Urban Hill Heritage
Creating popular gathering spots is restaurateur Brooks Kirchheimer’s North Star. The key ingredient? Family. “As family owners, we want a family atmosphere to extend to our associates and guests, to ensure a fun, inviting, amazing experience for all. That’s why we’ve always provided our associates full benefits, hired the best architects to design functional and beautiful restaurants, and assembled the region’s most talented culinary, beverage and management team.”
At Urban Hill, the Kirchheimer Family’s growing collection of “Hills” has reached a new peak, with a vibrant fine-dining concept and a promise to “make every dining experience a special occasion.” Having arrived in Park City from Los Angeles in 2010 to manage restaurants at Montage Deer Valley and then Sundance Resort’s Zoom restaurant, in 2018 Brooks opened Hearth and Hill, in the Kimball Junction area, with a commitment to “Inspire our associates, thrill our guests, and enrich our community.” Consistently delivering on that commitment has earned the restaurant a popular local following and unending series of awards and accolades.
A growing events and catering business triggered the opening in March 2022 of Hill’s Kitchen, café & catering, next to Hearth and Hill and sharing its passion for locally sourced and freshly made cuisine and products. Like its forerunner, Hill’s Kitchen quickly won local awards, including #1 Park City Chef in 2022 for Executive Pastry Chef Jessie Rae Nakoneczny, creator of Urban Hill’s baked items.
All the while, Salt Lake beckoned, given the rare combination of sophistication and approachability for which Brooks’s team has become known. Post District, with its combination of a dynamic new residential community and proximity to downtown and its many sports, cultural, hotel and business venues, was deemed ideal for Urban Hill.
Through it all, Brooks draws his greatest joy from his wife Catherine, their son Callen, and their dogs. “They’re a daily reminder of how important a family culture is for all of us, to help make every day a positive one.”
At Urban Hill, the Kirchheimer Family’s growing collection of “Hills” has reached a new peak, with a vibrant fine-dining concept and a promise to “make every dining experience a special occasion.” Having arrived in Park City from Los Angeles in 2010 to manage restaurants at Montage Deer Valley and then Sundance Resort’s Zoom restaurant, in 2018 Brooks opened Hearth and Hill, in the Kimball Junction area, with a commitment to “Inspire our associates, thrill our guests, and enrich our community.” Consistently delivering on that commitment has earned the restaurant a popular local following and unending series of awards and accolades.
A growing events and catering business triggered the opening in March 2022 of Hill’s Kitchen, café & catering, next to Hearth and Hill and sharing its passion for locally sourced and freshly made cuisine and products. Like its forerunner, Hill’s Kitchen quickly won local awards, including #1 Park City Chef in 2022 for Executive Pastry Chef Jessie Rae Nakoneczny, creator of Urban Hill’s baked items.
All the while, Salt Lake beckoned, given the rare combination of sophistication and approachability for which Brooks’s team has become known. Post District, with its combination of a dynamic new residential community and proximity to downtown and its many sports, cultural, hotel and business venues, was deemed ideal for Urban Hill.
Through it all, Brooks draws his greatest joy from his wife Catherine, their son Callen, and their dogs. “They’re a daily reminder of how important a family culture is for all of us, to help make every day a positive one.”
Our Commitment:"To inspire our associates, thrill our guests, and enrich our community."
Our Commitment:
"To inspire our associates, thrill our guests, and enrich our community."
Post District
Conveniently located just west of Downtown Salt Lake, bordered by main traffic arteries 500 South and 600 South, the new Post District development is reenergizing one of the City’s historical areas to be a vibrant lifestyle community. As a collaboration of prominent local developers, architects and urban planners, the multi-acre project symbolizes Salt Lake’s emergence as a flourishing magnet for energetic and adventuresome people of varied backgrounds and interests. In other words, just the type of guests that Urban Hill is designed for!
Our Team
Nick Zocco
Executive Chef
Urban Hill owner Brooks Kirchheimer nabbed Chef Zocco a full year early. Zocco’s passion for his craft reminded Brooks of his own lifelong love of the restaurant business. Coupled with Nick’s breadth of kitchen credentials, Brooks knew he was perfectly suited to deliver on Urban Hill’s commitment of making “every dining experience a special occasion.” From that moment in September 2021 until Urban Hill’s December 2022 opening, Zocco was a head chef at Kirchheimer’s Hearth and Hill in Park City, where he helped the restaurant earn many accolades, including a fourth consecutive Best Family Restaurant in the Park City’s Best people’s choice voting. Zocco’s experience includes nine years in Las Vegas, where he worked as a sous chef at Chef Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill and under Chef David Walzog at the acclaimed SW Steakhouse, in the five-star Wynn Las Vegas Resort. He moved to Park City in 2017, becoming chef of popular Tupelo restaurant. Nick began his career in 2001 in his native New Mexico, as a line cook at lauded Southwestern fine-dining restaurant La Casa Sena, followed by the Spanish-focused La Boca, where he studied under eight-time James Beard Award-nominated Chef James Campbell.
Chris Straughan
Executive Pastry Chef
Executive Pastry Chef for a restaurant group with “Dessert” in its name is a high bar that Chris Straughan easily clears. He richly earned the promotion a year after joining the group’s Hill’s Kitchen cafe & catering upon its opening in March 2022. The Canadian native started his career at the famous Banff Springs Hotel, before moving to Utah in 1992, where he honed his craft at such distinguished kitchens as Montage Deer Valley, Talisker and The St. Regis. Chris and his wife, Heber residents, are proud parents of two married children, including a daughter who’s a combat veteran with the Utah National Guard (thank you, Phoebe!). Among Chef Chris’s favorite activities are skiing, kayaking and gardening.
Jessica Johns
General Manager
Jessica is a Utah native, but had the privilege of growing up all over the world in a military family (USA, Turkey, Germany). She remained curious about cultures and cuisines as she continued her travels and teaching abroad (China, Ukraine). Jessica has a passion for hospitality and making guests feel special. Prior to joining the Leave Room for Dessert Eateries group’s Urban Hill team in 2022, she was Director of Retail Operations and opened two locations with Gourmandise (Utah’s celebrated café & bakery collection), GM of all premium clubs with Levy Restaurants at Vivint Arena, and the GM of Kyoto Japanese Restaurant, Current Fish and Oyster and Sonora Grill. Jessica married her husband Shawn in 2019 and welcomed a beautiful baby boy in 2022. They love soaking up every minute as a family traveling, hiking and seeking new experiences.
Bijan Ghiai
Beverage Manager
Bijan, a Utah native, has called the Salt Lake City service industry home for over a decade. Known for creating forward-thinking and sustainable beverage programs, Bijan has been featured in cityhomeCollective, City Weekly, Salt Lake Magazine, Broadway World, Visit Salt Lake, The Utah Review, Devour, and Remixology. With a passion for community and hospitality, he strives to create an environment that provides comfort and quality through operational excellence. Bijan’s prior beverage management experience includes over a decade between Salt Lake restaurants Pallet and The Copper Onion.
Maci Lindsey
Private Event Manager
Maci exudes the love of life, cuisine, gatherings and varied cultures of her native Louisiana. A multi-major Bachelor of Arts graduate of Louisiana State University, she channeled her passion for people into the hospitality and event industry, starting in Nashville. Maci is inspired every day by her interactions with others, whether through small talk with a stranger in the grocery line, a chat with a loved one over dinner, or a team discussion to address client concerns. Outside of work, she’s a dog lover who ended up with a rescue cat named Louise, a tea devotee who’s all about dance classes, and is always down for a crawfish boil. Maci now calls Salt Lake City home and loves exploring SLC hikes and breweries around the city!
Join Our Team
Become part of the exciting new Urban Hill team! Our commitment: “To inspire our associates, thrill our guests, and enrich our community.” How do we inspire our associates? Competitive compensation, excellent benefits, opportunities for professional development, work/life balance, a mentoring environment and a convenient location with ample free parking and public transit access. Most of all is a fun, collegial, winning team environment. Check out our open positions and begin your journey to being inspired today!
About the Architect, Designers, Artists
Kudos to the amazing team at Denver-based Semple Brown Design for creating the beautiful, functional and comfortable space that embodies Urban Hill. Award-winning specialists in restaurant design, SBD immersed itself in all aspects of Urban Hill - - culinary and beverage offerings, operations, guest experience, employee experience, the neighborhood, environmental impacts, and more - - to ensure a timeless, enduring and quality locale for all.
Part of SBD’s talent was discovering local artists to complement the restaurant’s aesthetics. For example, three prominent commissioned artworks are by Samantha da Silva, an artist and educator who was born in Brazil and also lived in Alberta, Canada and Hawaii before settling in Salt Lake City. As evidenced by her beautiful creations for Urban Hill, Samantha is known for her use of local raw, natural materials to create large-scale textured paintings and objects. She has discovered an emotive power within the essential simplicity of her materials and the vivid pigments she sources.
Part of SBD’s talent was discovering local artists to complement the restaurant’s aesthetics. For example, three prominent commissioned artworks are by Samantha da Silva, an artist and educator who was born in Brazil and also lived in Alberta, Canada and Hawaii before settling in Salt Lake City. As evidenced by her beautiful creations for Urban Hill, Samantha is known for her use of local raw, natural materials to create large-scale textured paintings and objects. She has discovered an emotive power within the essential simplicity of her materials and the vivid pigments she sources.
Local Partnerships
Our region is fortunate to have farmers, ranchers, fisheries, creameries and other purveyors of fresh, high-quality meat, seafood, produce, cheese and other ingredients for our locally sourced dishes. We’re proud of our relationships with many of them.
In The News
We’ve curated the best of our print and social media.