This journey wasn’t born out of a desire to cook something, it was born out of the desire to EAT something. Living on the Kenai Peninsula comes with limited options for dining to say the least. While painstakingly searching the Peninsula for a good gyro, it became apparent that although many establishments offered the traditional greek “sandwich”on their menu, no one was dedicated to producing a great gyro. If you’re as enamored by this savory street food as we are, you’ll understand why this was unacceptable.
So there we were. No options. No gyros. No prospects. No choice.
The Reindeer Hut began in the kitchen. An appropriate location, given our yet unrealized trajectory. It was the day after we first met. We were relaxing in Aaron’s kitchen talking about our thoughts, ideas and plans for the future. I explained my dismay with the current gyro situation and my desire to produce a great gyro for the people of our community. He, being brand new to Alaska, was obsessed with reindeer. He looked me straight in the eye and said ” why don’t you make a reindeer gyro?” I looked at him, told him what a ridiculous idea that was and that it would never work. I then told him that we needed to start working on the recipe immediately.
As the winter raged on, transformed into spring and onwards to summer and fall, we were still tossing this reindeer gyro idea around. We were growing ever more serious about the formation of the establishment. We found a source for reindeer meat and we were regularly making small batches trying to get the seasoning right. While our friends and family were apprehensive, they were also fully supportive. When the opportunity came along to purchase an existing food truck, we took the leap. We found it in Wasilla. It was well built, nice looking and sturdy. We took it home and gutted it. While we were thrilled that we had the main component of the business, we now had to figure out how to put together a commercial kitchen. Piece of cake.
Price tag sticker shock, Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) regulations, DOT, fire marshal ordinances, insurance and business incorporation. Good times.
Buy a food truck they said. It will be fun they said. Okay, nobody said that. Never the less, we were in it. Fully. In It. Neither of us had embarked on such an adventure before, but each of us possessing a very different set of skills was about to pay off. With the paperwork in order, we began the “build”. After months of shopping we ordered what we needed and waited patiently for the equipment to make the long journey north. Then we waited some more. Then a little more. Ahhh…. Alaska.
With the formation of the “Hut” a few things needed to be in place. Local Alaskan farmers and organic products. For us, this was key, as we planned to make almost everything from scratch. During the development of our menu, along came the idea of using Alaska Native fry bread instead of flat bread. A dear friend of ours, Josi Hudson, was kind enough to share her family recipe with us. We love you Josi, and you are truly missed! Your family recipe lives on.
The rest is in the history books and the story continues today. Through the years a lot has changed yet our customers remain the core of our business. Without you all we wouldn’t be able to do what we do. We thank you and love seeing you year after year.
The journey has moved us to our new home base in Sterling. Located at 33190 Sterling Hwy starting in the spring of 2023. All operations will move to this location and we are building a covered dining pavilion for everyone to enjoy. If you need to camp or park an RV we now have you covered there as well. Visit Moose Crossing to reserve online and have The Hut in your yard, literally, how cool is that? Thank you again for your support, and we truly cannot wait to see where we go together next.
The Reindeer Hut 