The Ahwahnee dining room: Yosemite National Park, Calif

Nation's Restaurant News,  May 21, 2007  by Richard L. Papiernik

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For dozens of years many have recognized Yosemite National Park for its majestic natural beauty, but over time it also has garnered a reputation for fine food, mainly because of the high-caliber cuisine served in the dining room of the national treasure's luxurious, 99-room Ahwahnee Hotel. Once the subject of Ansel Adams' famous black-and-white photograph, "Moon and Half Dome," the location today is not just a feast for the eyes, but also the palate.

From the west alcove windows of the 335-seat restaurant, diners can view the solid-granite mountain wall and the white water plunging down Yosemite Falls, described by some as the tallest waterfall in the United States. And on winter days, those floor-to-ceiling windows frame the picture-perfect, snow-dusted wonderland that captured Adams' heart and imagination. Still, diners are in for even more of a treat as they sample the delights offered inside the 6,630-square-foot dining room, which is situated under a 34-foot-high peaked ceiling of sugar pine timber adorned with hanging wrought iron chandelier candelabras and buttressed on the sides by granite pillars.

The dining room is generally set up to serve 180 at dinner, though it can accommodate as many as 350.

Focusing on the plate

The hotel and dining room, operated by the parks and resorts division of hospitality and foodservice specialist Delaware North Cos., is one of the jewels in the Buffalo, N.Y.-based contractor's portfolio of national-park accounts. Under the watchful eye of executive chef Percy Whatley, guests are treated to the kinds of food he characterizes as "California Mediterranean." What first seems to be a faux Mediterranean reference is transformed into reality by the proximity of the produce-rich San Joaquin Valley, a melting pot agricultural workplace for descendants of the original Southern European, Middle Eastern and Mexican settlers in the region, a few hours drive from Yosemite.

"We get lush produce from the valley--the olives, grapes, garlic, fresh zucchini and asparagus, pistachios, almonds, lots of citrus from the orchards," Whatley says. "That allows me to work right from the start with high-quality ingredients."

A steady supply of fresh meats and fish also are readily available because of the proximity to the sheep and cattle ranches in the valley and to the seafood brought in from the Pacific Ocean and streams in the Northwest.

Kevin Kelly, president of DNC's parks and resorts division, says Whatley, who has been at The Ahwahnee for more than 15 years, has reached the top rungs of the company's culinary ladder without making any missteps.

"We're really proud of the way Percy has developed and worked his way up," Kelly says. "He did everything, from dishwashing to becoming a line cook, then leaving to get his degree at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. He's gone on to get executive chef certification and is doing a great job at The Ahwahnee."

Whatley, however, says his ascension has been easy since Delaware North has given him just the right amount of autonomy to develop his own sense of creativity.

"They give me pretty much all the creative control I want," he says. "They don't try to put the strong arm on chefs to standardize menus. There's just too much of a variety in properties."

Delaware North's other park accounts include concessions operations at the Grand Canyon and Sequoia National Park. In addition, the company operates the upscale Balsams Grand Resort hotel in Dixville Notch, N.H.

Robert Anderson, former executive chef at The Ahwahnee and current chef-owner of V restaurant at the Victoria Hotel in Murphys, Calif., is not surprised by Whatley's success. He says his protege has always exhibited star quality.

"He was pretty typical of a bunch of young people about 15 years ago who just hadn't decided in what direction he was going," Anderson says. "But there was something different about him. When he came onto the scene, he had this intangible kind of spark in his eye. Some folks have it, some don't. He impressed me as the kind of guy you could hand the ball to and he would run with it."

A grand space from the inside out

Today Whatley and his 60-person staff prepare an average of 1,800 dinners weekly in addition to some 4,000 full-service lunch, breakfast and in-room orders from hotel guests. They do it all from a 6,500-square-foot kitchen.

"That kitchen is enormous," says Mark Franz, executive chef and co-owner of the popular high-end seafood restaurant, Farallon in San Francisco. "Just the bakery in The Ahwahnee is gigantic. Any pastry chef I know would love to have that kind of space."

The kitchen initially was built to accommodate service for a much bigger hotel, which was to be expanded from the original structure that was built in 1927. But the stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression ruled out plans for additions to the main building. Since then, however, 24 cottages have become part of the hotel property, bringing the total accommodations to 123 rooms. In 1987 the hotel was designated a national historic landmark.