Veteran restaurateur Hersh Ipaktchian opens his new venture, the Peppercorn Steakhouse, on Friday, Sept. 27, at 343 E. 500 South.
He has spent $1.5 million on the new restaurant that includes a one-of-a-kind fiber-optic twinkling mural of downtown Salt Lake City, but he believes the real success of the operation will be the food.Based in Layton, Ipaktchian's HIP Enterprises Property owns five Mulboons Restaurants, a chain of Italian restaurants, several Mexican restaurants and a private club.
The new steakhouse will offer 16 different cuts and varieties of steak, fresh seafood, chicken or Italian-accent specialties.
Ipaktchian said the 280-seat facility is located on a one-way street that some would consider unwise, but he believes it's an advantage. One of the biggest problems in the downtown area is parking and his Peppercorn has more parking spaces than almost any other restaurant.
He and his staff are preparing a program in which the restaurant shares the taxi cab fare for those who want to get a meal at the Peppercorn, attend a Utah Jazz game or a cultural event and then pick up their car.
The lunch and dinner menu has been set by the executive chefs and Ipaktchian's two sons, Dave and Rich, who are the general managers of the firm's food service operations.
In 1989, Ipaktchian purchased the then-troubled Mulboons from a federal bankruptcy court and since has added two restaurants to the chain, one in the Olympus Best Western Hotel in Salt Lake City and another in Layton. He said they were profitable from the start.