Rick earned his BA and MA from Indiana University in 1978 and 1979, respectively, and his J.D. from Duke Law School in 1982. Rick is an active member of the Indiana Supreme Court Role of Attorneys and is "of counsel" with the Chicago-area law firm of Amber, Golding & Hofstetter. He currently teaches business law classes at Butler University College of Business Administration.
Angela Hofstetter, Consulting Manager
Angela Hofstetter describes her culinary tastes as a blend between Lowcountry and Parisian, and, as a native of Charleston, South Carolina, she brings true Southern hospitality to the Story Inn. Although initially attracted to the area by the prominent Victorian Studies program at Indiana University, it was the rolling hills of Brown County that led her to call this part of the country home. Her passion for good food and wines is rivaled only by her love of Austen, Bronte, Eliot, Great Danes, and Baroque horses.
Angela currently teaches courses focusing on nineteenth-century British literature at Butler University. She and Rick share their home with their Great Danes Bella and Baby Wee, routinely volunteering with Great Dane Rescue. Dressage is her avocation; please come and visit her with her aged Quarter Horse (Puck), young Andalusian cross (Tycho), young Lipizzans (Eroica and Favory Tukwila I) and baby Hanoverian (Feenie).
Angela earned her BA in French and English from the College of Charleston in 1991 and her MA in Comparative Literature from Indiana University. She currently divides her time between the Inn, Butler University, and her dissertation.
Erin Drake, Operations Manager
Erin Drake is a graduate of Indiana University, Bloomington, with a degree in Political Science, and minors in Western European Studies, Ethics and Diplomacy. She currently serves as General Manager, with general supervision over hiring, firing and scheduling. Her direct e-mail address is events@storyinn.com.
Frank Mueller, Consultant
Frank Mueller was born on March 23, 1944, in Willingen, Germany, and obtained his degree in restaurant and hotel management from the Walter Mecker Schule in Kassel, Germany, in 1964. He had an apprenticeship at the Hotel Reiss in Kassel, and an internship at the Franz Gabler Hotel Fach Schule in Heidelberg. His experience includes stints at the Hotel Zweibrucker Hof, Dusseldorf, the Heimat Haus and Schloss Hotel in Kassel, the Arnold Grill in Frankfurt and even the Airport Restaurant in Zurich-Kloten, Switzerland.
Frank migrated to the United States in 1968, and shortly thereafter began his stewardship of the renowned Hansel and Gretel Restaurant in Indianapolis. After selling the restaurant in 1985, he managed the Indianapolis Athletic Club until 1992, when he took over as manager of the Indianapolis Hilton. At Rick Hofstetter's behest in 1993, Frank assumed control of the floundering Rathskeller Restaurant in the historic Athenaeum Building in downtown Indianapolis, and in two years developed it into one of the busiest and most popular restaurants in the city.
Frank’s successes and accomplishments in this field would merit his managing a five-star establishment in New York, Berlin or Paris. Frank, however, prefers the quiet charm of the hills and hamlets of Southern Indiana. After Frank retired from the Athenaeum in 1995, Rick enticed Frank to join him in purchasing the entire town of Story in late 1998. Frank sold his interest in the Story Inn to Rick Hofstetter in December, 2004, but continues to be involved as a business and culinary consultant.
Joan Y. Olson, Consultant
Joan Olson is a laureate of La Varenne Ecole de Cuisine in France and has taught classic French cooking for more than twenty years. Much of her training came from her association with some of the most renowned chefs in France -- Emile Jung, Paul Haeberlin, Georges Blanc -- to name a few. She also worked very closely with the late Gustave Rinn of Alsace and with Wolfgang Nagle and Johann Lummer in Germany. She is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and of the National Restaurant Association. With her husband, she has produced seven guide books to restaurants in Europe.
Mrs. Olson has prepared and hosted dinners for ambassadors, counts, generals, Michelin-starred chefs, and some of the most prestigious wine producers in France and Germany. She has taught cooking and done cooking demonstrations at Schiller International University in Strasbourg and at the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts in Seymour, where she teaches art and produces paintings. Joan lives with her husband Ole (biography below) in nearby Houston, Indiana, and serves as a culinary consultant and cooking instructor at the Story Inn.
Dr. Allen Dale Olson, Consultant, Wine Steward
Dr. Allen Dale ("Ole") Olson, a/k/a the "Pontiff of Palate," is a Master of Wine in the Confrerie de St-Etienne and Dean Emeritus of Schiller International University. His wine commentaries inform and entertain from the Rhine Valley to the Napa Valley. His humor is infectious, his enthusiasm contagious, and his wine lessons memorable. He is a founding member of the European and Indiana Chapters of the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Education and a member of the American Wine Education Society.
Ole is a food and wine journalist, a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, and, with his wife Joan, leads annual food and wine tours to France, Switzerland, and Italy. Ole hosts the whimsical wine tutorials at the Story Inn each month, leads wine tours to Europe, and judges the Indiana Wine Fair. Since April, 2006, Ole has been responsible for developing the Story Inn's wine list and managing its wine cellar.
