The Stables: New restaurant in downtown Missoula next to Cranky Sam

Jennifer and Jed Heggen, owners of Cranky Sam Public House at 233 W. Main in downtown Missoula, recently opened a new restaurant next door called the Stables.

They had already found success with Cranky Sam and it wasn’t like they weren’t busy enough, so Jenn Heggen just laughed when asked why they went through all the work to remodel the space and get another venture off the ground.

“I would say it’s more purely the love of this style of food and this style of environment, that I feel like is just kind of missing a little bit in Missoula,” she said.

They worked with head chef Jarrod Somaoang on the menu.

The poached and smoked salmon rillette is made with clarified butter, dill, fried capers, olives and baguette. Customers can also start off with steamer clams with garlic, white wine and andouille. The half Cornish game hen comes with white wine crème sauce, charred spring carrots, mushrooms and cannellini beans.

“So we do have a little bit of a French influence on the menu,” Heggen said. “You’re gonna see like duck confit, you’re gonna see salmon rillette, things like that, patés. But also we’ve got a real fun take on niçoise salad that Chef Jarrod put in that’s got mahi mahi on it and it’s got a guava-based dressing and macadamia nuts. So there’s a little Pacific flair in there as well. The aguachile is the same. So it’s kind of a hodgepodge. It’s things we love to eat.”

The prime New York strip steak is the No. 1 seller so far, she noted.

Heggen said they put a lot of thought into the design of the interior and the atmosphere.

“It’s a little bit of an escape,” she said. “It’s more like being in the big city where you’re sitting close to one another in space. It also has upscale service. It’s not fine dining. I like to call it ‘finer dining.’ It’s just a little bit better than what we’re seeing in town, in my opinion. And the food is trying to be that. It’s working its way in that direction. Trying not to be aloof about it though, still approachable.”

Heggen said they still encourage people to show up in shorts and T-shirts to get a cocktail or a glass of wine before a concert.

She installed a high-end system for their wine pours, where the bottles sit sealed in argon gas.

“So we can do glass pours here that are really tough to do elsewhere,” she said. “Because we don’t lose any wine. The wine stays fresh in there for up to like a month and a half. So maybe you want to do a flight. You can have a glass of wine from France but also put it next to a glass of wine from Napa Valley or something like that.”

They’ve also got a full cocktail menu created by their expert bartenders.

“There’s one on there that’s a clarified milk punch tequila drink that is just delicious,” Heggen said.

The building, which Heggen said she’s been told is perhaps the third-oldest in town, was built in the late 1800s using river rock and huge timbers, but it’s still in great shape. Still, it needed a lot of work to become a restaurant, especially since they put in a brand new kitchen with all new equipment.

“It’s kind of a modern take on an old French stable,” Heggen explained.

Combined with Cranky Sam, they’re up to about 75 employees now.

Cranky Sam Public House also has its own food menu, including a popular smash burger and an island pork plate.

There’s still more to come at the Stables as well.

“We’re actually working with a couple people in town to kind of bring a fun little appetizer menu out that is just the 4-5 o’clock hour,” Heggen said.

Starting a new restaurant in Missoula is risky and takes a lot of work, she said, but it’s been rewarding.

“I’m very proud of this,” she said. “You do something like this, it’s risky. You’re putting yourself out there. And people love to be critical. So you hope people like it. But the feedback has been very positive, so that’s great.”