How about you do use mongrel by default

Author: adamhjk

chef-server/bin/chef-server

@@ -22,12 +22,14 @@
 
 require "rubygems"
 require "merb-core"
-require 'chef'
+require "chef"
 
 if ARGV[0] && ARGV[0] =~ /^[^-]/
   ARGV.push "-H"
 end 
-
+unless %w[-a --adapter -i --irb-console -r --script-runner].any? { |o| ARGV.index(o) }
+  ARGV.push *%w[-a mongrel]
+end
 ARGV.push *[ "-I", File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), "..", "lib", "init.rb") ]
 
 if index = ARGV.index("-C")
@@ -41,4 +43,6 @@ else
   )
 end
 
+Chef::Config.from_file(File.join("/etc/", "chef", "server.rb"))
+
 Merb.start