A Fowl Threesome: TurDucKen at the Alpine Steakhouse

By Abby Weingarten
| Photography by Kathryn Brass-Piper
| November 1, 2013

Five years of TV plugs and reruns have made the dish— prepared by wedging a boneless chicken into a duck, then weaseling the two into a turkey (with layers of savory stuffing between the meats)—a worldwide sensation, but its birthplace is right here in Sarasota.

Alpine Steakhouse and Karl Ehmer’s Quality Meats, the restaurant/deli on South Tamiami Trail and pride of father-son team Mark and Matt Rebhan, began pumping out the bird dish 24 years ago. The TurDucKen’s popularity went berserk in November 2007 following the “Talkin’ Turkey” episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, and again in 2011 on the “Bird is the Word” segment of The Best Thing I Ever Ate.

“We were blessed to have even been chosen for the Food Network, and the first time the TurDucKen was featured on the show, that spiked business 30-fold and really kind of put us on the map,” Matt Rebhan says. “At one point in time, the TurDucKen probably accounted for 70 percent of our business. We used to make them just for occasions or holidays, but now it’s a year-round item on the lunch and dinner menu, and it’s always available at the meat counter.”

Since opening in 1975, Alpine Steakhouse has specialized in homemade ingredients and prime meats pioneered by Ehmer, the revolutionary butcher from New York City. Matt Rebhan’s father, Mark, took over the business of his father, Henry, and the restaurant continues to be a collaborative family effort. When Matt Rebhan returned to work at the restaurant in 2004 after college, he only sold about 10 TurDucKens annually, he recalls. Following the TV appearances, however, he was peddling 400 to 500.

“It’s been an incredible ride. Thinking back, I remember there was no rehearsal for the filming of that first Food Network show. I was sweating bullets when Guy Fieri walked through the door,” Matt says. “What you see of him on TV, that’s him; it’s not an act. I know that’s kind of hard to believe that because he’s so far out there. He’s very serious about what he does, but the whole California persuasion punk attitude, that’s him on and off the camera. He was very fun and easy to work with. He changed everything for us.”

Fieri became enamored of the TurDucKen, which typically consists of a 25-pound whole turkey, a six-pound whole duck, a four-pound whole chicken, five pounds of regular cornbread dressing, 2½ pounds of andouille sausage stuffing with sage, and 2½ pounds of spinach stuffing with fennel. Prices range from $65 for a six- to seven-pound Chicklet to $140 for a 15- to 17-pound TurDucklet and up to $199 for a 21- to 23-pound TurDucKen that feeds 20 people. A TurDucKen dinner special on the regular menu comes with mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and cranberry sauce for $18.95. The lunch version is $14.95.

“We are a big destination for the TurDucKen now. Every other phone call was about the TurDucKen after that first show aired, and people were planning their vacations around Alpine Steakhouse. If they were going to Miami or the Florida Keys, they would make a short stop by here and come in to try it,” Matt Rebhan says. “It’s so unique and a lot of people love it. Some people are kind of like, ‘Wow, that was very different,’ because it’s like Thanksgiving all in one bite. But most people love it.”

To capitalize on the TurDucKen’s hype, Matt has created T-shirts, hats and coozies that say “Team TurDucKen.” He suggests that interested parties begin requesting the bird in early November to secure one for the holidays. Matt has mailed TurDucKens all the way to Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and patrons have paid anywhere from $30 to $130 for shipping costs.

“About 80 percent of people who have had the TurDucKen will order it for the next holiday,” he says. “It has now become their new holiday tradition. It’s a fun tradition.”

And in the community spirit of Thanksgiving and the December holidays, it is heartwarming to know that the bird on the dinner table is local, made with love by a multi-generational family of restaurateurs.

Visit the Rebhans’ booth at the Sarasota Farmers’ Market on a Saturday and give a hat-tip to the folks who are furthering the city’s small business tradition, one TurDucKen at a time.