Local Hero Profile: Great Falls Harvest
“I enjoy the challenge of making things taste good with simple, local ingredients — it’s more satisfying.” — Chef Chris Menegoni
Great Falls Harvest owners Bridgette Chaffee and Chef Chris Menegoni pride themselves on offering a fine dining menu in a comfortable, rustic atmosphere. Chris’s longtime interest in foraging and hunting for his food has carried over to sourcing for the restaurant, where they buy whole animals from local farms and mushrooms in season. In addition to supporting local farms like Upinngil Farm, Tilldale Farm, and SweetWater Farm, Chris and Bridgette have over forty garden beds of their own, located off site, where they grow produce for the restaurant.
Goals for the future:
Look for changes soon! Great Falls Harvest is currently turning the front part of the restaurant into a market with prepared foods, an educational space for cooking classes, and an apothecary. They also hope to do their own smoking and curing of meats!
Whats your favorite aspect of cooking?
Braising! Chris enjoys doing things slowly and methodically. He also enjoys mixing his own spices and coming up with unique names for his creations.
A reason to come to Great Falls Harvest:
The menu is designed with delicious offerings for vegans, vegetarians, and meat-lovers alike, and there are always new specials to try!
Did you know?
All of the cooking greens featured in their dishes come from Chris and Bridgette’s own garden at home!
Great Falls Harvest supports Upinngil Farm
Farmer: Sorrel Hatch
Story: Upinngil was founded by Sorrel’s father, Clifford, in 1988. Today, the farm produces a wide array of goods, from strawberries to raw milk, diverse vegetables to wheat. Although Upinngil has changed over the years, the family’s commitment to community building and sustainable farming has not budged. They’ve given up farmers’ markets and large wholesale accounts in order to focus their energy on their increasingly robust farm stand, where they sell their own produce and home baked bread, raw milk, eggs, and cheese. Keeping their focus close to home has allowed the family to “be better caretakers and stewards of the land,” Sorrel explains. They do, however, sell to Great Falls Harvest when Chris stops by the farm stand. If Sorrel has a surplus of a particular crop, like snap peas, Chris often works it into the menu, or, if the restaurant is looking for cheese, Sorrel can easily give them an entire wheel of her own Upinnzellar.
