Ulrich’s Miami Mob ordeal

Ulrich Koepf

7 years ago

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As a Swiss chef,

I took the opportunity to go and see the world, that profession was in demand especially in the United States during the ’70s, it was the ticket to enter the USA to pursue my destiny.
After spending two and a half years in Bermuda and another year in the Bahamas I got the opportunity through a friend in the Bahamas to get an interview set up in Miami with a person looking to open up a first-class private dining club in Miami Beach. The year was 1976.
The owner was looking for a team of chefs to manage the private club; I asked my friend Johnny if he wanted to join me and go for the interview but he declined, he didn’t want to go, ( why I still don’t understand up to today) because a couple of years later he went on to work in Boston for a hotel corporation which promised him to obtain the residency papers for the US, but never received them.

Anyway, I then asked my other friend Peter if he would be interested in joining me, and he right away jumped on the opportunity!

From the Bahamas to Miami Beach

So we went to Miami Beach for our interview. At the airport in Miami, we were met by Leslie, a friend of the guy in the Bahamas who organized this meeting, he took us to Miami Beach to meet the owner of the world-famous steakhouse and owner of the soon-to-be-open dining club.

Cooking Test

We had to cook for about 10 people, the owner, and his friends. The result was that we got hired! So we flew back to the Bahamas to give our notice at the El Casino in Freeport, a few weeks later we traveled to the US to start our new venture.
The owner of the club was connected to the mob and had a lot of influence in town. The procedure to receive our green cards was very efficient and quick where other folks had to wait in line for hours or days just to obtain an interview with an immigration officer, the two of us however, had a pass straight to the immigration officer and received our permits within weeks what otherwise took months.

Four Star Reviews

The club opened and we accumulated a great reputation in town with the food, and the owner being connected we attracted everyone with a name, movie stars, singers, football stars, and dignitaries from all over the country.

My friend Peter who joined me left the club after about a year to pursue another opportunity and I stayed on and maintained the reputation and standards of the club on my own for another 2 1/2 years.
During that time this guy came for dinner at the club, he read the 4-star review in the Miami Herald about the club and me that week and decided to come for dinner, after contacting me he made me an offer I couldn’t refuse to open a new restaurant with him in Fort Lauderdale.

I didn’t make up my mind at the time

accepting the offer, since I did like where I was, but after the owner of the private club decided to combine the club with the Forge Restaurant next door to make it one big unit I decided to give my notice. Even though I was promoted to Food Manager, shortly before, however since the steakhouse was mass producing dinners of approximately 200-300 dinners a night, there was never any time for personal, detailed attention as far as the menu was concerned, and that wasn’t my style of cooking I was looking for; it just became a routine job.

After coming back from my honeymoon in Europe

I started the new venture in Fort Lauderdale.

10 days into setting up the new restaurant in Fort Lauderdale the owner Stephan told me he wanted me to stay home for a few weeks until things would settle down!

I asked him why? he told me that he received bomb threats because he lured me away from the Miami Beach Private Club!
He said he needed time to straighten things out with my previous boss in Miami Beach before I would be able to come back, just for safety reasons! I was bummed out about that because all I wanted to do is getting back into the kitchen and cook the food I wanted to produce.

A Jewel of a Restaurant

The Pressure Cooker and its Consequences

The dining room of this jewel little restaurant had 40 seats, 14 karat silverware, original Miro’s paintings on the walls, Solingen crystal glassware, cutlery holders, Villeroy & Bach porcelain, etc., it was a dream come true for me & my food!
The restaurant was tucked away in the back of a great nightclub that featured a 15-piece live band seven days a week.
Anyway, I stayed home for about three weeks until I got the call from my new boss, Stephan that it was safe for me to come back now to open the restaurant. I guess he made peace with the Miami Beach club owner because about 1 month after the opening of the restaurant, the private Club owner showed up with his Saudi Prince partners and his security entourage for dinner. The security staff accompanying them, checked out everyone in the place before they came into the restaurant, to make sure nobody would poison anyone or that I didn’t have any automatic weapons hidden inside my stoves! 😁

I was at the helm of this jewel from 1980 until 1987 until it was sold, after that, I left with the owner Stephan to Santo Domingo to open up the new Jaragua Hotel, Resort, and European Spa