About Jack Sprat

Jack Sprat - Girdwood's Secret Feast

Jack Sprat is a find. It's a little restaurant in the little town of Girdwood, Alaska just a smidge south of Anchorage. It is well worth the drive.

We arrived just as the evening sky was beginning to darken, lured by the welcoming glow of the lights, and the promise of superb dining. The welcome was warm indeed, and the promise was kept.

The room is intimate - just 6 tables, with the solarium holding 8 more. No sooner were we comfortably seated in our Bavarian style booth, when Chef Adolph brought plates of Shrimp a la Diabla - a large prawn sautéed with red chilies and served over organic spring greens. This was paired with a delightfully fruity, apricot toned Quady Electra dessert wine - a surprising and very appropriate choice. Then, we were left to browse an extensive and varied menu.

Jack Sprat Fat and Lean World Cuisine is just that - a mixture of the healthful and the decadent, with a wide range of ethnic roots. This is not the old sixties "continental" cuisine. The culinary traditions from which this menu draws are honored and amped up. After the aforementioned shrimp, we went on to sample the Nutty Jack, a crisp green salad with raspberry vinaigrette (one of many salad choices) and yam fries with jalapeno-arugula aioli on the side. A salted rosemary loaf was served with roasted garlic infused olive oil. Are you beginning to get the idea?

Our entrees that evening were, for the vegetarians in the group, Raw Thai Pasta - living food consisting of yellow and green squash "noodles," served with other raw veggies tossed in a lime yellow curry and served over a raw coconut-cashew-almond sauce. Another dish, stuffed balsamic roasted portobello mushrooms, filled with tomato, sweet pepper and spinach, served over saffron rice, garlic and fresh herbs could make the most devoted carnivore go veggie.

Ribeye Montreal was another selection. The generous steak was a grilled, all natural Black Angus ribeye served with mashed potatoes, roasted carrot and onion, and a smoked bacon mushroom demi-glace.

For me, however, the Halibut a la Girdwood was the star of the show: pecan encrusted baked Alaska halibut served with the house rice blend, steamed broccoli and a classic lemon beurre blanc. It was crunchy, moist and entirely delectable.

Jack Sprat has an extensive wine list, foreign and domestic, and a truly sinful dessert menu. The créme Brulée was one of the best I have tasted. The Chocolate Cup of Heaven I will leave to your imagination.

Frans and Jennifer Weits with friend, John Moehn, started Jack Sprat on March 4th, 2001. With an acquired lease on the building, a strong desire to open a restaurant, and a dream, they leaped. The goal? Create a unique culinary experience - fun, delicious and quite a bit healthier than most of the fare to be had. Says Frans, "We chose to go with a world theme so that, in a small town, we would not be subject to any one ethnic category. We were new at the game and wanted the freedom to test a lot of different recipes. The "fat and lean" part serves us well too... half the menu is decadent and half healthy, although we do try to sneak healthy ingredients into all of our dishes."

None of the partners had any formal culinary training. As Frans tells it, "Jen took it on. She jumped in, burned herself, learned skills under fire and turned out amazing food." Later, the demands of pregnancy and caring for a small child took Jen away from the kitchen. She tutored Frans, and he took over. Later still, Chef Louis "Adolph" Garcia joined the team. Having honed his skill in Fairbanks, (Chena's at River's Edge) and Colorado, he brought his own creativity and passion to the mix. The menu changes seasonally. Chef Adolph is a master with wild game and sauces, while Jennifer and Frans focus on whole foods and vegetarian meals.

They are constantly refining their technique and upgrading the restaurant. The solarium is a recent addition covering the original deck. A new outdoor deck is now open. Jack Sprat is deservedly very popular with locals and travelers alike. When we arrived only a few tables were occupied. By the time we had dabbed the last chocolate crumb from our lips, vanloads of tourists were arriving from the Alyeska Hotel, just a scone's throw away.

Jack Sprat is at the base of the ski mountain in the little town of Girdwood, 40 miles south of Anchorage, and very well worth the drive.

by Charlene Worthley