21 Nov Dining Out: A Treat for the Senses

For anyone walking into Feast, the first impression might be grace and style, with a dash of comfort and a contemporary twist. The decor is upscale but not uppity. You can still wear jeans, but you don’t have to.

The restaurant’s name itself conjures the Greek god Dionysus pouring wine and grabbing whatever pleases him from an overflowing cornucopia. Luckily for us, Feast is a bit more cultured. The seafood-forward offerings are more evocative of Poseidon’s vibe, without the angst.

From the array of appetizers to the main courses and desserts, the menu is tastefully curated. The raw oysters and prosecco, the spicy yet colorful ceviche, and the steamed mussels in a creamy coconut curry sauce all convey the sensuous splurge of going out.

Executive Chef Nikki Dupre received her culinary degree from the Cordon Bleu in Minneapolis. She expresses her creativity through locally sourced fresh food.

And there is plenty of dipping and crunching, perfect bites for sharing and tasting. The seasonally changing ceviche comes with golden fried wontons to heap the citrus- and spice-enhanced cured fish on top. Have one and pass it around.

The caramelized diver scallop main course, rich in drizzled brown butter and dusted with Prosecco salt, is accompanied by crispy bacon butternut arancini with arugula pesto and herbed mushrooms, presenting both an indulgence for the eyes and a delicate yet filling main dish.

“We got the inspiration to open the restaurant because we wanted to create something that wasn’t in Bozeman, not dumb down the cuisine,” owner Steve Kuntz says. “We wanted the food to be bold and exciting, the place to be somewhere we would want to go eat. We chose seafood because it wasn’t really available in town. I knew what kind of seafood we had access to, and what I thought this town was ready for … we didn’t want to pigeonhole ourselves.”

Feast, a community gathering place, also offers intimate two-person tables and a friendly neighborhood bar.

The menu at Feast adheres to its theme, with seasonal changes, but it tends to walk the line that is not exclusively seafood, with some specials, a raw food bar, and good steaks. “We knew it was going to be more expensive, with fresh seafood, and it would be a little more work on our end, but we wanted to have that range,” Kuntz says. 

When Feast opened its doors 10 years ago, Bozeman seemed ready for elevated cuisine. Located near Montana State University and the Museum of the Rockies — with a regular influx of Big Sky visitors — Feast seemed to Kuntz and his partner Nicholas Wickes like a concept built to last.

Located on West Kagy in Bozeman, Montana, Feast is close to Montana State University and across the street from the Museum of the Rockies, in a space both off the beaten path and accessible.

After a decade and counting, Feast has become a favored neighborhood restaurant, even offering burgers, though of course they’re not regular burgers: Wagyu beef with pancetta, local goat cheese, mango chutney, and arugula on a brioche bun, accompanied by dangerously addictive French fries.

Executive Chef Nikki Dupre, a formally trained culinary professional with a passion for creating unique, healthy, and locally sourced fare, has been at Feast since 2019.

Due to the COVID pandemic, Dupre’s transition from line cook to executive chef took an unconventional turn. Almost as soon as she arrived, businesses were shutting down, people were baking sourdough bread at home by the ton, and eating out felt like jumping from an airplane without a parachute.

Fortunately for Feast, Dupre revamped the menu and began a takeout service that survives to this day, although the options are more limited. “We kept it to six or seven items,” Dupre says. “It ended up being something people really enjoyed.”

Dark wood and bright blue chairs offer a cozy experience for customers. Reservations are recommended.

Joining Feast after her previous catering job in Big Sky was a pivotal change for Dupre. “When Steve asked me to work at Feast, I wasn’t sure it was something I wanted to do,” she says. But the more she thought about it, the more the idea felt right. “Catering was getting to be too much: Breaking down and setting up a new restaurant for every job, working with trucks and vans, and preparing dinners in the middle of a field got old. So, when Steve reached out to me, I decided on a career instead of a side job.”

Dupre cooks the things she likes to eat, steering her customers toward healthier indulgences and priding herself on sourcing from local suppliers like Chance Farm, Amatheia Organic Dairy, and Gallatin Valley Botanical. “We do our best to work with local farms and ranches,” she says. “There are a lot of staples on the menu that we don’t change. But I’ve been slowly changing things here and there, rotating things out, keeping things similar but different. We have a short growing season, so we have to be creative about getting fresh items and local produce.”

Rich diver scallops, blackened to perfection in clarified butter, are paired with arugula pesto, local SporeAttic mushrooms, bacon arancini, and grilled seasonal vegetables, making for an exceptional and surprisingly filling meal.

Kuntz’s thinking aligns with Dupre’s. “People have become enamored of certain dishes, and we don’t want them to change,” Kuntz says. “It’s a challenge to change just enough that no one feels like they lost their best friend.”

The wine list includes none of the usual suspects. Instead, Kuntz intentionally searches for wines with interesting backstories and the character to convey those narratives. For Kuntz, pairing wine with food invites diners to discover something new, deepen their appreciation for the winemaking process, and explore the interwoven history of each bottle. “The place, the soil, the history, that’s the fun of it,” he says. “I wanted to create a list where people could discover something new.”

Kuntz finds great enjoyment in the history each wine brings to the table. He is passionate about assembling a wine list that goes beyond the ordinary, seeking out selections with unique backgrounds and flavors. “From the beginning, we planned on the wine bar being as important as any other piece of the restaurant,” says Kuntz.

Owner Steve Kuntz conceived of Feast as both a neighborhood restaurant and a raw bar 10 years ago.

High-acid low-alcohol wines work best with Feast’s menu because, as Kuntz describes it, “You take your bite and have a sip of wine, which washes your palate and then makes you take another bite of food.”

Feast lists eight types of bubbly to go with the raw bar, as well.  He has considered adding some dessert wines to go with the Bittersweet Chocolate Mousse or even the Marsala Chai Panna Cotta. But that’s for the future.

Kuntz attributes Feast’s success to a nourishing atmosphere and word-of-mouth recommendations that have built a loyal and well-fed following.

Kimchi Saketini

Makes 1 drink

3 ounces sake

1 ounce kimchi liquid (leftover from 
fermentation)

½ ounce vin d’orange (white wine infused 
with ginger and orange)

½ ounce fresh-squeezed orange juice

In a cocktail shaker, combine all the ingredients with lots of ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a coupe glass. Garnish with an orange twist.

Freelance art writer, teaching professor, and author Michele Corriel earned her master’s degree in art history and her doctorate in American art. She has received a number of awards for her nonfiction, as well as her poetry. Her latest book, Montana Modernists: Shifting Perceptions of Western Art (Washington State University Press, 2022), won four awards, including a national award from the Western History Association.

Photographer Lynn Donaldson shoots regularly for National Geographic, National Geographic Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Sunset, and The New York Times. The founder and editor of the Montana food and travel blog The Last Best Plates, Donaldson lives outside of Livingston, Montana with her husband and three children.