Drunken Kitchen is now serving households in Salt Lake City – Deseret News

The first day Drunken Kitchen grew to become a restaurant open to households, proprietor and chef Tim Rammell mentioned that “almost every single table had a kid on it.”

The South Salt Lake restaurant serving up a scrumptious tackle Taiwanese and Chinese fare lately moved away from being a 21-plus institution, and it’s not wanting again.

“I want to allow everyone to be available to come in here and be able to enjoy the food here,” Rammell mentioned. “I like opening it to all ages. It’s better for the business.”

At Drunken Kitchen, all the things is produced from scratch — from the noodles to the doughs for the pork buns, each dish is made with “care and love.”

The journey to Drunken Kitchen

Rammell runs the restaurant alongside together with his brother, Joe. It opened in November 2024 as a takeout- and delivery-only restaurant earlier than later turning into a sit-down restaurant.

“He’s a quick learner, very, very efficient, and great at what he does, and picks up things very easily,” Rammell mentioned about his brother. “And so we make a really good team.”

The chef’s journey to proudly owning and working Drunken Kitchen in Utah first began in Taiwan at a younger age.

His aunt and uncle owned a potsticker store, and Rammell remembers being within the again making potstickers.

“I find I get the joy of making food for people that I really love,” Rammell mentioned. “And then it’s in the reaction. Somebody’s like, ‘Oh my goodness, this is amazing.’ And I also just love food. I love eating. I love good food, and then I love making food for other people that you see how much you love it.”

Growing up with a love for meals

Soon after his expertise in Taiwanese kitchens, he and his brother have been adopted by a household in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and moved to the United States.

Rammell’s father was a 3rd technology butcher, so he grew up searching and cooking beginning in his youth. At 14, he began working in skilled kitchens, and he continued to work in kitchens in Wyoming till he was 19.

“I grew up with a real love for food,” Rammell mentioned.

It was then that he determined to maneuver to Seattle, Washington, to essentially hone his abilities for cooking.

Deciding on Salt Lake City

After spending a while studying from cooks within the Northwest, he determined it was time to take his abilities again to the Rocky Mountain vary.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he, his brother and his good friend, who’s his enterprise companion, began actually brainstorming tips on how to make a restaurant idea come collectively. The group settled on doing their take Taiwanese-Chinese delicacies in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“I realized like Salt Lake kind of lacks a unique style of Asian cuisine, you could say,” Rammell mentioned. “It’s a lot of American Chinese cuisine. Everything is really sweet and salty.”

And the result’s a pleasant, open spot that gives up flavorful dishes to anybody coming via.

“I wanted to create something that is a very comfortable, welcoming — a restaurant that everyone can just come in and get great service, get great food and have a great vibe and a great experience,“ Rammell said. “And just be like a neighborly friendly restaurant that you just come in and you know what you’re gonna get, what to expect, and everything that you eat happens to be amazing.”

What I ordered

I ended by Drunken Kitchen on a Thursday night time, and there have been at the very least a couple of tables that had children or youngsters sitting at them.

The atmosphere was welcoming, and repair was pleasant and useful in recommending what to order and checked in typically on the desk.

Here’s what I ordered:

Vegetarian pot stickers: I needed to begin with the dish that Rammell first gained a ardour for cooking with, they usually lived as much as the hype. There was just a little crunch on the skin, however the inside was scorching and juicy. They have been really scrumptious, and I’m planning on going again to attempt the pork ones.

Taiwanese fried rooster: The rooster was fried to crispy perfection, and the seasoning was distinctive from any I’ve tried earlier than.

Marinated cucumbers: These have been the proper complement to the opposite appetizers as a result of the dish provided up a refreshing palate cleanser that additionally occurred to be scrumptious.

Taiwanese beef noodle soup: The noodles are made in-house day by day, and you may inform. They’re recent and attractive, and served with the meat and beef broth — all of it creates a wealthy, daring and flavorful eat.