31 Jul Dining Out: Rooted in Place

If there were only one moment to capture a dining experience, let it be this one: My date and I had just finished the Smoked Mangalitsa Pork Tostada, which we had smelled the moment it hit open flame, the air so smoky and sweet. From its texture — crisp outside, tender inside — to the artistry of its presentation, this appetizer was an ideal introduction to our meal. We didn’t leave so much as a shred of white cabbage on the plate. Nor a dot of Fresno chile.

But that’s not the moment, perfect as it was.

Ember’s understated facade at 131 W. Main St. in downtown Hamilton belies the big bold flavors served within.

No. This is: My date removed himself from the table momentarily, and I jotted a few lines in my notebook, taking my eyes off the table for 10 seconds, maybe 15. But, in that time, someone swept in unnoticed and unheard to remove the bare plate and re-fold my date’s napkin, placing it on the table, a new beginning. I never even saw her. Or him. In so many restaurants, the server would have made theater of that. But not at Ember. At Ember, stealth is tied to purpose.

Another thing about Ember, though, is that there doesn’t have to be just one moment. In fact, there won’t be. A meal at Ember — a 2024 culinary addition to the main drag in Hamilton, Montana — will be a collection of delicious, surprising, perfectly curated, and intentional moments.

The Hamachi sashimi with ponzu sauce, Montana apples, wasabi, and a sesame rice crisp is as elegantly sculptural as it is delectable.

An upscale eatery that is hyper-local and elegant but in no way fussy, Ember was founded by Chef Brandon Dearden and Christina Dearden, partners in everything. “No one has shaped me more than Christina,” Brandon says after acknowledging culinary mentors in restaurants across the country, from his first job as a dishwasher in Alexandria, Virginia, to fine dining and Michelin-starred spots up and down both coasts. “Her clarity, heart, and resilience are the reason Ember exists.”

Brandon and Christina Dearden have successfully paired fine ingredients with exquisite preparation, excellent service, and zero pretence. “Yes, we aim for excellence, but it’s not about ego. It’s about hospitality,” says Brandon. “Opening Grano taught us a lot about what our community responds to: warmth, transparency, and food that honors where we live.”

The Deardens moved to the Bitterroot Valley in 2022 with “a dream and a lot of grit.” Since then, they’ve managed to open two acclaimed restaurants blocks apart in Hamilton: Ember and Grano. The latter is a more casual artisan pasta and pizza place that emphasizes Montana grains, regenerative agriculture, and, like Ember, wood-fired cooking. Both restaurants design their menus around locally produced meat, locally grown produce, fresh-caught fish, and whatever wild ingredients they may come across. Getting to know their new home has transformed the Deardens into avid foragers who preserve, cure, and smoke their bounty. The vision for Ember, Brandon explains, was to “bring a world-class dining experience to the Bitterroot Valley, something rooted in fire, seasonality, and storytelling.”

Chef Brandon Dearden (left) maintains the intense focus of an artist as he and grill cook Matthew Wasserman plate tostadas with applewood crackling behind them.

Here’s another moment: Christina makes her way across the restaurant — already hopping at 5:30 p.m. — like she’s walking through her living room, entirely comfortable and with an easy smile. Before us, she places a New York strip with braised shallots and a red wine reduction. Then, she sets down another plate of steelhead trout with fennel-pollen butter, local sautéed spinach, crispy garlic chips, and a mixed herb salad, and, finally, the restaurant’s signature 24-Hour Potato with cheddar sauce that is so beautiful I think it might be dessert. Christina is matter-of-fact in her delight as she tells us where everything was sourced, almost all of it from growers in the area. Like the pork tostada we are still mooning over, each of these dishes is infused with the taste of applewood smoke. And also like the first dish, everything Christina puts down on the table is so artfully presented as to elicit laughter. As in, “Are you kidding me?”

We eat it all.

Server Alex Rogers opens a bottle of wine for guests on a recent evening service.

“I love cooking over fire,” Brandon says. “There’s nothing like the immediacy and depth it brings. A dry-aged steak, a whole fish, or even a humble vegetable like charred cabbage is brought to life.”

It’s no coincidence that Brandon uses the word “humble” in describing what he loves. What astonishes us throughout the meal is the pairing of such fine ingredients — Living River Farms chicken, Wagyu beef, fire-roasted Montana apples, and Sweet Roots greens — with exquisite preparation, excellent service, and zero pretense. Brandon is pleased with our noticing. “Yes, we aim for excellence, but it’s not about ego. It’s about hospitality,” he says. “Opening Grano taught us a lot about what our community responds to: warmth, transparency, and food that honors where we live.” 

Ember’s interiors reflect the Deardens’ intention: to provide an upscale dining experience grounded in local flavor and straightforward elegance.

The restaurant fills with people who look like they work down the road rather than folks dressed up to audition as extras for Yellowstone. We are served quickly and efficiently, but no one rushes. “We obsess over details,” Brandon admits, as I glance at the handmade plates and note the faint sound of a piano playing a tune I can’t quite recognize. “Not for praise,” he continues, “but because that’s how we respect the guest.”

That respect is evident when Christina brings the next plate to our table. This one offers a curve of pale pink Hamachi sashimi over wasabi cream with Montana apple and a sesame rice crisp that looks as if sculptor Isamu Noguchi himself is working prep tonight. This plate, too, goes back to the kitchen without so much as a spicy herb remaining.

Miraculously, there are things on the menu we don’t try: braised Bitterroot Valley lamb chops, a brined bone-in chicken breast, filet mignon with mushroom-cognac sauce, a Wagyu Cowboy Ribeye for two. But make no mistake, we will be back.

The Kalispell Kreamery ice cream atop oatmeal streusel, drizzled with honey, and finished with a caramelized honeycomb crisp is nothing short of transcendent.

When it’s time for dessert, Christina delivers two more masterpieces to the table, the kind of desserts you might dream up if you had nothing but imagination, time, and an unabashed sweet tooth. The first is the most glamorous grown-up s’more, featuring toasted marshmallow fluff, chocolate crémeux, chocolate crumbles, and banana-brown-butter ice cream with a dusting of Earl Grey. It’s as delectable as you think it is. The other is their Kalispell Kreamery ice cream atop oatmeal streusel, drizzled with honey, and topped with a caramelized honeycomb crisp. This one is the best dessert I’ve ever eaten. Hard stop.

When I ask Brandon about place and whether their relationship with the Bitterroot has driven the vision for Ember or whether Ember has shaped the way they have learned the valley, he is clear and, not unsurprisingly, humble. “The Bitterroot changed our lives. When we arrived, we were outsiders with a dream. But the land, the people, the pace… it worked on us. It slowed us down and taught us to pay attention. Now, everything we cook is a conversation with this place,” he says. That we can taste those words in every bite makes for an entire evening of singular moments.

We go back to our desserts, passing them back and forth, alternating between mmmmmming and giggling, delighting in the sound of a heavy spoon against a kiln-dried bowl. We eat until it is gone.

24-Hour Potato with Cheddar Sauce

The 24-Hour Potato is as comforting as it is artful. | Photo by Ember

Makes one 9- by 13-inch pan

Potato

4 cups heavy cream
4 garlic cloves, smashed
4 sprigs thyme
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 bay leaves
4 pounds russet or Yukon gold potatoes
2 tablespoons kosher salt
Beef tallow (or neutral oil), for searing

Simmer cream with garlic, thyme, peppercorns, and bay leaves. Remove from heat and steep for 5 minutes. Strain and discard solids.

Thinly slice potatoes — ideally with a mandoline — tossing with salt as you go. Let these sit for 5 minutes. Pour hot cream over potatoes and let sit for 2 minutes or until pliable.

Line a greased 9- by 13-inch pan with parchment. Layer potatoes tightly, pressing gently every few layers to remove air pockets. Cover the pan with parchment and foil. Bake at 325°F for 1.5 to 2 hours or until the center reaches 170°.

Remove foil, top with a second pan or board, and weigh it down. Chill overnight.

When ready to eat, cut into squares and sear both sides in hot beef tallow until crisp and golden. Top with cheddar sauce, prepared as follows:

Cheddar sauce

1 cup whole milk
6 grams (1 heaping teaspoon) sodium citrate
270 grams (about 2¼ cups) shredded mild cheddar cheese

Heat milk and sodium citrate in a saucepan until simmering. Add cheese gradually, blending with an immersion blender until smooth.

Optionally, use an iSi canister for a foamy finish.

Carter Walker is the author of several guidebooks, including two upcoming editions of Moon Montana & Wyoming (November 2025) and Moon Yellowstone to Glacier National Park Road Trip (May 2026). She spends a lot of time on the road between Montana’s Horseshoe Hills and the Yaak Valley.

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.