Do you remember the Maui Freeze?

It was a Hawaii shaved ice-stand in Lynndyl that Austin Buhler started when he was just 14 years old. He may have started it because he didn’t want to be a farmhand in summers, but from a young age, and for eight years, Buhler showed ingenuity and a craft in edibles.

So perhaps it isn’t surprising that Buhler is providing gourmet eats nearby, as the chef at the Central Valley Medical Center in Nephi. Still, it means that incredible meals are in the area – hospital doctor Gordon Duval told KSL that “the hospital is the best place to eat in Nephi” – and that hospital staff and patients alike are getting treated to items like lobster rolls that are $4. (Buhler contended on the broadcast that they would cost $25 to $30 in Park City.)

“We want to keep food affordable for employees, (to) enjoy a great meal without going to go break the bank,” Buhler said. “And honestly, for my patients, they need to have some good food.”

As a patient’s stay can be “miserable” “(the food) can be a good part of their day,” Buhler remarked.

Buhler tries to use local product as much as possible. He switched to Dannon Yogurt because Nye Family Dairies in Delta sells their product to Dannon. He uses Willoughby Farms, also in Delta. The lettuce he uses comes from Richfield.

“We get lots of produce and product from Utah,” Buhler said.

A Lynndyl talent

Aside from college at Utah Valley University, where his talent became craft, Buhler has lived in Lynndyl since he was four years old. The Delta High School graduate has cooked and baked as far back as he can remember, with his mother Amber Buhler and grandmother. And with babysitters, also, meaning that Amber would leave cake mix with them.

Buhler “loved growing up in Lynndyl,” he said, though when he was younger, he looked forward to seeing other things upon graduation from high school.

It didn’t take long for Buhler to change his mind.

“The second I moved up (to UVU), I was regretting it every second,” he said. “I came home every weekend. … I was so ready to be back.”

Buhler’s father, Jared, said that Buhler originally learned cooking from his mom (Buhler credited both parents). Jared said that while he wanted Buhler to be “a football player and things like that,” Buhler “didn’t want to do it.” Buhler was a Sterling Scholar at DHS.

“I guess I’m lucky. I’ve never had (a) problem,” Buhler said.

For Buhler’s abilities to be showcased in high school, the dishes he made had to become photos of the dishes, as there was not a competition for culinary, but visual, arts. Buhler credited Craig Hansen for considering expressing Buhler’s work as visual, along with Denise Dewsnup for teaching.

At UVU, Buhler learned from a pastry chef who worked at the Grand America Hotel and Sundance Resort. (His instructors were impressed that he ran the Maui Freeze, which he operated also into his school years at UVU.) The program involved “a lot of discipline” and “dedication.”

“They tear you down to build you up,” he said. “They want to make sure you are doing what you are supposed to do technique-wise … before you go off (on your own).”

Buhler started at the hospital because he needed an internship to complete his culinary degree. He understood that he could become a manager if he performed well. After four months, the manager retired, so Buhler took over.

Over his handful of years at the CVMC, Buhler’s weight became a problem – he reached nearly 500 pounds. But he has lost 165 in just six months.

“I’m just working out and working hard to keep it up,” he said.

Buhler decided to stay in Lynndyl – and drive an hour-and-a-half to and from work – because of the its “small-town feel.”

“I love the community aspect of being in Lynndyl and Millard County,” Buhler said. “You get up north and it takes 20 minutes to drive across the highway to school.”

Buhler is also not a “big-crowd person,” he said. He enjoys being able to have a yard and a garden and “neighbors who aren’t four feet from your house.”

Buhler even lives just two blocks from his parents today.

“He feeds me all the time. That is why I have the (look) I have,” joked Jared, who added that Buhler makes candy at Christmas time.

“They helped pay for school and helped raised me, so I guess you’ve got to return the favor, right?” Buhler responded when asked about feeding his parents.

And Buhler’s growing up years when it came to the Maui Freeze helped him learn “a lot” in customer satisfaction, customer service, quality and other skills he uses at the hospital today – including intangibles that, as the chef, Buhler also deploys daily.

“It taught me a lot (about) being a boss; being a manager,” he said. “There are not many high schoolers (who) run (their) own business.”

To say Buhler remembers the business fondly may be an understatement.

“There are days I wish I could just go in … and flip the open sign,” Buhler said, before remarking that there are other “callings” for him at this point.

Obviously, we know what one would be.

“(The hospital) is a great place for me to be,” Buhler said. “It’s a great place for my creativity.”

Written by Rhett Wilkinson, staff reporter

