Carrying on the tradition at Thistle Lodge

John Wolff is the executive chef at Thistle Lodge on Sanibel Island. COURTESY PHOTO At Thistle Lodge, a venerable finedining establishment at Casa Ybel resort on Sanibel Island, the slow summer season that drifted through October seemed to end abruptly last week. Late on Thursday afternoon, Executive Chef John Wolff was planning two weddings, meeting with food vendors, showing a reporter around, and keeping an eye on the weekend reservation book, which was filling up fast.

“I’ve got so much work to do in the kitchen,” he said. “Fortunately, I’ve got a great staff and they back me up pretty well. I’d be a lot more stressed out if I didn’t have those guys.”

Mr. Wolff directs 14 cooks toward the goal of executing various menus — including Sunday brunch, lunch and dinner — and private events at Thistle Lodge. He spent the better part of a decade polishing his culinary skills at Sanibel Harbour Resort and Spa before being hired at Thistle two years ago.

Growing up in Chicago, Mr. Wolff’s father was executive chef at a large department store there. He also worked various cooking jobs while in high school and college. But Mr. Wolff was a historian first and chef second. He earned a masters degree in history from Northern Illinois University and later opened a small coffee and sandwich shop. He also spent nearly a decade working as a real estate consultant. That job ended and his cooking career began in earnest shortly after he moved from Chicago to Florida in the late 1990s.

Meanwhile, he proceeded with an adventure in marriage and children — now he’s single again and has a son and daughter — before starting over as a chef. Long before cooking became his livelihood, Mr. Wolff remembers eating at Thistle Lodge in the 1980s, when he was on vacation from Chicago with his family.

“I remember going there for lunch one day with my family and being amazed with the sense of history that you felt, the tradition,” he said. “It seemed like it had been there for quite some time.”

The Lodge was built on Sanibel in the mid-19th century. In the 1970s, the current restaurant, a replica of the original building, was built in a new location. Since becoming head chef there, Mr. Wolff discovered accounts of banquets held at Thistle Lodge in the 1920s and 1930s.

“It was one of the big popular food venues (on Sanibel) in the ‘20s and ‘30s,” he said. “They did a lot of picnics and barbecues out on the back lawn and on the beach.”

Mr. Wolff is currently working on an overhaul of Thistle’s menu that will reflect his personal style, which is simple and elegant. He avoids flashy fusion cuisines or plates laden with multiple sauces and garnishes, opting instead for classic preparations that rely on a few key components. Thistle Lodge’s new menu will also include many traditions that Mr. Wolff dutifully observes.

“They’ve done lamb for a long time here,” he said. “Lamb is one of my favorite dishes to begin with. I’m not a big fan of a lot of garnish and a lot of excessive components on a plate that basically have no purpose or add to the totality of the dish. The lamb dish is simple but we’ve got a lot of nice flavors working together, and I think it’s prepared more classically.”

Mr. Wolff finds culinary inspiration from fellow Chicagoans like Chef Rick Bayless, who made his mark in southof the-border fare, and the iconic Chef Charlie Trotter, both of whom are celebrities in their professions.

“I can’t fail to mention all the great chefs I’ve worked with throughout the years,” Mr. Wolff said. “Those are pretty much the people I attribute any success I’ve had in this business to, particularly the chefs I worked with at Sanibel Harbour.”

He says Thistle Lodge is a “good fit” for him at this point in his career, and he hopes to stay there for years to come. But like many restaurants that hire salaried chefs who don’t have ownership, the turnover rate is high.

“As a chef, you’re always looking for a new challenge and a new creation,” Mr. Wolff said. “Unless it’s your own personal restaurant there are so many other political and administrative factors you have to deal with besides just the food and the creative aspect. It’s just something that you as a human being have to be able to adapt to or try to come to terms with in some way. That has a lot to do with the people you work with and the team. And we’ve got a really incredibly talented and outstanding team. I would certainly enjoy working with all these people in the future.” 