered quite what he had seen elsewhere, in cities such as Seattle.

He ran the first Teriyaki Grill in Yakima until he sold it in 1998. Afterward, people would come up to him around town and ask him to reopen his own restaurant once more, and he finally decided to do so, but with one major stipulation.

“I said, finally, I’m going to do it,” Fairchild said. “But it has to be in Selah.”

Many Yakima customers were just fine with that. Fairchild said the connections he has made through his business over the years have persisted.

He said he estimates more than one-fourth of his current customer base consists of the loyal followers from his first restaurant.

Selah residents have also been treated for a number of years now since he reopened Teriyaki Grill in 2001.

Fairchild said he can imagine the striking Hawaiian landscape when he peers outside the front windows of his restaurant.

“People can look out the window at the baseball field over there,” Fairchild said, referring to Carlon Park and the grounds of Selah High School.

“But in my mind’s eye, I see Waikiki Beach,” he said.

It’s those memories, such as late nights hearing the steady beat of island drums until two in the morning, followed by the soothing sounds of the ocean’s waves licking the beach,
that Fairchild holds onto dearly.

In his younger Hawaiian days, he would spend some nights playing with the legendary Don Ho.

But as the old adage goes, youth is often wasted on the young. Looking back, Fairchild said he fears he missed many cultural treasures Hawaii had to offer.

Perhaps that is why only now he is beginning to learn to play the ukulele.

He said this is but one example of how his Hawaiian connection keeps cropping up every now and then, so he can’t entirely escape it.

Fairchild first moved to Hawaii in 1962, and became captivated with everything it had to offer.

He got married in 1972 and began raising a family. He then decided to head back to Selah in 1976 so his children could grow up to know their extended family members.

“I wanted them to be around their heritage,” Fairchild said. “It’s important, because you only have so much time.”

At 66, Fairchild said he adheres to this “seize the day” mentality, and advises everyone to do so.

He has been married 35 years to his wife, Sheryl, but he said the time has passed with the snap of the fingers.

Despite each passing year, Fairchild said he feels as young as he did all of those years ago when he first stepped foot on the shores of Oahu.

Perhaps that little bit of Hawaii that he clings onto keeps him young. And perhaps it’s this link that adds that magic ingredient to his dishes as well.