Meet the new restaurant owners of Turnagain Arm

Since mid-April three restaurateurs have opened their doors

By Ken Smith
Turnagain Times

Within a four-week period, starting mid-April, three new restaurant owners have opened their doors on Turnagain Arm—Coast Pizzeria, the Turnagain House and the Indian House, all have new owners. It’s certainly an unprecedented event in the dining world of the Four Valleys.
The Times sat down and interviewed each of the new owners.

Mike Mroczynski—Coast Pizzeria
Mike and his wife Korinne Peterson bought Coast Pizzeria at the Tesoro Mall in Girdwood from Brian Chafee and his wife Sarah Zeek. The former owners operated the business for several years, establishing a strong clientele. So, when they closed shop unexpectedly last year, it left a big void in the local pizza market.
Mike, 48, is a hunting guide, but business has slowed the last couple of years due to the slumping economy, and he said he was looking for another source of income. When Coast came up for sale, he seized the opportunity.
“I always wanted a place in here (the Tesoro Mall),” he said. “When Brian and Sarah put it up for sale, I was more than happy to buy it.” Mike added that Brian and Sarah were extremely gracious and accommodating when he bought the business and taught him all the recipes and techniques that they used to make the pizzas and subs.
Mike said he wanted to make it a family atmosphere, so he invested quite a bit of money and time (three months) to remodel the dining room, tiled the floor and added new contemporary style furniture. The dining room now seats up 18. He also continues to offer take-out.
In addition, he invested in new kitchen equipment.
One of the menu changes Mike made was adding broasted chicken—because it wasn’t served before and because he really likes chicken. He makes it with a special seasoning he perfected over the years experimenting in his kitchen. He cooks the chicken in a high pressured, deep fryer.
Other than the chicken, Mike’s kept the menu the same as before, offering hot subs, a large selection of appetizers and, of course, pizza.
Since its opening April 14, business has been non-stop, much as Mike predicted. Between the summer bikers and tourists driving through the mall, along with the local clientele, there have been lines out the door.
“There’s such a following for Coast,” he said, “we just want to keep it mostly the same. Why try to change a successful product.”

Pepe Cebrian—Pepe’s Turnagain House
Pepe Cebrian considers painting his true profession, not a house painter, but an impressionist painter.
“I consider myself a painter,” he said, “but people tell me I’m a very good cook.”
The Turnagain House in Indian is Pepe’s third restaurant. He owns two in Valdez—Alaskan’s Bistro and the Edgewater Grill (which he’s trying to sell). The Valdez restaurants were opened in 2005. Prior to that, Pepe owned restaurants in Homer—Pepe’s Italian Bistro and Pepe’s Downtown Bistro from 1995-2000, and he owned a restaurant in Connecticut.
Pepe was born in Madrid, Spain, and it’s no wonder he has a Spanish flair to his cuisine. Most of his training as a cook and his flair for Spanish cuisine was learned in his homeland. He came to America in 1969 to exercise his cooking knowledge.
He bought the Turnagain House March of this year from Phil Richter, who owned it for 20 years.
The restaurant has long been established as a relaxing fine dining affair, catering to locals as well as a strong upscale clientele from Anchorage, many affiliated with the oil companies, as well as lawyers, doctors and politicians.
Pepe is married to his wife Kay, who has owned the Far North Yarn Company in Anchorage for six years. They also have a house in Anchorage.
Kay said she leaves the restaurant business to her husband.
After doing some remodeling and upgrades to the kitchen, they opened their doors on April 25.
The same head chef is working at the restaurant, David Sorensen, who has been there as long as the restaurant, but the menu has changed to Spanish fusion.
“This is right up my alley,” he said. “It’s a new type of cuisine, but I love cooking and this has opened up a whole new area of cooking for me, in regard to texture, flavor and presentation.”
And though Pepe’s introducing a new Spanish style cuisine, he still retained some of the popular dishes from the former menu like Roast Duck, Steamed Clams, Raw Oysters, the Porterhouse Steak, and Linguine with White Clam Sauce.
But Pepe has added other dishes with Spanish flair such as Pepe’s World Famous Paella and Crabbed Stuffed Halibut Hollandaise, Chicken Piccata and Chicken Marsala, and pasta dishes like Rigatoni with Vodka Sauce and Angliollio, and on the seafood side, Scallop in Crème Saffron Sauce. All dinners start with a complimentary Tapas.
Pepe has also expanded the wine list offering 25-50 labels from around the world with an emphasis on Spanish wines.
To appeal more to families, Pepe has reduced the prices on the menu slightly and will be offering lunch.
He will also keep the restaurant open year-round; in the past, the former owner closed it down in the winter.

Edie Aubrey—Indian House
Edie Aubrey lived in Girdwood for 25 years, working in bars and restaurants in Girdwood and Turnagain Arm. She moved away five years ago to work as a Bar Manager for the Islander Restaurant and Bar in Big Lake.
But when she heard the Indian House was up for sale, she was ready to buy.
“I’ve always wanted this place,” she said. “It has the view, the history of it, the location.”
Edie bought the restaurant and bar from Mark Sollenberger, who owned it for 17 years. Sollenberger still owns the property—five acres—and Edie leases the land the Indian House is on, but she says she’d like to eventually buy the property.
The Indian House has an old Alaskan feel to it, having been there since 1952 and been through four of five owners.
The building is a rustic log structure with a large open bar and a great view of the Arm.
The Indian House was at one time the happening spot for locals to get out and let loose.
“And we hope it is again,” said Edie.
The bar and restaurant will now be open year-round, seven days a week. Before it was open sporadically in the summertime only.
Edie and her husband, Jeff, have invested a great deal of time and money getting the place ready for its grand opening, and completely restored the 1950’s kitchen equipment.
“We revamped everything,” she said. “We refinished the bar. We’ve gone through about 500 gallons of Murphy’s wood soap. We spent three months in here cleaning.”
The Grand Opening was May 10, and now Indian has one more year-round bar and restaurant to go with Pepe’s Turnagain House and the Brown Bear Saloon.
The Indian House has karaoke seven days a week with over 69,000 songs, the oldest coin operated pool table in the state, and the largest bar in the Four Valleys.
Johnny Eastaugh is the chef, he graduated from UAA Culinary school in 2002 and has lived in Girdwood and now Indian.
Eastaugh will be cooking up lunch and dinner with a menu offering standard bar food—Buffalo Burgers, Halibut Sandwich on a bun,, Chicken Strips and fries, and Half-Rack of Baby Back Ribs with fries or slaw. There’s also a wide selection of appetizers and soups and salads. For entrees, only two are currently on the menu—Baby Back Ribs and Fresh Halibut Filet.
The Indian House is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.