When Caleb Dostal returned from the road after touring with his band, The Timber Rattlers, he had a vision of transferring his musical creativity to another art: the culinary world.
This idea hadn’t come out of nowhere. Dostal had been cooking since age 10, and working in the food and beverages industry since 15 with his first job at the Big Sky Drive-In, a now-defunct Missoula favorite that served burgers, shakes, and orange-vanilla twist soft serve. He’d spend nights at home mixing ingredients and hours obsessing over specific flavors from different cultures around the world. In 2020, he got a job managing the bar at longtime Missoula bar and restaurant The Old Post. He’d even played banjo with his band in the parking lot of the local eatery a few times.
But he still wanted more. After years of exploring different food and drink combinations on his own, Dostal wanted to bring his passion and energy for creative culinary options outside of his house. He’d visited—and fell in love with—intimate bars in big cities such as Nashville and New York City, where every bartender seemed to make drinks with intention and care. If he could capture his excitement for experimentation, he thought, then maybe Missoula would fall in love with his cocktails too.
I loved this drink not just because it made me feel like a fancy bitch who just signed the divorce papers from my cheating country club golfer husband but because it was really refreshing.
So one night, after a gig in The Old Post’s parking lot, Dostal walked into the basement underneath the restaurant. Looking around at the small space with its brick and stucco walls, which has been used occasionally for wine tastings and other events, he knew he’d found the perfect venue.
Two weeks ago, Dostal officially opened the doors to one of Missoula’s newest spots, The Grotto, which shares ownership with The Old Post. It’s the coolest dungeon you’ll ever visit with its dim, moody lighting and dark-academic-inspired art.
The place is small and could be dingy if not for the cleanliness and decor. Dostal scuttles behind the small bar top, shaking drinks while shifting foot to foot like a dance. All the ingredients going into the drinks are lined up on the bar: fresh mint, lemongrass, pickled ginger, peppercorns. Dostal created every cocktail and dish on the menu by combining his current obsessions with worldly flavors and spirits.
When I recently wandered down the steps, Dostal was rolling out the food menu for the first time, one dish every day. On this particular night, it was rotating street tacos with chips and a refreshing salsa verde type dip.
Along with the tacos, I tried three cocktails. Green Dreams, my personal favorite, combines tequila, absinthe, a bitter Suze and a fruity St. Germain with cucumber, lime and basil. I loved this drink not just because it made me feel like a fancy bitch who just signed the divorce papers from my cheating country club golfer husband but because it was really refreshing.
I followed up Green Dreams with the Thaigher King, decreed by Dostal as the most popular drink on the menu. Dostal created this drink after a months-long obsession with making different curry pastes from scratch with a mortar and pestle. One night, while muddling the curry, he was reminded of muddling drinks. So he threw together infused Flor De Caña rum, coconut milk, Thai basil, makrut lime leaves, lemongrass, green chilies, white peppercorn, and the drink was born. But what really nails the Southeast Asian feel is the added galangal spice, a native root to the region, that creates a spicy and citrusy taste.
I ordered the Nepenthe last, choosing to go for the fruity flavors I typically like. It’s a Plymouth Gin drink, with Salers aperitif, lavender, grapefruit and smoked salt. Dostal named the cocktail after a line from Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “The Raven,” in which he references a fictional potion used to help relieve sorrow and bring a sense of calmness. “‘Wretch,’ I cried, ‘thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee,’” Poe writes. “‘Respite—respite and nepenthe from thy memories of Lenore; Quaff, oh quaff this kind nepenthe and forget this lost Lenore!’”
The Nepenthe is by far the strongest of the three, but the lavender, or maybe it is the liquor … does what the name promises.
One woman comes in and sits down at the bar while Dostal greets her with a grin. She is already a familiar face to him, a two-week regular.
“The menu has already changed since I was last here,” she remarks, and Dostal nods. The ever-shifting selection is part of what he is going for, and part of the reason an official menu will never be posted.
“The only thing that is constant is change,” he says.
The Grotto is open from 4 p.m. to around 11 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. All cocktails cost $15. To find it, walk around The Old Post’s back patio and go down the stairs in the alley.
