BIGFORK – With the Swan River rushing by in the background and the leaves on the trees dancing in the gentle, early-summer breezes, there isn’t much the new business owners at Brookside Yard have to do to improve upon the location.
The building – which houses a small bakery and kitchen and some seating – was for years home to Brookies Cookies, one of Bigfork’s most iconic businesses in the last few decades. In recent years, the cookie shop also expanded its interests to a bar in the adjoining yard, complete with seating, music, bonfires, and tasty beverages.
Now, the new lease holders for the spot – Quindee Averill and Alexandra Hoeft – intend on expanding the food, drink, and entertainment possibilities while largely keeping the location as is with the new venture, Brookside Yard.
Chase Averill, Quindee’s brother and the director of business development at Flathead Lake Lodge, under which Brookside Yard is now a subsidiary, said he got involved with the new business to help facilitate its transfer to his sister and Hoeft.
He said they signed the lease just a few weeks ago, and got to work upgrading the facilities. Already, they’ve added space on the front porch, reinforced the railing around the back deck, and gave the outdoor concert space a facelift.
“The atmosphere is kind of like taking a brewery outdoors, family friendly, bring your dog, sit by the river and sit by the fire, good music, have a cocktail or a beer,” Chase Averill said.
Inside, the new business intends on expanding on the cookie bakery aspect of the location’s history, by keeping cookies and cinnamon rolls on the menu and adding healthy, grab-and-go breakfast options, such as fresh juices, smoothies, acai bowls, granolas, yogurts, and more baked goods.
“In the morning we’ll have the bakery and coffee,” said Hoeft, who moved from Minnesota to run the business with Quindee Averill. “Afternoons, we’d like to have the yard open if the community wanted to use it for a yoga class, for instance. Evenings transition to an event space, with concerts, cocktails and maybe some easy snacks.”
Brookside Yard hosted a party during the Whitewater Festival on Memorial Day Weekend, which Chase Averill said was a way to keep up the location’s community traditions.
“We just wanted to do something for the community, because that’s such an iconic part of the Whitewater Festival where people have access to the river,” he said.
Now, the crew will get back to work to bring the business up to speed for a grand opening at the end of June. There are plans to obtain a liquor license, and potentially partnering with food trucks once the outdoor bar gains momentum.
With Brookies Cookies holding such a sweet spot in Bigfork’s history, Chase Averill said he was aware of rumors that as new lease holders, they would be developing the land for a hotel or other business interests that would cut off access to the river and completely change the location.
That, he said, is not true.
“The intent is to continue to maintain a character downtown spot and service for the community that I think we all feel adds a lot to the little community of Bigfork and provides a really unique location for food and beverages,” he said.
In other words, the character of the location will stay largely the same, while the services offered will expand.
Upcoming events will fall onto the schedule soon, with a June 20 concert already planned, featuring Billy Peterson, who has played guitar with the Righteous Brothers, the Steve Miller Band, and won a 1975 Grammy for his work on the bass on Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” album. Peterson received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 2015 for his work on Dylan’s album.
Maintaining the character the community has come to love about the location is important, Chase Averill said, and so is adding more services and providing a space for everyone, including families, to hang out.
“It’s an inviting space for all sorts of people,” he said.