Episode Details

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When you think of food destinations, Utah might not be the first place that comes to mind. Father and son duo Brooks and David Kirchheimer are working to change that. Together with co-owner and mom Linda, they founded Hill Top Hospitality, a Park City and Salt Lake City restaurant group that has grown to five concepts and over 350 employees in just eight years.

Brooks brings a lifetime of hospitality experience: starting at age seven when he asked for a cash register for Christmas to play pretend restaurant, working his way through the Montage Beverly Hills, the Montage Deer Valley, and Merriman's in Hawaii. David comes from a career in finance, bringing sophisticated business practices to an industry famous for its thin margins and sky-high failure rates.

In this episode, they talk about why they planted their first restaurant in a then-overlooked neighborhood outside of Park City's touristy Main Street, how they've maintained a GM for five and a half years in an industry where 90-day turnover is the norm, and why they believe the restaurant industry may be the last human-centered platform standing.

What we cover:

• The origin of Hearth and Hill and why going where "nobody else was" turned out to be their greatest advantage
• How David brought Fortune 500 business practices, including root cause analysis, into the independent restaurant world
• Their mantra: Inspire our associates, thrill our guests, and enrich our community. And why associates come first
• The full benefits package they offer, from health insur