South valley residents and visitors will have a few more choices for dining out this su South valley residents and visitors will have a few more choices for dining out this summer. Despite recent restaurant closings in Hailey and Bellevue, entrepreneurs from the Wood River Valley and elsewhere are moving in to fill the gap.
Bellevue saw two new restaurants open this month, with one more expected to open within two weeks. The Rosebud Café recently took over a location vacated by the Cowboy Coffee Co. on the south end of town at the corner of Hardwood and Main streets. Chrissy and Ken Cheff are serving breakfast and lunches, including homemade biscuits and sausage gravy six days a week from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. Chrissy worked as a cook at the Cathedral Pines Baptist Camp north of Ketchum for four years before opening her own place.
"Up there I worked for God," she says with a smile. "So I couldn't mess up. Now I am working for myself."
Also on Main Street in Bellevue is the Riverbend Coffeehouse, which opened two months ago, featuring Big Wood Bread pastries in the morning and Middle Eastern and other ethnic cuisine for lunch and dinner. The artsy, upscale décor includes Persian rugs and local artwork from the nearby Green Antelope Gallery. Proprietor Michelle Kukurin will open her doors from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. seven days a week, sometimes later on Saturday nights.
"We get to know our customers here," said Kukurin.
Milana Wine Bar is scheduled to open within two weeks at 110 Main St. in Bellevue. Rebecca Austin will serve a simple wine menu including sangria, along with Mediterranean, Thai and southwestern entrees. Open from 4-10 p.m., Milana will occupy the former location of Chester and Jake's Seafood (recently moved to The Mint on Main Street in Hailey).
Hailey got a new, full-service sushi restaurant last month when Frank Zhang of Osaka Sushi in Ketchum opened a second location on the corner of Main and Croy streets. Born in Osaka Japan, Zhang was raised in Hong Kong. He offers traditional Bento Box lunches and dinners from 11:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m. and from 5 p.m. until closing, with all-you-can-eat sushi dinners on Wednesday and Saturday.
Florida-based Dick Lemon's Tex Mex-style Cowboy Cocina is scheduled to open later this month in the Meriwether Building on the corner of First Avenue and Carbonate Street in Hailey.
Bellevue restaurateur Shaun Mahoney said he is excited about the new offerings in the south valley.
"The more the merrier," he said. "We have a steady clientele down here year-round because most of our customers live and work here."
Michelle Kukurin’s Riverbend Coffeehouse on Main Street in Bellevue is one of several new eateries opening this spring in Hailey and Bellevue.
Photo by Willy Cook
