Opened in 1949 by Axel Hansen, a World War II veteran, The Shack introduced a “new” style of dining to Missoulians, offering deep-fried chicken dinners accompanied by french fries and garlic toast. Beer on tap helped bring in the customers.
“When the place was first built, customers could come right to the restaurant on the Clark Fork River. The concrete and parking lots came much later,” says Bill Warden, current co-owner of The Shack with Robin Hamilton, who is also a member of Montana's House of Representatives.
To anyone who has lived here for a number of years, The Shack is an institution, one of Missoula's best and venerated food establishments. Even at its original location, Bill transformed the restaurant from a dinner house to one that also served breakfast.
Wanting to offer the freshest, tastiest food he could, he ground the coffee beans instead of using packaged pre-ground beans. He partially cooked fresh potatoes and made hash browns from scratch. He served all sorts of omelets using local vegetables and meats. In fact, he started doing everything from scratch, and the customers noticed.
“I believe in supporting local because the best and freshest food is local,” Bill says, echoing the philosophy of many Missoula-area chefs.
Before The Shack was even a glimmer in Bill's eye, he followed in his parents' footsteps and enrolled as a student at the University of Montana, graduating with a degree in English and philosophy. Always curious and wanting to learn more, he returned to UM to study Latin and Greek.
With all this education behind him, Bill began teaching seventh-grade English in Great Falls. Finding this path unsatisfactory to his soul, Bill knew he needed to do something else with his life. But what?
During his college years, Bill had worked in many Missoula restaurants, most of which are now defunct. He remembers one place in particular, The Palace Cafe, in the old Palace Hotel on Broadway.
“The waitresses just called the orders into the kitchen,” Bill says with a tone of awe. “They never wrote out tickets for the cooks. Easy for them. But we had to train ourselves to remember what to cook!”
Bill is very much a hands-on owner. The Shack makes everything from scratch, just as it did when Bill and Robin first bought the restaurant. Bill cooks during the day; he works the toaster, does dishes, and acts as a Johnny-on-the-spot expediter, filling in where necessary.
“The original Shack was so small compared to this great space we have today,” Bill says. “There we could maybe seat 35 people. Here we can do 100 or so.”
Eighty-percent of The Shack's business is breakfast/brunch. The restaurant cooks up a staggering 300 dozen eggs a week. And you can order breakfast at any time of the day, even at dinner, when an abbreviated breakfast menu is available.
About eight years ago, wanting to expand The Shack's offerings to include well-crafted dinners, Bill hired Paul Bowles as dinner chef. A native Montanan born in Glasgow, Paul arrived in Missoula 11 years ago from Big Sky Resort, where he worked for two years as a banquet chef for all sorts of events, including gatherings of medical groups and Jewish singles.
“I learned how to cook kosher and really liked the challenge,” says Paul, referring to kosher law prohibiting consumption of ham, shellfish and dairy with meat. “I used a lot of lentils, cabbage and grains, including kasha.” At The Shack, Paul regularly offers kasha, deliciously nutty-tasting buckwheat groats.
Before his association with The Shack, Paul worked for three years as kitchen manager of the Claim Jumper, where he cooked breakfast and lunch, sometimes dinner. Like Bill, Paul is a hands-on chef, and at the Claim Jumper he perfected his craft and made everything from scratch, including soups and veal and chicken stocks.
Paul grew up in a century-old house in Bozeman.
“Our basement had a fruit room where we stored fruits and veggies to carry us through the winter,” he says. “We layered carrots with sand and kept unwashed potatoes in burlap bags.”
He recalls drinking raw milk, which he had to shake to mix in the cream. “I was always interested in food because I saw where it came from and I wanted to learn how to cook it.”
As a kid, he made cookies and a few main dishes. He liked to experiment with spices to see, as he says, “how to increase the entertainment value of mac and cheese.”
From an uncle who raised grass-fed cattle, Paul learned how to judge the quality of beef. “My uncle's beef was tender and had a terrific flavor because he let his animals graze on seed heads, which are loaded with great nutrients, and he also fed them a supplement of oats.”
Growing up with the seasons also shaped Paul's philosophy of menu planning. “The food chain as we know it is changing, and it makes no sense to eat strawberries and tomatoes in January. We can't continue this endless parade of veggies out of season.”
Paul's week begins on Wednesday. He plans the specials of the week to include one meat dish (if beef, preferably grass-fed, pork or lamb), a fish dish (no farm-raised salmon, no Chilean sea bass), and one vegetarian special.
The regular dinner menu offers a broad selection of meat, fish and vegetarian dishes, including Mexican dishes. One of Paul's most popular vegetarian dishes is fettuccine with grilled vegetables. To boost the flavor of a traditional marinara sauce, he sprinkles in ground fennel seed and crushed chiles. His polenta is grilled with olive oil and topped with a vegetable ragout, often containing mushrooms. Rather than using out-of-season baby lettuces in the winter, he makes his salads with sturdier vegetables such as Romaine, Napa cabbage, carrots and English cucumbers.
There aren't many restaurants that have served Missoula so well for three decades, and Bill and Paul recognize that their staff is key to making sure the operation moves smoothly.
One such member of The Shack's team is kitchen manager Margaret Cressman. She takes inventory of food and supplies, orders what the restaurant needs and, like Bill, cooks and fills in where needed.
Another important culinary contributor to The Shack is Peggy Patrick, wife of Robin Hamilton. Her name may not ring a bell, but if you've tasted the restaurant's Chocolate Bourbon Walnut Torte, know that she created the recipe. Long live The Shack!
Greg Patent is a food writer and columnist for the Missoulian and Missoula.com magazine. He also co-hosts a weekly show about food with Jon Jackson on KUFM Sundays at 11:10 a.m. His new cookbook, “A Baker's Odyssey,” has just been published by John Wiley and Sons. Visit Greg's Web site at www.gregpatent.com.
About The Shack
The Shack, 222 W. Main St., is open Monday through Friday,
7 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 7 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. In the winter, dinner is served Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 5-9 p.m. Visit the Web site, www.theshackcafe.com, for menu and catering information. Telephone:
549-9903.
About this series
On the first Wednesday of each month, Greg Patent profiles western Montana chefs in the Missoulian Foods section. What motivates a chef as they create their signature dishes? And how is local food incorporated into their menus? We'll take you into the kitchen for answers.
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