Viltoft Dressing

Marriott International, Inc., the gigantic lodging and hospitality company, traces its beginnings to a nine-stool root beer stand that J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott opened in Washington, D.C., in 1927. Their little stand, with the addition of chili con carne and hot tamales to the menu, was renamed The Hot Shoppe, and eventually the Marriotts would oversee a sprawling empire of Hot Shoppes, one of which would lay claim to being the first drive-in restaurant east of the Mississippi.

In 1957 the company that the Marriotts had built entirely around food entered the hotel business. Its first Marriott Motor Hotel was in Arlington, Virginia, just across the 14th Street Bridge from Washington, D.C. It was just a big motel, really — 365 rooms, each with two double beds and a black-and-white television. “We had an outside check-in so we could see who was in the car,” W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr., the founder’s son, recalled many years later. “We got $8 a night for those rooms, and if there was an extra person in the car, we got $1 for every extra person. So when we were busy, we got as much as $12 for a room.”

The new Marriott Motor Hotel had its own Hot Shoppes Restaurant, but with something distinctively different: a creamy peppercorn salad dressing created especially for the Marriott hotels. It was the culinary handiwork of Danish-born Jorgen Viltoft, who before joining the Marriott company had worked at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, and as maitre d’hotel at the Radisson Hotel in Minneapolis. In time Viltoft would become a senior vice president of Marriott Corporation and then return to Minneapolis to run the Radisson Hotel Corporation.

As for the Marriott Motor Hotel, it was later renamed the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel, and then the Twin Bridges Marriott. In 1998 Marriott announced its intention to give up the flagship, explaining through a spokesman that the property was no longer “representative of our current product,” and it was demolished two years later. The site is now being developed as a park.

The salad dressing, bearing the name of its creator, is all but forgotten today. At the time, though, it was such a hit that chefs all over the country made their own versions of it. Here is the original recipe for Viltoft Dressing, just as it was prepared at the Marriott Motor Hotel.

Print Recipe

Viltoft Dressing

(No Ratings Yet)

Loading...

This creamy peppercorn salad dressing was the culinary handiwork of Danish-born Jorgen Viltoft, who before joining the restaurant company founded by J. Willard Marriott in 1927 had worked at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, and as maitre d’hotel at the Radisson Hotel in Minneapolis. Here is the original recipe for Viltoft Dressing, just as it was prepared at the Marriott Motor Hotel in Arlington, Virginia.

Ingredients

• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 2 cups corn oil
• 1/2 cup tarragon vinegar
• Juice of 2 limes (4 to 6 tablespoons)
• 1/2 teaspoon Tabasco sauce
• 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

Instructions

1

In a large mixing bowl, combine the mayonnaise, salt, and lime juice. Using an electric mixer on low speed or a whisk, mix until smooth.

2

Gradually add the oil and vinegar, alternating between the two, while continuously mixing to create a smooth, emulsified base.

3

Stir in the Tabasco sauce, black pepper, MSG, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt, onion salt, and dry mustard.

4

Finally, fold in the Parmesan cheese until evenly incorporated.

5

Transfer the dressing to an airtight container and refrigerate until ready to use.

Notes

This recipe makes about 1 1/2 quarts and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.