New breakfast option opens in Big Sky
By Tyler Allen EBS Senior Editor
BIG SKY – There are certain elements of a resort community that make it desirable for locals, and an essential destination for visitors.
In Big Sky, this means a massive ski area with reliable snow, a burgeoning mountain bike scene, golf courses designed by PGA legends, blue ribbon trout streams, and great restaurants. Scott Hoeksema believes he’s found an opportunity to improve the latter, and on Feb. 1 he plans to open a new breakfast joint call Buttr in the space formerly occupied by the Lotus Pad, which he also co-owns.
The Lotus Pad is moving to the brand-new 47 Town Center building and he jumped on that occasion to fill what he identifies as a deficiency in Big Sky breakfast options.
“There’s such an obvious niche that wasn’t being filled in the market,” Hoeksema said.
Buttr will be open from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday and offer a simple, speedy dining experience.
The menu will be small with an emphasis on quality, simplicity and quick preparation, using regional and natural ingredients whenever possible, Hoeksema said. Offerings planned include fried chicken and waffles; crispy, shredded hash browns; and healthy options like granola and yogurt. The first menu item listed will be the old standby of two eggs, hash browns and toast.
The restaurant’s name was inspired by—you guessed it—butter.
“It’s definitely a major ingredient in a lot of breakfast items, and it’s catchy,” Hoeksema said.
The Grand Rapids, Michigan native has lived in Big Sky since 2004 and in addition to his business ventures, also works part-time as the asset manager for Big Sky Community Organization and a bartender at Beehive Basin Brewery. His passion for the area is apparent when you get him talking about this new business venture.
“I partly feel like it’s a community service to do this,” Hoeksema said. “I went to school in Bozeman and going out to breakfast was a huge deal. If we truly want to be a ski town, to me it feels incomplete without a great breakfast place to go to. I’m doing my part to make the town a better place to live.”
The Cat’s Paw was one of Hoeksema’s favorite Bozeman haunts during college, and he hinted at bringing back one of its simple, very cheap specials on occasion for Big Sky breakfast patrons.
Hoeksema hopes to have a liquor license by the spring, with mimosas, bloody marys and likely a couple of beers on the menu.
“It won’t be an expansive selection of alcohol—same with the theme of the food—a very small menu to do a few things very well,” he said. “We’re going to just … concentrate on quality, execution and making it fast.”
Hoeksema has hired six employees—three in the kitchen and three in the front of the house—and says he’d like to have some lunch items on the menu by summer.
Buttr will be located at 120 Big Pine Drive, No. 2, in Westfork Plaza’s Blue Mall building.
