{"id":869,"date":"2014-02-19T19:30:58","date_gmt":"2014-02-20T02:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lastbestnews.com\/site\/?p=869"},"modified":"2014-02-19T08:21:39","modified_gmt":"2014-02-19T15:21:39","slug":"cafe-decamp-founder-planning-bigger-better-eatery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/2014\/02\/cafe-decamp-founder-planning-bigger-better-eatery\/","title":{"rendered":"Cafe DeCamp founder planning bigger, better eatery"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jason<\/a>

Pete Tolton<\/p>

In a cramped, temporary kitchen in Carter's Brewing, chef Jason Corbridge torches handmade sourdough pretzels. The preparations were part of a Sour Beer Dinner at the brewery last weekend.<\/p><\/div>\n

When Caf\u00e9 DeCamp closed a year ago Monday, many people were left wondering about the small restaurant, once nestled in Billings\u2019 industrial North Side.<\/p>\n

At the time, the caf\u00e9 had made the transition from cult favorite to go-to gourmet hangout and it was poised to grow. Demolition had begun in what was to be a new location on Montana Avenue. The space offered more seating, an expanded kitchen and the promise of a fully realized restaurant from Jason Corbridge, Caf\u00e9 DeCamp\u2019s co-owner and executive chef. Since then, anyone craving Corbridge\u2019s innovative, locally sourced cuisine has had little option but to salivate.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s about to change. Corbridge plans to open a new restaurant by June, teamed with financier Greg Oliphant, who was involved in the Koinonia Mexican restaurant and outreach program that served the South Side from the mid-1980s until its closure in 1995.<\/p>\n

Corbridge and Oliphant began talks last June. Corbridge was working, briefly, as executive chef at the West End Jake\u2019s Bar & Grill; Oliphant was scouting for an executive chef for a restaurant still in the dream phase.\u00a0What began as chit-chat between a respected chef and a hungry entrepreneur has grown into a restaurant-to-be ready to take root. They are eyeing three spots \u2014 all of them on Montana Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have really been struggling to nail down a location. At this point, we have almost had three locations,\u201d Corbridge said.<\/p>\n

Wherever it lands, the envisioned eatery will make Caf\u00e9 DeCamp \u2014 which employees lovingly referred to as \u201cthe shack\u201d \u2014 look like, well, a shack.<\/p>\n

Corbridge said the new business will be a bar, eatery and ale house \u201cwith a focus on the choicest craft beer possible \u2014 just good beer. Lots of draft, lots of food, and probably at least 100 chairs.\u201d To feed the chairs\u2019 occupants, he will have five different menus \u2014 weekend brunch, lunch, dinner, wine and beer \u2014 all of which will cycle seasonally.<\/p>\n

Since the closure of Caf\u00e9 DeCamp, Corbridge has participated in a handful of one-off dinner events, all with a carefully selected drink to pair with every course. Last weekend, Corbridge partnered with Mike Uhrich, the brewmaster at Carter\u2019s Brewing, for a Sour Beer Dinner. The five courses, ranging from a \u201crye flour and blackstrap molasses licorice taffy\u201d to \u201ccoriander and black pepper crusted caprine,\u201d all came to the table with a special sour beer.

\"CapreAir_Variable\"<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re wondering about \u201ccaprine,\u201d it\u2019s goat. The goat in question came from just outside of Billings, courtesy of farmers Alexis Bonogofsky and Mike Scott, who could be found seated among the crowd at the dinner. Scott was on a flight from Denver and had to miss the first part of the meal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope he gets here in time to eat some goat because he\u2019s the one who had to kill it,\u201d Bonogofsky said earlier. Fortunately for Scott, he did.<\/p>\n

Many of the 50 people in attendance were regulars of Caf\u00e9 DeCamp. They enjoyed the rare opportunity to enjoy Corbridge\u2019s creations, crafted in his image of good food: locally sourced when possible, often adventurous and always thoughtful.<\/p>\n

Hesitant to define the fare of his new restaurant, Corbridge described it as \u201cprogressive American.\u201d He will offer much of what patrons have come to expect \u2014 the popular bison burger and wild mushroom pasta from Caf\u00e9 DeCamp will make their return \u2014 along with some new dishes. The beer and wine menus will feature small plates, like tapas or pinchos, each with a beverage suggestion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will be able to do things I haven\u2019t been able to do before because Caf\u00e9 DeCamp was so limiting,\u201d Corbridge said. The old restaurant had 586 square feet of floor space; the new joint will have at least 5,000.<\/p>\n

After a location is secured, the next step will be to obtain a liquor license. Then, floor plans. At some point, he\u2019ll have to give the thing a name. Currently, Corbridge said, \u201cIt has, like, 28 names.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides serving as a boon to area foodies, the venture will mark a new period in Corbridge\u2019s life, once plagued by disarray and marital stress entangled in the closure of Caf\u00e9 DeCamp. He co-owned the restaurant with his now ex-wife, Emily.<\/p>\n

\u201cDivorce is dissolution,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a business that was built on my family, the marriage, the union I had. I did not see it fit, nor did I see it healthy, to try to sustain that business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corbridge considered opening a different restaurant with a new name in the space intended for the new Caf\u00e9 DeCamp, but now he\u2019s glad he didn\u2019t. Since the closure, Corbridge worked brief stints in the kitchens of Jake\u2019s and the Fieldhouse Caf\u00e9. He has also catered private and public events.<\/p>\n

He can\u2019t wait to run his own place again. \u201cCooking for somebody else is a bad idea for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019d rather wash dishes, lay railroad ties, even clean toilets.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a person who\u2019s a strong believer in spirit,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s a lot of food in my spirit. I guess you could call that passion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pete Tolton has been writing, editing, and designing for small publications in Montana since 2009. He also freelances in print design, graphics and photography.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Caf\u00e9 DeCamp closed a year ago Monday, many people were left wondering about the small restaurant, once nestled in Billings\u2019 industrial North Side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,17],"tags":[167,168,170,166,171,169],"class_list":["post-869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-billings","category-culture","tag-cafe-decamp","tag-carters-brewing","tag-greg-oliphant","tag-jason-corbridge","tag-koinonia","tag-mike-uhrich","prominence-category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/montana-mint.com\/lastbestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}