The weekly feature page of the University Daily Kansan
Weekday
February 7, 1979
A large measure of small town hospitality, food prepared in the dining room and a dash of conversation with the customers are all a part of Bute's recipe for a
"If they're going to drive all the way to Alma
we want to make it an evening to remember."
-Gordon Bute
Chef Extraordinaire
On occasion, Chef Gordon Bute. 42. must fall back on a die of a financer to monitor cooking temperatures. But more often, it's a quick taste to ensure quality control as well as to contribute to his expanding middle
ALMA- The town of Alma, population 925, is an unlikely setting for a gourmet restaurant. But then Gordon Bute is an unlikely chef.
"I'm very much a typical Kansas steak and potatoes myself. I eat things now I wouldn't have dreamed of eating 10 years ago," he says.
More than 10 years ago, Bute, the flamboyant executive chef and owner of the Alma Hotel, stopped in Alma to visit his parents on his way to a job in Tucson. Ariz.
immaculate glassware is a trademark of the Alma Hotel.
Instead, Bute redecorated his family's hotel dining room and gradually transformed the bill of fare. The hotel itself closed in 1972, but the dining room is open
"It was a mom's and pop's lunch then ... meat loaf one day and chicken the next. It didn't take long to get tired of breading chicken and throwing it in the deep fryer.
The gourmet claims his art is "basicly self-taught." He says his interest in cooking began as a 4-H member in Ness City, where he trained. He then him how to measure a level teaspoon.
"We used to deep-fry everything—the trout, the catfish, the help." Bute says as he pokes the well-padded ribs of one of his employees and laughed.
Each day Bute dons a bright purple chef's coat and matches two-foot-high hat. The "Purple Chef" is known for his kelious support of Kansas State basketball league.
He still takes notes when he dines in other fine restaurants.
rents admit to being a frustrated athlete and his front dining room has several trophies won by Amateur Athletic Union basketball teams he has sponsored.
The team's name? The Alma Chefs, of course.
The trophies are just part of a hodge-
podge of priceless antiques and dimestore
purchases that make up the restaurant's decor. Customers enter the front door and sign a tattered guest book under a bare light bulb. Even the paint and wallpaper seem ready to crumble and peel after years of patience.
None of this seems to disturb Bute's clientele, however. The chef says 99 percent of his business comes from out of town. He doesn't know Bob Hope, Charles Kuralt and Chad Everett.
Everet told Bute's father that he would out of his way" to return to the Alma Bath.
"We concentrate on making it unique. If they're going to drive all the way to Alma, we want to make it an evening to remember." Bute says.
The original Bute menu for the Alma Hotel, according to the Purple Chef, was "typical steakhouse," including a halfpound Almaburger. The highest price on the 1968 version of the menu was $7.50 for South African Lobster Tail.
White-coated waiters stand at the entrance to Bute's tiny kitchen, silent until they are called on to serve another course from Bute's wide repertoire.
It's unlikely that anyone would forget the Alma Hotel.
Specialities of the house include Quiche a la Chef Douglas and Lobster Thermidor, for which Chef Gordon requires a two-day advance reservation.
Bustresses the importance of quiet service in the dining room and the kitchen.
Today's menu, the eighth in the series
Bute has printed since that time, includes
a selection of desserts.
"We want lot of action and few words in the way of service—quiet, quick, and simple."
a sign above the stove in the kitchen says,
"when we're cooking—speak only to commanders."
Just how crisp Bute and his assistants stay during an evening of cooking apparently is less important. Before an air conditioning unit was installed in 1977, the kitchen temperature used to reach 135 degrees in summer stays between 95 and 100 degrees. Bute says.
"You can't serve good food out of a cold kitchen." he says.
The purple hat does not wilt, however. Throughout the evening, guests have frequent chances to watch the chef in action at a buffet or in the clubhouse. A showman and flirtatious as a musician.
Bute's culinary feats behind the kitchen's swinging door are not without his own perk.
"The problem with Veal Marsala is that people don't get the Parmesan on the
Photos by Bill Frakes
meat," But says, delicately patting cheese onto the steak. Each stir and pour is punctured with a nibble—nibbles that have contributed to an ample belly for the chef.
"You may not be very wealthy, but in this business, you never go hungry." Bute says.
Although wealth is secondary to Bute, he admits that he is considering a move to greener pastures. He is negotiating arrangements for a new restaurant and club in Lake Tahoe, Nev., but says the Alma Hotel will stay open.
"I'm like an actor who wants to go where he can expand his talents for a wider audience." But says, "I'm still trying to reach that perfection I want.
“It’s a lot easier to do it right than to do it wrong.”
Story by Carol Beier
Although Bute says he is negotiating arrangements for a new restaurant and club in Lake Tahoe, Nev., he says the Alma Hotel's future is certain—it will stay open, Lobster Thermidor and all.