On this week’s episode of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” Whitney Rose throws a tea party for her cast members at one of the Salt Lake Valley’s most iconic luxury spots: La Caille.
Utahns recognize La Caille as the state’s prototype for fine French dining — from the escargot appetizers to the filet mignon and duck breast entrees. It’s a popular venue for weddings, including a few famous ones, and was even featured in the comedy “Dumb and Dumber.”
There’s also a dark side to La Caille’s 50-year history, as Mary Cosby notes when she arrives for the tea party. “It’s bad juju here,” she says.
“The former owner killed his wife and himself,” Mary adds in confessional. “… He did it on Christmas Day.”
The murder-suicide Mary is apparently referencing happened in 2010 and followed a five-year legal battle that saw the restaurant listed for sale.
Here’s an explanation of how La Caille got its start, that legal battle and how the venue and vineyard has evolved since.
(Bravo) Whitney Rose hosts a tea party at La Caille in Sandy, in the Oct. 14, 2025, episode of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”
Dining and weddings
La Caille started in 1975, sitting on 20 acres near the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. Co-founder David Johnson bought the restaurant, then called Quail Run, from his father, Lester, for $300,000. For years, its full name was La Caille at Quail Run.
On its website, La Caille says that it “has been more than just a restaurant; it’s where promises are made and ordinary evenings become unforgettable memories.”
“With timeless elegance and warmth, it connects you to nature, loved ones and life,” the website continues.
In a restaurant guide in 1977, The Salt Lake Tribune described La Caille like this: “In a near authentic French setting, service and decor is outstanding. Entrees range from duckling in orange sauce to veal Oscar. Prices in the high range.”
Decades later, prices remain in the high range. The entrees on the current dinner menu range from $50 for the truffle herb gnocchi or the poulet farci á la ratatouille to $195 for the Tomahawk steak.
The accompanying vineyard was planted in 1986, according to the Chateau La Caille website. Its staff today includes a dog named Bernie, who “protects the winery,” which schedules wine tastings on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Its offerings include a pinot noir, a cabernet sauvignon, a red blend and “our very own estate-grown” Seyval blanc, the website indicates.
Even in its earliest days, La Caille was a popular wedding venue. The Tribune’s wedding listings from the 1970s frequently mention couples marrying there. Today, the venue’s Instagram account is packed with posts featuring brides and grooms.
One of the more notable celebrity weddings at La Caille happened in 1995, when actor Roma Downey — then a part-time Utahn because she was starring in “Touched By an Angel,” which filmed here — married filmmaker David Anspaugh, the director of “Hoosiers” and “Rudy.” Downey’s co-star, Della Reese, an ordained minister, officiated. The marriage lasted three years before Downey filed for divorce.
In 2018, Aspyn Brown — the daughter of Kody Brown and his third wife, Christine, from TLC’s “Sister Wives” — married Mitch Thompson at La Caille, and the wedding was featured on the show. The location, Aspyn Brown told People magazine at the time, is “beautiful on its own, so we didn’t have to do much.”
La Caille has also had a Hollywood moment. In the 1994 comedy “Dumb and Dumber,” it filled the role of the Aspen mansion belonging to Mary, played by Lauren Holly. Mary famously told Jim Carrey’s character, Lloyd, that there was a “one out of a million” chance of them getting together — which leads Lloyd to reply excitedly, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance!”
(Bravo) Whitney Rose hosts a tea party — with guests, from left, Mary Cosby, Angie Katsanevas, Lisa Barlow, Britani Bateman, Meredith Marks, Bronwyn Newport and (not pictured) Heather Gay — at La Caille in Sandy, in the Oct. 14, 2025, episode of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.” One of the peacocks that wander the grounds — along with swans and ducks — is visible at center.
The legal battle and murder-suicide
The story Mary Cosby recalled dates back to at least 2005, starting with a legal dispute among the restaurant’s partners and a protege.
The protege, Mark Haug, began working as a dishwasher at La Caille at age 13. Over the years, he rose to the level of executive chef.
In that time, he also accepted a 4% partnership in the business, built by Johnson and fellow co-founder Steve Runolfson.
In 2004, Haug’s wife accused him of having an affair with another employee and slapped him in the face in the La Caille kitchen, prompting him to walk out, The Tribune reported in 2010. Months later, he accused his business partners of trying to “trick” him out of his fair share of La Caille.
Haug’s attorneys argued in a lawsuit that his share had grown to as much as 42%. Runofson and Johnson countered that Haug was asking for a disproportionate share — and that the demand would force them to sell La Caille, potentially meaning its end.
The lawsuit ended up in Utah’s 3rd District Court in 2006, and four years later, a jury found Runolfson and Johnson had breached their 1993 partnership agreement with Haug, awarding him $4.7 million, including punitive damages.
The litigation prompted an accusation that Haug misappropriated La Caille money, for which Haug faced criminal charges that prosecutors dropped a year later. The jury in the lawsuit found that Johnson and Runolfson had engaged in a “malicious prosecution” scheme against Haug.
At the time of the murder-suicide, all parties in the case were waiting for a judge’s ruling on Haug’s $2 million in legal bills. People who knew Johnson and Runolfson had said covering those costs would leave them with nothing.
On Christmas night 2010, Runolfson and his wife, Lisa, entered a Provo hotel, where Provo police later determined the 56-year-old shot Lisa before turning the gun on himself.
“They had called and left a message with family that they were not coming home, and not to have a service for them,” Provo police Sgt. Reed Van Wagoner told The Tribune a few days later.
La Caille today
(La Caille) The La Caille grounds.
In 2011, a U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of La Caille to Kevin Gates — who remains the owner today. The sale price, $10 million, was about half of the property’s $19.9 million listing price.
La Caille reopened in 2012 after Gates spent $1.5 million restoring the chateau and grounds. That work included contractors fixing leaking ponds, tilling an area for what is now the restaurant’s garden and filling nearly 30 industrial dumpsters with broken kitchen equipment, dated chairs and tables and yard waste, The Tribune reported in 2022.
“We’ve made many, many improvements to the property, bringing the tender loving care back,” said La Caille’s manager at the time.
Its new garden speakeasy, called Les Secrets, also opened in February, offering “a curated selection of masterfully blended cocktails, refined zero-proof beverages, and a handpicked collection of wines and champagnes,” according to its website.
The sixth episode of Season 6 of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” is scheduled to air on Bravo next Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 8 p.m. Eastern time — 6 p.m. Mountain time on DirecTV and Dish, and 9 p.m. Mountain time on Xfinity. (The show streams the next day on Peacock.)
Dining and Cooking