For chef TJ Weston, the road to Alaska started at the Bevo Mill.

As a teenager, Weston walked from his home to his job as a prep cook at the landmark south St. Louis restaurant. He graduated early from Central Visual and Performing Arts High School and headed to one of the nation's leading cooking schools, the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. Weston did an internship at Cardwell's at the Plaza in Frontenac then joined the staff after he graduated.

"I credit Bill Cardwell with the foundation of my career," says Weston, 28. His career path eventually led him to Sitka, Alaska, where he cooked a whole lot of fish. Based on that experience, he wrote "Eat, Fish and Be Happy" (Trafford Publishing, 2010, $15.95), a compilation of many of the recipes he developed.

So how did he move more than 3,000 miles from Gravois Avenue?

"I'd ended up working with Wolfgang Puck as a sous chef in his catering business in Los Angeles," Weston says. "A co-worker had held the (Alaska) job, and I heard about it through the grapevine and took it."

The job was at Wild Strawberry Lodge, an exclusive sport-fishing resort in Sitka. Ever since 2007, Weston has spent May 1 through Sept. 15 there, preparing three meals every day.

"We'd have 45 clients in at a time, fishing from six boats," Weston says. "They'd catch king salmon and halibut, and I'd cook it for dinner that night."

The pace was frenetic, and he developed many recipes on the spot with suggestions from the lodge's guests. As his repertoire expanded, Weston began recording the recipes. "I wrote them down on scraps of paper," he says.

Two of those recipes, Crispy Fried Salmon and Herb-Crusted Halibut With Tomato Butter, could serve as dressed-up versions of the fried fish sticks or fish fillets that are traditionally served during Lent. Weston's book also includes recipes for Tartar Sauce and for a more elaborate alternative, Lemon Aioli.

Weston still has parents, a brother and a sister in St. Louis. Fall through spring, however, he lives in the northern Michigan town of Houghton with his fiancée, Jessie Arens, and their son, Tate — who has embraced his father's career by giving himself the nickname "Tater Tot" and who will turn 3 at the end of this month.

"I met my fiancée in Alaska, and she's from here and was going to nursing school," Weston says. She has finished school and is working in a hospital near their home.

The family's next move might be back where Weston started. "I'd still love for us to move to St. Louis sometime after she gets a little more experience," Weston says.