FOOD FOR THOUGHT

How Actor Ty Burrell Is Strengthening Local Communities

BY BRANDI CHRISTOFFERSEN

Ty Burrell may be internationally known for his award-winning role as Phil Dunphy in the critically acclaimed hit Modern Family, but here in Park City, he is known as the co-owner of e Eating Establishment (or as locals say, e E.E.). He and his partners are also part of the lively Salt Lake scene with Bar X, the Beer Bar and e Cotton Bottom Inn. “I’m always thrilled to walk into one of our eateries and bars and feel the energy of the community,” Burrell exclaims.

When asked what enticed him to take on the challenges and rewards of a restaurateur, Burrell is equal parts humble and humorous. He explains that he and his friends just wanted a nice place to get an exceptional cra beer and cocktail. “I really fell into the food and beverage business because of my fellow owners and their ability to identify a good idea and being able to execute it,” he tells us. “I have, by far, the easiest job in our ownership group. Talking to nice folks like you isn’t exactly digging ditch. I’m always grateful for all of the work that everyone does to create such cool environments and gathering spaces. Plus, I have the good fortune of being surrounded by people who are smarter than I am—that’s also true at home.”

Speaking of home, Burrell and his family made Utah their o cial residence upon the series wrap of Modern Family. “We moved to Salt Lake City because we’d been coming here in our downtime since 2008 when we’d moved from New York to Los Angeles,” he explains. “L.A. is great, but in many ways it felt like a 12-year location shoot. Salt Lake feels like home.” Another reason Utah may feel so warm and welcoming is that many members of the Burrells’ extended family call the beehive state home. In fact, Burrell’s wife, Holly, was born in Fruit Heights—a small town in Utah known as the “city of good neighbors.”

The Burrells’ appreciation for the area has been generously demonstrated through their altruism and support. During the pandemic, he created the “Tip Your Server” program to help raise money for restaurant employees who had lost their jobs due to business closures, with 100% of the funds going directly to the workers. At the same time, he and his wife donated $100,000 of their own money to help ease the burden for the Salt Lake community. Burrell also shares his impressive entertainment expertise

Ty Burrell’s Park City Picks:

Favorite Summertime Activity: “I love fishing. Like so many anglers, I fish the Provo quite a bit, so Park City is always on my route. I love swinging through for lunch or to drown my sorrows after mostly scaring fish.”

Favorite Nonprofit: “That’s hard to pick. I love The Nature Conservancy, The Grand Canyon Trust, and my friend Jim Enote’s organization, The Colorado Plateau Foundation, which supports Native-led organizations on the plateau.”

Favorite Spot To Take Out-OfTowners: “My favorite place is up into the Uintas (Utah’s highest mountain range). It’s one of the most remarkable areas I’ve ever been to and it’s just out our back door.”

Favorite Local Idiosyncrasy: “It has to be how friendly the drivers are! After being in Los Angeles for so long, it’s almost jarring to have so many drivers wave you into traffic. At first, when I saw the arm going, I just assumed they were screaming at me.” with Kids In e Spotlight—a nonpro t that promotes growth and healing through storytelling and lmmaking. KITS empowers underserved youth and foster children to create, write, cast and star in their own 10-minute short lms.

For Burrell, acting provides escapism, creativity and enjoyment, and he wants others to experience its rewards. “For me, acting has been a natural extension of being a daydreamer who values being ridiculous probably more than is healthy,” he jokes. “When I discovered it in my early 20s, I couldn’t believe it. I spent most of my formative years growing up in the woods of Oregon and had no idea that the characters and bits that I did with my brother and dad had a vocation attached to it.”

Over the years, Burrell has taken his talent for mirthful pretending and has garnered two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and ve Screen Actor Guild Awards.Yet despite all his accolades in the entertainment business, what satis es Burrell most about his success? “I’m most proud of the friends I’ve made over the course of my career,” he explains. “It’s a strange job in that you can have a very vulnerable experience with someone whom you’ve just met earlier in the day and will possibly never see again, or someone you work with for two weeks, two months or, if you get incredibly lucky, 11 years. ose relationships have become some of the most important friendships in my life and I’m very grateful for that.”

Once Modern Family ended in 2020, Burrell took “a long hiatus from performing” to focus on other projects. He has expanded his in uence by launching his own production company developing young writers, Desert Whale Productions, and by providing growth and opportunities to the hard-hit food and beverage industry. Additionally, he and his Bar X partners provide mentorship and support to their company’s employees and are proud to witness the success of their e orts. To wit: Many past bartenders have opened their own bars and pubs, an exciting progression that bolsters the community and strengthens the local scene.

So what’s next for Burrell? As he explained, “I haven’t performed for a while, primarily because it requires leaving home here in Utah for long stretches at a time, and my girls are 10 and 12 years old. at said, I’m pretty sure I’ll get in front of a camera again someday for the right thing. I’m getting close to the teen years when my daughters are going to beg me to leave.”

For now, he is just enjoying his everyday life. Burrell describes, “A perfect summer day for me is breakfast at e Eating Establishment—of course, then shing the Provo all day or hitting the Park City Alpine Park if I’m with the family. We usually stay at the Washington School House, which we love, so happy hour there. en maybe dinner at Handle then back to e E.E. for a nightcap, just to bring it full circle.”

Burrell’s gentle humor, generosity and charisma made him one of the most popular cast members on Modern Family. So it’s no surprise that he is now a beloved member of the Utah food and beverage community. And once you hear Burrell talk about his local favorites, it’s as clear as a P.C. bluebird sky why Utah is where he calls home.