Few restaurants in Salt Lake City are as iconic as Blue Iguana, the culinary baby of Kris Cappaert, a fixture among downtownβs restaurateurs since 1998. βWeβre a downtown institution going on 21 years,β says Cappaert. βLasting that long in the restaurant business is no easy feat. There are a handful of iconic restaurants that retain the same flavor and faithful origins as Blue Iguana.β
And her dedication to being a successful business woman started at a very early age. βIβve always been very thrifty and probably should have been a banker. When I was in elementary school, I was elected to banker for half of the year and mayor of the class for the other half,β she remembers. βI have, to this day, my piggy bank from when I was littleβa two foot tall lime green plastic poodle thatβs still filled with change from that age.β Her dedication to saving and succeeding led her to take a big chance when the Red Iguana family offered the Blue Iguana restaurant to her about six months after opening in 1997. βI owned several businesses before this, but Iβd never been in the restaurant industry. I just thought it was a such a great product, and I believed in it so much,β says Cappaert.
And she is fully dedicated to keeping the Blue Iguanaβs authentic Mexican cuisine as fresh and up-to-date as possible. βMy husband, Ed, and I go to Mexico three or four times every year, largely to look for inspiration and to refine the brand to make it more authentic,β she says. βEvery time we go down there, we come back with new ideas. We take lots of notes and its very important to us that, when you walk in the door, you feel like youβre south of the border.β While theyβre always looking for improvements, consistency is the name of the game for Cappaert, and the restaurant has even maintained the original chef and sous chef nearly since opening over twenty years ago. Cappaert wants all to know, βItβs always a fun, colorful fiesta at Blue Iguana.β
Q&A
Q. Best Advice?
βDonβt make important decisions when you are angry, and donβt make promises when youβre happy.β
Q. Whatβs new?
βWeβre constantly making every dish better and fresher and buying the best ingredients we can. We have a new menu item served in a lava rock bowl called Molcajete. It has fresh grilled chicken, grilled jalapeΓ±os wrapped in bacon, jumbo shrimp, grilled beef strips, tomatillo sauce and cactus.β
Q. Why is Blue Iguana important in the Salt Lake community?
βWeβve retained a very high percentage of original staff from the restaurantβs origins, and I think itβs a testament to the management style, and Iβm very loyal to my staff as well. Weβve won dozens of awardsβthree times in a row by Best of State for Best Authentic Mexican, weβve won Best of Utah awards and weβre Zagat rated.β
See all of our fall 2018 Women in Business here.