Steve Murphy of Three Peaks Cafe and Catering is opening a new restaurant in the location that formerly housed Alpine Wines Bistro.
Three Peaks Dinner Table was just a thought Murphy had entertained until Dennis DuNann, former owner and operator of Alpine Wines, called him in October 2013. At the time, he was limited in funds and, with no investors, stifled in his creative opportunities. However, a family friend, who also happened to be in the culinary world, came along, and a business partnership spawned.
“I’m willing to solve the mystery of what the community wants in a restaurant,” said Murphy.
With the Miller Sisters on board as the booking agents, Murphy is bringing live music back to Driggs. It will start off as a Friday and Saturday night event with two for one wine specials and a late night snack menu.
However, the music might be stretched as the restaurant develops, even extending into Sunday mornings with his proposed prix-fixe brunch. Served family style, Three Peaks will offer two Sunday seatings of 30-40 people. Brunch will be served family style with big bowls of scrambled eggs and herbs, blackened potatoes and local trout brought to the tables.
Murphy said the restaurant will open for breakfast at 7 a.m., and the kitchen will stay open with healthy options until 10 p.m., He will even deliver.
“It’ll help give local businesses an alternative,” says Murphy.
With protein shakes, yogurt parfaits, paninis, slider’s and a limited coffee bar, Murphy is hoping to offer a healthy and affordable option to businesses around town. Everything will be made fresh, and recipes will be available upon request.
While the ambience will remain mostly the same as its predacesor Alpine Wines, the exposed brick hasn’t changed and the wine racks, high stools and tables were salvaged, he is hoping the space will be more inviting. Local scenes framed in saved wood from his father-in-law’s barn adorn the walls.
“It’s a cool place that is going to appeal to the average demographic,” he said, noting that none of the entrees at night will exceed $20.
With wifi and a coffee club membership available, he wants it to be a hangout. A place where, if you are a coffee club member, you are allowed to bring your Cocoa Grove coffee and enjoy a breakfast burrito before work.
There will even be cooking classes offered inside his kitchen, knife handling skills taught to the new chef, cookie baking classes for toddlers and identifying spice pairings for the seasoned cook.
“It’s great for all ages,” he said.
Murphy grew up in New Hampshire, but came to the region as soon as he graduated from the Culinary Art Institute in upstate New York. After taking an internship in Darby, Mont. at the Triple Creek Ranch, he said he fell in love with the West.
In 2005, he took a job in Jackson at the Jackson Lake Lodge, which he called “adult summer camp.” By 2008, he was chef at Snake River Lodge and left to become head chef at Nanis in 2012. He has been self-employed since then, hired as “Sizzling Steve” to teach in-home cooking classes. Three Peaks Café, inside of MD Nursery, was his first foray into restauranting.
The Dinner Table is slated for a soft opening on April 1, but a grand opening is being scheduled for mid-May.
This article appeared on the Teton Valley News website on March 19, 2014.