At the moment—and we know it won’t last long—the mornings in Missoula are crisp and the afternoons are mostly warm and sun-dappled, with occasional rain. On a recent Friday, late morning, Brasserie Porte Rouge hosted a soft launch of its new lunch menu. The bright red door was wide open, letting some of that cool autumn air inside, and the windows at the front of the restaurant framed golden leaves. The fireplace made it cozy. Amy Winehouse’s “Valerie” made it sultry. Going back to work after this lunch suddenly seemed unlikely.
The new lunch menu features soups and salads—some that reflect the season, like the grilled fruit and squash salads. Sandwiches include a smashburger (two smashed patties with cheese, lettuce, pickles, onions and smash sauce), a French dip and a pissaladiere (open-faced olive-onion flatbread, green bean relish, cured egg yolk, crispy potato and arugula). There are also plates and boards, with cheese, duck confit, steak frites and other deliciousness.
The smashburger seems like the obviously indulgent choice—and it was very cheesy, saucy and rich. But the grilled fruit salad ended up being the most decadent and the most representative of fall splendor (butter lettuce, grilled stone fruit, triple cream brie, saba, dried blueberries, grilled baguette, fresh strawberries and pickled shallots). The gratin and egg served with grilled endive jam? Satisfying for people who still want something breakfast-ish even late into the day. If you lunch with a beer or a glass of wine, there are plenty of options, but Nourishing Culture’s strawberry guava kombuchas hit the spot for this meal.
Since its opening in early 2022, BPR has been a dinner venue offering classic French dishes with irreverent twists. It’s been a place for fancy celebrations and date nights, but also the kind of spot where you can casually show up for a seat at the bar. Take a load off with a beer and oysters. Chat with bartenders. Conspire the night away.
The BPR owners want lunch to be whatever people need it to be: business meeting, casual friend meetup or a solo drop in. The loft can be reserved for larger parties. There will soon be an option to order online for takeout.
This new lunch menu comes just a little over a week after Burns Street Bistro—the favorite Westside brunch and lunch spot owned by the same people—was put to rest. It’s not exactly reincarnation, though Chef Walker Hunter says there’s a little bit of that. The lunch menu mostly includes types of dishes and ingredients that people have enjoyed from BPR’s dinner menu.
“But we brought some things over from Burns Street, as far as spirit goes,” he says.
The lunch menu will change a little bit with the seasons—a few ingredients here and there—but not as much as the dinner menu. “We’re leaning heavy into the salads, even though it’s fall right now,” Hunter says. “I feel like salads are often an afterthought on any menu. But they shouldn’t be.”
In Missoula, the fall season often shows up with breathtaking pageantry, but it leaves (classic joke) pretty abruptly. Jason McMackin, another BPR co-owner, likes the idea of a menu that sticks around for the long haul, with dishes that people come to know and love and show up for. “I feel like lunch should be reliable,” he says.
BPR serves lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the last seating at 1:45.
