Food Notes: Sawtooth Club reopens; fine dining in Lowman

The Sawtooth Club, 231 N. Main St., Ketchum, will reopen Saturday after repairs were made following a fire that destroyed two neighboring businesses in September.

The club also will unveil a few surprises, owner Tom Nickel said: "We've been keeping the front covered longer than we needed just to keep up the suspense."

The Ketchum landmark will celebrate its reopening from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, with a Holiday Open House, featuring complimentary appetizers, eggnog, hot buttered rum, beer and wine. Seating for dinner starts at 6 p.m.

The fire destroyed adjacent buildings that housed Dirty Little Roddy's, which had been empty for several months, and Whiskey Jacques' bar, a popular night spot.

The Sawtooth Club is one of Ketchum's most storied spaces. It opened in the 1940s as a casino and played host to all the personalities of the day, including Ernest Hemingway.

The restaurant will have a new facade that reflects its history and a spectacular new brick-and-mirror design behind the bar. The menu will stay the same.

During the Open House, you can make a monetary donation for the Hunger Coalition, a Hailey organization that provides hunger relief in the Wood River Valley.

Also, The Sawtooth and neighborhood businesses have pitched in to dress up Main Street for the season by building a plywood fence and planting trees in front of the hole left by the fire.

Starting at noon Saturday, Dec. 13, artists from area high schools, led by Janit Karrys, will paint a winter mural.

For information and reservations, call (208) 726-5233.

FINE DINING IN LOWMAN

It is off the beaten track, but The Southfork Lodge, 7236 Idaho 21, Lowman, has given its rustic restaurant a fine dining twist.

The Fox's Den serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The menu ranges from three-egg omelettes and gourmet burgers during the day, to dinners of filet Oscar, beef tenderloin wrapped around crab, pizza and fried chicken.

Prices are moderate to expensive at dinner, and very affordable at breakfast and lunch. The Southfork Lodge, which opened in August, offers patio dining in the summer and large wine and imported beer selections.

For information and reservations, call (208) 259-3871. www.southforklodge.biz.

CHEF JOE RETURNS

Chef Joe Crespi is back cooking at Cottonwood Grille, 913 N. River St., 333-9800. Crespi returns as sous chef, the position he held in the restaurant's early days. He left to open his own catering company and restaurant, Guissepe's Cafe in Meridian.