GREAT FALLS — Before it housed businesses like River and Range Bistro, the Columbus Center was a hospital — and the place where chef and owner Drew Brennan’s father was born.
Now, he’s drawing from that family connection, locally grown ingredients, and his own experiences as he builds his first restaurant.
WATCH Madison Collier's report below:
The team opened the Bistro in May as a weekend pop-up inside Saibeen’s Kitchen. At the time, the two restaurants shared the dining room and kitchen.
“It’s a very strange thing, finding fine dining in an Indian restaurant in an old hospital in Great Falls,” Brennan laughed.
After Saibeen’s moved downtown, he had the opportunity to expand throughout the space. With that, Brennan hopes to bring new additions to his menu, while keeping it relatively small. Though, as Brennan explained, the expansion is about bringing his vision together.
“When I think about what good food is, good food should have two elements,” he explained. “It should have a little bit of the personality of the person that’s making it and then a little bit of the place that you’re in.”
At River and Range Bistro, that place is Great Falls.
Brennan was born and raised in the community and says he grew up hunting, fishing and foraging. Now, those experiences influence how he creates his own dishes.
Additionally, he explained their selections change with the seasons, meaning what the menu looked like in May may not look familiar as October approaches.
“When someone gets a plate from our restaurant, I want them to see that intimacy and really realize that we put a lot of time and effort and care into every component on their plate,” Brennan said.
Some of those components begin at Red’s Root Cellar, a small Great Falls farm owned by Alysha Merenz. Merenz explained the partnership began earlier this year. Brennan had visited the farm to see and learn more about what Merenz was growing.
Brennan and Merenz chose to keep the partnership flexible as both businesses got started. Rather than committing to provide a set amount of produce, Merenz sends Brennan a list of what the farm has available each week.
Brennan chooses what he can use, and Merenz harvests the order shortly before it is delivered.
“I just fulfill that for him either the day before delivery or day of delivery,” Merenz said. “So everything that he is getting is very fresh.”
The arrangement gives Merenz another place to send larger harvests while giving Brennan access to produce grown just miles from his kitchen.
The arrangement has allowed the two businesses to grow alongside each other.
“They just started, so we’re kind of growing with them at the same time, which I think is a really beautiful thing,” Brennan said.
Merenz said one of the most rewarding parts of the partnership is seeing what happens after the produce leaves her farm.
“To see your produce being created into something really beautiful — I can grow it, but I can’t necessarily create the dishes that he does,” Merenz said. “And he does a fantastic job of making everything look so beautiful.”
As the dining room and menu expand, Brennan hopes River and Range Bistro can become a place people return to for birthdays, anniversaries, or an ordinary night out.
“The whole concept of a bistro is really a place that’s embedded in the community and a place that people come to frequently and almost feel like a second home,” Brennan said.
For Brennan, the restaurant’s next chapter is about creating something unique to Great Falls while staying connected to the community that shaped him.
“River and Range Bistro is our place as a community,” Brennan said. “It’s a really special place to me and to my family, and I just hope I can share that with everyone that walks through our doors.”
For the latest information about River and Range Bistro’s hours, menu, and reservations, visit the restaurant’s website or social media pages.
