Jack Sprat’s new chef brings “game” to the table

By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times

Adolph Garcia is Jack Sprat’s new chef, bringing a completely new vision to the menu.

Two of the new menu items introduced by Jack Sprat Chef Adolph Garcia are Bering Sea scallops wrapped in prosciutto (middle) and game dishes such as ostrich (bottom). Ken Smith/Turnagain Times photos

Adolph Garcia approaches his culinary dishes with a simple concept—he cooks what he likes to eat. The Colorado born chef was hired last October as the head chef of Jack Sprat’s restaurant in Girdwood. It was one more stop on a ride that has taken him from Colorado to Alaska, and many restaurants in between.
Garcia first came to Alaska in 2000 when he took a job at the Pump House in Fairbanks, an experience he described as disappointing. But he continued coming back to Alaska for seasonal work, applying his skills as a fine dining chef, a talent he developed over the last 20 plus years.
When you see the 45-year-old Garcia behind the stove, he’s not your prototypical chef. He’s a man who looks like he’d be comfortable working on the deck of a commercial crab boat. He is tall and thin, with a thick mustache and semi-rough beard, dressed simply, no fancy chef’s hat or white jacket. Garcia prefers to dress for work in an unpretentious gray shirt with black jeans, and a tight nylon black cap. But looks can be deceiving, and this chef knows his food.
Garcia is a fine dining chef with a blue-collar approach to cooking.
He began his training as an intern at the Culinary Institute of America in Colorado. From there, Garcia worked at the Aspen Lodge, a four-star restaurant where he learned the art of cooking fine cuisine for two years, starting first as a prep-cook and working his way up to sous chef—the number two chef at the restaurant.
The Fort in Colorado was Garcia’s next stop, a high-end restaurant near Red Rocks, followed by work at a number of fine dining restaurants from Colorado to Utah.
But the call to adventure was beckoning Garcia, and he answered an ad online in 2000 to work at the Pump House where he worked for two seasons. He then returned to Aspen to work, and for the next four years, Garcia went back and forth between Aspen and Alaska working as a seasonal chef in the Greatland.
Finally, Garcia chose to settle down and work at one restaurant full-time, year-round. But he wanted a town and place that satisfy his independent mind as a chef and love of skiing—he is an avid alpine skier. That’s when he found Jack Sprat and its owner Frans Weits.
“A friend of mine introduced me to Frans last Spring,” Garcia said as we sat in the restaurant during late morning on a weekday. “He said he might be looking for somebody this winter. I was going back to Aspen, but I researched the area and what was going on here at the ski resort, and the whole town, and decided this would be a really good place. I had dinner here, and I really enjoyed the restaurant, and the sunroom out there especially. So I decided to stay.”
Immediately when he started working at Jack’s, Garcia wanted to change the entire menu. He kept a few staple dishes like the salad, yam fries, halibut burrito and hamburger; otherwise, he totally revamped the menu.
“I talked to Frans, and I talked to other people that have worked here, and I looked at menus the whole time it’s been open, and there’s never been a complete change to the menu. There’s been modifications on pretty much all the same things, and I felt it was time for this place to step up.”
One menu item that Garcia introduced that he particularly enjoys is a classical French dish, a very rich flavorful Tenderloin Maison; pan-seared beef tenderloin medallions with roasted garlic mashed potato, wilted spinach and finished in a maderia, shitake mushroom brown cream sauce. It is a house dish that you’ll only find at Jack Sprat.
But what really inspires Garcia is wild game.
“I like doing things that are way out of the normal,” he said. “Game is my passion. Game is one of things I like the best because so few places do it, and the places that do it, don’t do it that well.”
Every Friday and Saturday Garcia likes to offer one game dish. So far, he has served duck, venison, buffalo, ostrich and elk. Coming up, Garcia will be cooking rabbit, frog legs and pheasant. Garcia purchases all of his game from one small distributor in Oregon, Nicky USA, a company that specializes in organic, free-range game.
I had the pleasure to sample both the ostrich and elk. My favorite is ostrich, a meat I first had back in Boston several years ago, served at a fine dining Irish pub in Harvard Square. It impressed me then, and I enjoyed it even more the second time at Jack’s.
Garcia cooked the meat medium-rare over a rice blend, with warm spices, and a slightly spicy raspberry bur Blanc. It was truly delectable. Though I enjoy a good Rib-eye or Porterhouse, I’ll take ostrich over those two.
Garcia said he conceived of the ostrich dish like he does all of his dishes, using his cooking instincts and applying his own personal tastes.
““I smell things, I taste things,” he said, “and I put all the flavors and tastes together, and I just roll with it.”
The Elk was also very good, pan-seared like the ostrich, over herb-barley, with a black berry, pepper demi-glace, and blue cheese whip. Garcia suggested a red wine with the dish—a 2004 Paso Robles cabernet from the Central Coast of California, which was a perfect compliment to the meal.
Garcia likes to incorporate local foods when every he can, like the Bering Sea scallops he served my guest and said he would like to offer more local food as it becomes available including fresh herbs and greens.
“I’m really big on supporting the local people,” he said. “If I could find a local farmer here to do my herbs and my greens, I would.”
As the winter season winds down, Garcia said he would change the menu again for summer tastes and introduce less heavy, fatty foods. He plans to continue a six month cycle of menu changes, keeping up with Jack Sprat’s mission of providing exciting and original “fat and lean world cuisine.”