Executive Chef, Philanthropist and Entrepreneur-Founder of Albert Uster Imports Dies at 75

GAITHERSBURG, Md., July 28 – Albert Uster, Executive Chef, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Albert Uster Imports, died in a sailplane crash in the Swiss Alps on Friday, July 25, 2008 at age 75. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

            Swiss-born Albert Uster was a professional chef turned savvy businessman and spent the last fifty years in an industry that he treasured. After training at some of the finest restaurants in Europe, Uster arrived at Ellis Island in the United States in 1954, worked in New York and Houston, served in the U.S. Army in Texas and attended the University of Houston, majoring in industrial psychology and management. He opened three hotels for the Hotel Corporation of America in Houston, New Orleans and Hartford. And, while working as the executive sous-chef at the Shamrock Hilton in Texas, he opened several more hotels in Kansas City, Aurora and Atlanta.

            It was while working at the Washington Hilton as an Executive Chef that Mr. Uster formed the Restaurant Corporation of America, partnering with Harold Giesinger, Guido Gerosa and Sam Schattner. The group built a 30,000 square-foot restaurant at the Watergate Hotel, called The Watergate Restaurant.  To stock the pastry kitchen, Uster returned to his Swiss roots and began importing quality chocolate and other items such as fondant and marzipan -- gourmet products he could not find in the United States.

            In 1980, Mr. Uster took his import enterprise out of the Watergate and named it Albert Uster Imports. He built a warehouse in Gaithersburg, Md., building the company by forming strategic partnerships with Swiss manufacturers and importing only the finest ingredients and products. He introduced to the American palate Swiss couverture, a professional-grade chocolate prized by gourmet chefs for its glossy texture. The company eventually expanded into a multimillion-dollar global enterprise Albert Uster Imports with locations in Kansas City, San Francisco, Honolulu, Miami and around the world.

            In 1998, Uster passed the reins of the company to a new Chief Executive Officer, Philipp Braun, remaining as chairman of the board and proudly overseeing the expansion of the company into the frozen food and savory food businesses. His vision remains strongly embedded within the company’s name and spirit. 

            Mr. Uster was an avid glider pilot, wine collector and gardener. He was a philanthropist who created the popular Sweet Charity event to support The Heart of America Foundation, a charity combining service, learning and literacy to support the needs of at-risk children. The event brought together pastry chefs and chefs from the Washington, D.C. Metro Area’s leading hotels and restaurants for a unique event that emphasized chocolate as a metaphor for the sweetness and potential in every child.

            Mr. Uster is survived by his daughters Jenny Schaepper-Uster, Scarlett Uster, and Kristen Narlinger-Goldner, his sons Albert D. Uster, Adam Uster and Erik Goldner, his brothers Hans Peter Uster and Henry Uster, and his close companion Josephine S. Cooper.