Bozeman’s Blackbird Kitchen Adds Business Hours
Bozeman has in its repertoire of eating establishments a very wide variety of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Starting this last weekend, the Blackbird Kitchen now offers foodstuffs for each repast. The Blackbird is, in this commentator’s opinion, one of the finer eating establishments we are graced with here in Bozeman.
With the functions of a full bakery, the casual but chic vibe of a European bistro, and the savory meal options to satiate most patrons taste’s for fine fair, the Blackbird Kitchen has certainly made its imprint on the Bozeman community as a place to banquet. This last weekend the Blackbird added to their existing business hours of 5:30pm to 9:30pm on weekdays and till 10pm on weekends; café hours of 8am to 2pm Tuesday through Sunday.
Café hours at the Blackbird will offer patrons freshly baked sweet and savory pastries, quiche, a full espresso bar and of course the Blackbirds famous bread. For lunch options, owners Josh and Shannon Gibson thought up a tasteful selection of sandwiches and soups for a delicious light mid-day meal selection. I recently visited the blackbird for coffee and a scone, and got to chat with Josh about the recent on-goings at the Blackbird.
Brief History of blackbird kitchen
Shannon and I opened the Blackbird two years ago after a year of living abroad in Paris. We were in Paris so that Shannon could continue to study bread baking in the heartland. Ultimately, baking good bread was the start of the Blackbird. We built a wood fired oven and let the menu develop around it. Making pizza at night was a natural progression. As we cook by fire at night we're essentially heating the oven for the bake the next day. In the morning we sweep out the coals and load the bread, it's a nice cycle. The build out of Blackbird was very personal. We did almost all of the work ourselves: we laid the floor that we milled from salvaged timbers, did all the tile work in the kitchen, built all the counters and fixtures, made the tables, built the oven and even fabricated the chandelier in the dining room.
Why the expansion into café hours (8am-2pm)?
Cafe hours are actually where we intended to start. Our business plan was to open a bakery! But as we got into it we realized that it made more financial sense to open for dinner first. So now we're finally coming full circle and doing what we set out to do in the first place. We have a long love affair with cafe culture, with coffee and the whole sense of community when a place is buzzing. Where else in the city do people spontaneously converge to relax and socialize?
What special fare will be offered during café hours?
Shannon really went for it with the croissants. I thought she was crazy because croissant is fairly labor intensive and very technically demanding. But she's totally nailing it. I think our croissants are some of the best I've had anywhere, including Paris. We're also really into coffee and look forward to sharing the tasty espresso we're brewing.
What do you hope to come from opening café hours?
With cafe hours we hope to connect with more and more people. New angles attract new people, so it's a way to create a bigger community by doing something we're really psyched about and proud of.
Other future plans and aspirations for the blackbird/ café hours?
One of these days we'd like to put a proper sign on the building.
Anything else you may want to add.
Blackbird.......anytime!
If you haven’t yet, head downtown and stop by at the Blackbird for breakfast, lunch, or dinner Tuesday - Sunday. They are located at 140 E. Main St., Bozeman, MT 59715.
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