By Rachel Hergett EBS COLUMNIST
“What is that face? You look confused,” someone said to me over a multi-course tasting menu at Fielding’s, the main floor restaurant in downtown Bozeman’s Armory Hotel.
I was confused. Down the table, I had heard someone mention a “sugar beet,” and in the context of the meal, I could not wrap my brain around how the sweet bland roots factored into our farm-to-table lunch.
Sugar beets are a white variety of beetroot that are the source of about 54% of domestically produced sugar, according to the American Sugarbeet Growers Association. As a crop, sugar beets have long ties to the farms of eastern Montana. Sugar beets amount to more than $100 million in business every year, according to a Billings Gazette’s article on the closing of the Sidney plant in spring 2023. Billings’ factory, part of the Western Sugar Cooperative, is still going strong.
But I digress. While beets were featured on the midweek tasting menu that was served to introduce new chef Shane Graybeal to area writers and media folks this month, the “sugar beet” that hit my ears was actually a name—Shuga’ Beet Farm Organics out of Livingston.
Shuga’ Beet is only the first of many names thrown out from a list of farms and producers that Graybeal has sought out since moving to Bozeman. Graybeal came to Montana for his honeymoon in March, and like so many others, wanted to stay. Once hired as Fielding’s chef, he spent his first month here seeking out local producers, attempting to source as much of his ingredients as possible from within a two-hour radius.
“My goal when I came to Fielding’s was to create a unique and memorable experience that was distinctly Montana in spirit and flavor,” Graybeal wrote in an introductory note to attendees.
While Fielding’s is attached to a hotel, I’m impressed at the Kimpton brand’s commitment to maintaining some form of community connection in the restaurant. Paintings on the walls by Hannah Uhde and LeeAnn Ramey feature recognizable buildings in Bozeman and beyond. Even the name, Fielding’s, is a nod to local history, named after architect Fred Fielding Willson, who designed the building as an armory. The original art deco style concrete building opened in 1941 to house the 163rd Infantry Regiment of the Montana National Guard and remained their home until 2003. Fielding’s design recalls the era, with tiled floors and leathery green semi-circular booths lending character to the intimate restaurant.
Graybeal calls the style he has brought to Fielding’s food “modern mountain cuisine.” While he changes the menu every couple weeks, it usually features proteins like trout and venison beside Tangen Draw bison and Wickens Ranch beef. There’s cheese from Almatheia, mushrooms from Sporattic and so much more. Graybeal’s goal is to source 90 to 95% of all ingredients from his neighbors.
In tasting, I enjoyed the supple tenderness of the bison and venison. They were juicy without a hint of gaminess. The former dish featured beets mixed with berries and a nice, tangy blue cheese and topped with microgreens. The latter had a caramelized yogurt with charred cauliflower and a huckleberry sauce. Both proteins had a rub reminiscent of a Chinese five-spice. I happily ate every bite on the plates, however, a little flavor variation would have improved the flow of the tasting menu.
With the farm-to-table commitment, it feels right that Graybeal makes vegetables shine. The tasting menu started with a perfectly spiced kabocha squash and ginger soup, followed by roasted carrots paired with Almathia’s Bozmano aged cheddar and an anchovy ranch that Graybeal calls a “ranchovy” dressing.
Next was a cabbage dish I can’t seem to get out of my mind. Yes, we’re talking about cabbage. Somehow, Graybeal has made this humblest of vegetables sing, roasting it and placing it on a sourdough puree with a drizzle of salsa verde and pine nuts. And yes, we’re also talking about a bread puree—a smooth, slightly tangy concoction that I would call the orchestra supporting the singing cabbage’s aria.
While the recipes may come from Graybeal’s mind, the carrots and cabbage came from a little farm in Park County known as Shuga’ Beet. And I am no longer confused. I will be back to have them again.
Rachel Hergett is a foodie and cook from Montana. She is arts editor emeritus at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and has written for publications such as Food Network Magazine and Montana Quarterly. Rachel is also the host of the Magic Monday Show on KGLT-FM and teaches at Montana State University.
