Founded on Tradition  The Talerico family has been in the restaurant business in Des Moines for a very long time. Jerry and Julias father Vic had a restaurant as far back as 1939. In 1945 he started the Tally Rand Club which seated between 350 to 400 people. It had a state of the art kitchen for the time, and employed many of the Talerico family.
The Tally Rand Club evolved into Vic's Tally Ho and was located in the North West part of Des Moines on 5601 Grand Douglas Avenue. To this day you can still find "Vics Tally Ho Club" dishes at estate sales and flea markets.
One year (1960) Vic bid on the prize winning steer at the 4H contest. "Andy" was the blue ribbon winner in the Steer category that year and and was served up proudly at the Tally Ho!
Your hosts at Sam & Gabe’s are Jerry and Julia Talerico — brother and sister. Born and raised in Des Moines, they grew up in their fathers' restaurant Vics Tally Ho, for years a Des Moines institution.
Jerry went away to college at Denver University and following his graduation he attended The Culinary Institute in Hyde Park, New York. After the Institute, Jerry spent the next 7 years in chef positions in Cape Cod, including the Coonamessett Inn in Falmouth Mass, and the Daniel Webster in Sandwich Mass.
Jerry returned to Des Moines to be close to friends and family and took the Assistant Food and Beverage Director position at the Savery Hotel for 1 year, before moving on to become the Executive Chef at Christopher's for another 5 years. |
