Through my 15-year stint in the hospitality and live music industry I've come to regard cooks and chefs, and even bartenders at times, as I do some musicians: They have songs they've written and never performed live for an audience. Much of the time, they're the backup band hired to play someone else's songs, slogging through predictable recipes and dishes. Those with passion for the cuisine d‘art jump from place to place trying to find a situation that allows them to perform their craft their own way. Until a chef owns a restaurant or space (and can therefore truly make whatever they're inclined to), they're often much like a hermit crab trying new shells to see what fits.

In just a few short years chef Aaron Grissom has gotten his feet very wet in the South Sound culinary scene. Most recently, Grissom developed the fresh bar fusion menu featured at Gruv Lounge and Nightclub when it opened last fall, then Tacoma's only electro-dance club. (Gruv has since changed menus and motifs.)

To trace things back, it was some years ago that Grissom left Pomodoro for the ill-fated Italian restaurant Il Fiasco, before eventually taking on the kitchen at Jazzbones. Looking for an environment with dining as the main focus, Chambers Bay in University Place next drew his eye. Intrigued by the challenge and drawn to the lure of being able to produce his own menu, Grissom then answered the call from Gruv.

"Gruv was a pioneering effort in a lot of ways. We put good food in a nightclub/bar environment," says Grissom. "The support of staff and management is crucial and I felt I initially had that there."

When things soured between General Manager Calvin Murphy and owner Jason Rim, Grissom sought what he hoped would be fertile ground for his menu ideas at Varsity Grill downtown. Sadly, that proved not to be a fit, but Grissom will be back on Sixth Avenue, at Dirty Oscar's Annex, this month to take the position vacated by Kyle Wnuk, who departs July 1 for Marrow, a co-venture with Jaime Kay and Jason Jones down the block.

I caught up with the DOA crew Sunday afternoon. With owner Jake Barth on my right and Grissom on my left we watched Wnuk, DOA's current chef de cuisine, prepping elk shoulder.

"I was really lucky to get Kyle. He's done more with the food than I ever thought I'd have here," shares Barth as Wnuk's knife slips through elk flesh. During the four weeks from when Wnuk gave notice of his impending departure and Grissom accepting an offer of employment at DOA, Barth says he was in a state of semi-panic.

"I just didn't know who I was going to get that could do this food this way," says Barth. "What Kyle has started is great, and I want that to continue."

"Things have really been coming together here and I feel lucky all over again with Aaron coming in," he continues, admitting he wasn't sure Grissom would accept his invitation to come aboard.

Barth and Grissom say they want existing clientele to continue to enjoy DOA for the laid-back, psuedo hole-in-the-wall bar that it is, and they plan to expose people to new foods and flavors via something familiar - on a bun, in a taco shell or in a sandwich to start with.

"It's the burgers, people love them. It's all I seem to make. That and sliders," says Wnuk, indicating to Grissom people don't seem interested in full entrées.

Grissom jokingly counters with, "Well, maybe down the road a bit they will be."

Barth gestures at the DOA menu. "I'd like to see some really good, like holy-cow good, sandwiches," he says. Grissom winks and slides me his food journal for a peek. Recipes for brick-pressed Cuban pulled pork sandwiches; chorizo and cumin fried egg sliders; strawberry basil champagne vinaigrette; and citrus sautéed rock shrimp tacos jump off the page. He throws out words like "bison" and "ground lamb," though says nothing is set in stone yet.

"I think Kyle opened the door for this kind of food here, in a regular bar. I want to blow the hinges off," says Grissom, his enthusiasm hyper-evident. "It's like evolution really, taking a bar burger and making it into elevated cuisine."

Expect a new menu for Dirty Oscar's Annex from Grissom in July. The Volcano Nosh League foodie group pays a visit to the kitchen bar for moonshine and a culinary lesson in August.

Dirty Oscar's Annex

2309 Sixth Ave., Tacoma
253.572.0588