Art, food, history

By Erin Nicholes, of The Montana Standard - 11/18/2006

a section of the dining room is shown in the new restaurant at Park and Idaho.

A short time ago, the Park Hotel was just another has-been building.

Worn boards hid its windows and doors. Pigeons slipped in and out of openings. Exterior bricks were faded.

The once swanky, turn-of-the-century hotel “had been slated for (demolition),” said Karen Byrnes, Butte-Silver Bow County’s community development director.

“The whole center of the building had collapsed from water damage and fire. If you walked into the front door, all you saw was daylight. The roof was gone.” But this Saturday, visitors to the new Dodge Bros. Saloon and Eatery in the hotel’s basement will witness nothing short of miracle in urban renewal.

“It’s amazingly incredible,” Byrnes said.

The restaurant, offering a classic Montana menu with Brazilian flair, opens Saturday for lunch and dinner.

“It’s so absolutely perfect for Butte,” said owner John Richen, 57, a sculptor who came to Butte from California. “People love their meat, they love to eat as much as they want. They love the variety. I just feel like it’s a natural step.” The restaurant is an experience in unique cuisine, an example of historically sensitive revitalization and an adventure in modern art.

A below-the-street entrance — like the bar’s in the show “Cheers” — is marked by a heavy wooden door, its glass window etched with the Dodge Bros. logo. The name — shared with sister business the Dodge Bros. Cafe — is a nod to the car dealership that once inhabited the buildings.

Inside, an entry hallway leads visitors to a scene blending the Old West, Old Butte and metal sculpture, framed by original stone walls.

Throughout the restaurant, light wells expose mini-courtyards. In the dining room and bar, rust-colored walls and leather booths add Western warmth. Copper is everywhere — from light fixtures to wall panels — and mining carts hold the salad bar.

Everywhere the eye can roam — hidden in story-telling ceiling panels, Gothic wine-cellar doors and funky bar shelves — is Richen’s artwork.

“It is like one big sculpture,” said Richen, who bought the Park Hotel and its neighbor, the Berkshire Hotel, in 2005.

Fixtures and decor are made largely of recycled materials.

An intricate banister came from an old Butte hotel. A sparkling chandelier is an antique. Decorative pipes are the hotel’s original steam pipes.

“This is a wonderful combination of all of the things I found,” Richen said. “It evolved with a little art and a little history and trying to keep as much integrity with the historical part that we could.” That value sets the tone for Uptown Revitalization, Byrnes said.

“The history and culture has got to be incorporated in the redevelopment,” she said. “This is the catalyst.” While the Dodge Bros. atmosphere is upscale, the restaurant’s menu and pricing are Butte-tailored.

A weekly lunch buffet is $9. For lunch, a buffalo French dip rings in at $8. On the dinner menu, ancho-chile crusted filet mignon is $26 while Barolo-braised short ribs are $19.

For a culinary diversion, Dodge Bros. offers churrascaria-style menu items — meats cooked on a Brazilian rotisserie and served by gouchos, who deliver meats on long swords and slice them tableside.

“We’re introducing new things, but we want to keep it unpretentious,” said restaurant spokeswoman Brianna Nelson.

With quality as a priority, Richen brought executive chef Shawn Martin from Chicago, and sous chef Von Otsuka from New York.

“Take a look at the restaurant,” Martin said, wearing a chef’s apron in the kitchen as he explained moving here. “It’s simply gorgeous. We can introduce a new style of food to the community.” When it comes to introducing concepts Butte will grasp, Richen has proven himself skilled — Dodge Bros. Cafe is consistently busy.

He has also proven himself relentless in revitalization efforts.

A once run-down Arizona Street building is now his art studio. This winter, Richen Brewing Co. — headed by his son, Kevin Richen — will open in the warehouse district. And next spring, the Park Hotel will return to its full glory as an upscale inn.

It’s about so much more than bricks and mortar, he said.

“It represents an accumulation of a lot of what we believe in,” he said of his family’s revitalization efforts here. “We believe in music and art and food. It’s the way we grew up. It represents all of that.” Erin Nicholes may be reached at erin.nicholes@mtstandard.com