Missoula’s breakfast scene has lost many local favorites in recent years — Hob Nob, Burns St. Bistro, Catalyst, to name a few — but Fork Spoon & Knife is vying to fill that place in your heart and stomach with a hearty breakfast and lunch menu.
Chef and owner Megan Matthews says since opening FSK, her first sole-proprietor restaurant, she’s been able to cook as creatively as she likes.
“People ask me what kind of food we make, and my answer is: Whatever we want,” Matthews says, sipping coffee from a “Boss Bitch” mug and wearing a Rainbow Brite T-shirt on a recent weekday morning inside the establishment, located at 6170 Butler Creek Rd., near the airport.
“Whatever we want” generally includes a lineup of Americana-derived, quirky yet stick-to-your-ribs plates that might remind brunch-goers of the late Burns St. Bistro, where Matthews worked for several years.
“I kinda consider this Burns Street 2.0.,” she says. “I’m still carrying over those fun traditions that Burns Street had started with mixing flavors and having fun with the menu. Big bold flavors and big plates for a reasonable price.”
“I kinda consider this Burns St. Bistro 2.0. I’m still carrying over those fun traditions that Burns Street had started with mixing flavors and having fun with the menu.”
The new FSK weekend brunch menu includes open-face toasts that consist of thick slices of bread piled high with beef, prosciutto or avocado, and ample main dishes such as a Louisiana Eggs Benedict with Cajun hollandaise sauce. For the lighter appetite, the “breakfast charcuterie” plate offers tea sandwiches, pickles and deviled eggs.
Brunch appetizers include decadent egg rolls filled with hash browns, cheese and bacon — like a McDonald’s breakfast had a baby with Chinese takeout.
“This is where my creativity comes in,” Matthews says. “These ideas just flow into my head. How can I take an egg roll wrapper and stuff it with something that’s more breakfast-y, and try to get that egg in there, and that’s where the hollandaise comes in. … I just like to take these blank canvases and see what it is that I can create.”
Breads, biscuits, pickles and many other ingredients are made in-house at FSK to a level that many diners may not realize.
“It gets redundant to put ‘housemade’ on the menu so many times,” Matthews says.
She also encourages her staff to think outside the box. Recently, the FSK bakers produced a from-scratch version of Cheez-Its using leftover sourdough starter. The pastry case often features treats like faux Hot Pockets or Twinkie-inspired mini-angel food cakes filled with pastry cream.
Matthews says after leaving Burns St. Bistro in 2023, the year it closed, she took several months off to enjoy time with her kids, mentally recharge and consider what she wanted to do with her career. Her professional background includes radio broadcasting and culinary school. She likes a busy kitchen atmosphere.
Not everyone would choose to open a small business that calls for work to begin at 6 a.m on weekends, but it suits her. “I’m a morning person,” she says.
FSK also may grow beyond breakfast and lunch. Matthews says the beer and wine license requires FSK to operate during dinner hours, so the lunch menu is available until 7 p.m. She’s envisioning special-event “TGIF” Friday night dinners to draw families out, and collaborating with the Millay and Meadowlark Flower Farm next door to launch a farmers market event that could create more draw.
FSK opened earlier this year in a spacious building just off a semi-industrial stretch of Highway 93 near the airport. The location first started as the ill-fated Roosterloo Cafe, which launched in 2019 and subsequently struggled with the pandemic shutdowns of 2020. The building was most recently occupied by Sonny’s Original Cheesesteaks, which has returned to a food truck-based operation.
“I was very apprehensive about this location at first, but this is a perfect spot.”
Matthews says the location seems a little challenging, but she thinks she can spin it to her advantage. It’s a short drive from downtown Missoula and offers easy parking. Missoula’s housing growth is already spreading westward. The Potterville neighborhood is nearby, and Desmet Elementary is within sight distance. A new housing subdivision approved for the Wye area could significantly boost traffic to the locale in years to come. The weekday breakfasts and lunches are starting to draw regulars.
“I was very apprehensive about this location at first, but the more I came out here and the more I studied this area and seeing how Missoula is growing out here, this is a perfect spot,” she says. “There’s also nothing out here, really. You’ve got your fast food and chain restaurants down at the Wye, and you’ve got a gas station. So what people need is good food.”
