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When restauranteur Greg St. Claire became part of the project to restore the Alpine Inn around 2018, he knew it was no ordinary task. This was, after all, one of the most historic taverns of yore, that gave Portola Valley its nickname “Roadhouse Valley,” back when roadhouse was a colloquial word.
The restoration followed the purchase of the Alpine Inn by three local families — Deke and Lori Hunter, Fred and Stephanie Harman, and Jim Kohlberg. They bought it from the Alexander family, who was responsible for changing its name from “Rossotti’s” to “Alpine Inn Beer Garden” in the 1950s.
In January of this year, the Hunters were honored by the town for the effort they put into restoring the historic property. Among other locals who were similarly felicitated are the Whites, who are the current owners of Jelich Ranch; the Ciancuttis, who own Fitzhugh Home; and the members of the Alpine Hills Tennis and Swimming Club.
The restoration of the Alpine Inn was a group effort, according to St. Claire.
“The three families Kohlberg, Harman and Hunters who asked me to join the project could not be a more dedicated group to refurbishing and saving a gem in our community,” St. Claire said in an email.
St. Claire owns Avenir Restaurant Group, which runs four popular eateries on the Peninsula — Town in San Carlos, Nola in Palo Alto, Milagros in Redwood City, and of course the Alpine Inn in Portola Valley.
Now 172 years old, the Alpine Inn is arguably the most storied eatery in the region, understandably, given its multihued history.
In 1852, a few years after the Mexican-American War ended, Felix Buelna built the inn, on land that originally belonged to Maximo Martinez.
Strategically located along what was then known as the “Old Spanish Trail,” it was meant to be a “casa de tableta” or gambling retreat for Mexican-Californios and Gold Rush era settlers.
Over the years, the owners — and consequently, the culture and name of the place — changed several times. In the late 1860s, Buelna sold the property to William Stanton, whose family subsequently leased it to a Rodriguez Crovello, nicknamed “Black Chapete” because of his bushy handlebar mustache. Legend has it that Stanton won the place in a poker game against Buelna. Legend also has it that the game was rigged.
With the turn of the century came the German phase of the inn’s history. It was called “The Wunder” in 1904 when Charles Schenkel ran it as a bar. He surreptitiously called it “Schenkel’s Picnic Park” during the Prohibition era. A few years down the line, the inn was leased to Croatian immigrant and farmer Walter Jelich Sr. who worked there as a bartender.
Then it became Rossotti’s, or more fondly “Zotts,” when the lease was passed along to Enrico Rossotti in the 1930s. The present day wood-fired pizza ovens reflect the Italian heritage of the place.
“This was an incredibly challenging refurbishment for us as there is literally so much history and so many personal memories for so many generations of patrons,” said St. Claire, for whom the restoration was an endeavor that went beyond work.
“It was particularly personal for me as it was literally my fathers favorite place to go to,” he said.
Like many of the long-standing loyalists of this historic watering hole, his father too went to Stanford University. In fact, 1852, the year Alpine Inn was built, happens to be the year Leland Stanford arrived in California.
“He used to always tell stories of arriving at Stanford as a 17-year-old freshman and literally five minutes after finding his dorm room he was headed up to Zotts with his 23-year-old roommate who had just started his freshman year post military service,” he said, about his father. “Needless to say he told us that he spent more time at Zotts than at the library that freshman year.”
In fact, physical remnants of the good times his father had back then are still present at the property.
“He carved his name on that first visit in 1952 and we found that table/carving when I started the refurbishment,” he said. “I knew how special the place was as I grew up old PV going there with my dad. Every carving on a table or a wall means something to so many families.”
That’s why St. Claire brought more than his professional expertise to the project.
“I personally pulled in my own tools to help Midglen Studios (based in Woodside) to carefully save every carving, board and table top from all the years,” he said. “We repurposed every possible board with carvings, saving as much history as possible.”
Having experienced a slice of Alpine Inn’s history through his father, St. Claire did his best to preserve it for posterity.
“Our goal was to save memories from every generation that graced the doors of this most awesome Tavern,” he said. “My goal was to capture history while saving the structure and meeting current codes.”
Not all aspects of history are tangible, though. The spirit of the Alpine Inn is best experienced through the lore that surrounds it. The only way to capture some of it is to visit the place.
As chef Laura Stec wrote in a 2014 Palo Alto Weekly article: “You must come visit. It’s the perfect place to write your memoire, or find inspiration for your upcoming nonfiction release. Character study is endless at Zotts.”
However, the way customers appraise a place is different from the way the ones who operate the kitchen do.
“The life of a restaurateur is an interesting one,” St. Claire said. “Sometimes in the craziness of a remodel, the cost, the long hours and the extent we go to create a place for people to simply eat a hamburger and to drink a cold beer might seem insane to most people — but the sheer joy on customers’ faces and a packed beer garden make it all worthwhile.”
To him, Zotts is special for its appeal across age groups.
“Rarely do you find three plus generations all hanging out in the same place,” he said. “People don’t grow old at Zott’s — they just keep coming like it’s their own backyard which we love.”
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