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Park City Magazine / Winter-Spring 2005 / From the Alps to Adolph's

From the Alps to Adolph's

At 14, he told his mom that he wanted to be a photographer. “No photographer, you're going to be a chef,” was her don't-argue-with-me reply. After all, in Switzerland, where Adolph Imboden grew up, tradition dictated that one child would carry on the family business. His mother must have glimpsed some raw and innate talent in her middle child as he worked at the family restaurant.

“I would have been an okay photographer, but I'm a better chef,” says Adolph, who founded the first and now oldest fine-dining restaurant in Park City — his namesake, Adolph's Restaurant. As for his photographic aspirations, these did not go completely unfulfilled. He views each plate as a picture: “It must be a work of art when it leaves the kitchen,” explains Adolph, who uses sauces, fresh herbs, and three fresh vegetables with each entrée to accentuate detail, color, and of course, taste.

Ironically, his restaurant is as much a photo gallery as it is an intimate place to eat. The walls display dozens of photographs of celebrities and elite athletes — skiers, cyclists, golfers, car racers. Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer look out over “table one”; World Downhill Champ Daron Ralves (reportedly an escargot regular) races toward another table; Winter Olympians mingle with patrons via photographs. Tucked in a corner near the back of the dining room is the oldest image in the place: a 1959 black and white photograph of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, taken when Adolph was 17 years old and apprenticing in the Hotel Palace in Gstaad, Switzerland. “Louis had never seen snow before,” recalls Adolph, a smile flickering across his face. “So we took him out back and pulled him around in a sled. He was ecstatic.”

From that point on, it seems Adolph’s life was always crossing paths with celebrities of one sort or another. He taught private ski lessons at St. Moritz for a season to countesses and princes, including the Shah of Iran. In his restaurant, he has served dozens of Hollywood legends over the years, such as Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier and Rachel Welch, to name a few.

It isn't just the European cuisine that attracts the famous, the tourists, and the locals, but the personable feel of Adolph's place. Each evening, he can be seen through the open kitchen window cooking and scrutinizing plates before they exit into the dining area. Dressed in his chef's whites, he makes a point of greeting guests and visiting tables to inquire about their meals. He wants them to feel welcome, as if they were sitting in his own living room. His children are ever present. His daughter, Ashley, sometimes hosts and his son, Nils, buses tables and teases his father. “Remember the night I fired you?” says the grinning 14-year-old , who occasionally wears his father's “chef-owner” inscribed jacket as he clears dishes.

Music, candlelight, fresh flowers and people fill the restaurant, which, including the bar, seats up to 100 people. “I'd rather serve less people than more to keep the quality high,” says Adolph, who puts a lot of emphasis on perfection, presentation, and consistency. “Adolph is intensely committed to his restaurant. It is a place where you know you'll always get consistently good food. He doesn't chase after the latest trend,” says fellow chef and friend, Hans Fuegi.

Much of Adolph’s menu has remained the same over the years, but he’s added fish, game and summer specials. He is true to European traditions, and dishes such as veal, Chateaubriand, rack of lamb and fondues have always been his trademark dishes. “I brought escargot to Park City before anyone knew what it was,” quips Adolph.

On The Rise In Park City

From 1971 to 1974, Adolph worked 16-hour days, seven days a week overseeing the food and beverage department for then-Park City Ski Resort. "We fed some 5,000 to 6,000 people a day with 110 employees. That was a lot of people for those days,” remembers Adolph. Simultaneously, the resort helped Adolph open his first namesake restaurant on the Park City Golf Course. It had only been three years since Adolph had asked, “Where is Park City?”

Prior to arriving in the United States, Adolph completed a three-year chef apprenticeship in Switzerland and earned a degree in hotel/restaurant management. He met his wife in Vail and eventually settled there, taking a job at the resort’s renowned Pepi Gramshammer Lodge. One day, he got a call from Jim Nassikas, right-hand man to Edgar Stern, who at the time owned then-Park City Ski Resort, and now owns Deer Valley Resort. Stern had heard about Adolph from a friend who had been in Adolph’s last ski lesson at St. Moritz.

Eventually Adolph left the ski resort and started his own restaurant, solely under his ownership, opening Adolph's White House on Park Avenue in 1974. “Anyone in this business eventually wants to be on his own,” explains Adolph, who took out a $10,000- bank loan to kick-start his dream. “Those were hard days,” he recalls. “The off-seasons were long and empty months.” Adolph cooked, served, and even washed dishes to keep the place afloat. In 1977, Park City Ski Resort convinced him to return to his namesake restaurant on the golf course, which was in need of his personal attention. After 20 years on the golf course, Adolph moved the restaurant to its current location on Kearns Boulevard, where its dozens of colorful flags — all from “ski” countries — catch the eye.

“My whole life has been surrounded by and made up of skiing,” says Adolph, who was a former ski racer and a Nastar pacesetter for Park City. He still races from time to time in the Park City Master's program. “If circumstances had been different, Adolph might have not just been a good ski racer, but a great one,” says longtime friend Jim Gaddis. (Adolph's father died when Adolph was 5 and his stepfather did not support his dream to be an Olympic skier.)

This explains Adolph's soft spot for skiers (yes, especially the Swiss), which is why you’ll find him in the kitchen making lunch for the Swiss Team during World Cup races. When the World Cup was an annual event in Park City, Adolph’s was a magnate for the athletes and coaches. Is it just a coincidence that the restaurant is a neighbor to the U.S. Ski Team headquarters?

The Secret is not in the Recipe

A fit 62-year-old, Adolph still skis every day in the winter if he chooses and averages 30-mile road-bike rides in the off-season. There is no sign of the cream sauces, butter or homemade desserts he serves on his waistline.

“I have a love for cooking, but the most satisfying thing about creating the food is seeing people return,” says Adolph, who has had regulars returning for more than 30 years, many of whom have become friends. “Our friendship derives from our admiration for him and his excellent cuisine,” says Sally Rosenblatt, who some 20 years ago suggested to Adolph that he come out of the kitchen and let people meet the man who was creating the wonderful food. “He was a little bit shy at first, but always warm,” she recalls.

When Adolph's mother owned their family restaurant, she also had loyal customers, some of whom traveled more than 100 miles to lunch at her place. Adolph had much to learn from her. “I picked up on her work ethic. I watched her work. I noted how everything she did was with love.” Perhaps, that is the secret ingredient in Adolph’s cuisine.

Salt Lake City-based writer Peta Owens-Liston contributes to Time Magazine and VIA, and has co-authored a book on romantic, outdoor destinations in the West. She loves to know what makes people tick inside.