The two had decided to leave Bangkok, in the midst of endless Covid-related lockdowns, after 13 years there.They closed a handful of restaurants – Soul Food, its offshoot Soul Food 555, and a few months later, their outpost in Hong Kong, Soul Food Thai.
They flew home, bought an old Subaru, some camping gear, and a tent. And for several months, with their 4-year-old son in tow, they wandered around the Rocky Mountains, poking around for a place to start again. Eventually, they pulled the car over in Bozeman, Montana.
After a few months, Jarrett got the itch to cook professionally again. He briefly hosted the Shan Supperclub in his home – cooking food from Thailand’s north, and China’s Southwest. The philosophy behind those early dinners was to connect the landscape and products of mountainous places in Asia, to their newfound home in Montana. They began to contact local ranches and farmers, and work with the local beef, lamb, and bison using Chinese and Thai techniques and flavors. And an idea for a restaurant began to take shape.
In late 2022 they began construction on a small space in Bozeman’s Cannery District, and they opened Shan in April of 2023.
Shan is the result of 20 years of eating and cooking across Asia. Of two decades spent in Beijing, Sichuan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. The restaurant’s design owes much to the cozy Izakaya of Japan -- it is a mountain tavern where people are invited to share local beers, interesting wines and ciders from small producers, that pair well with small plates intended for sharing. The restaurant isn’t explicitly Thai or authentically Chinese – it is, simply, a place that reflects Jarrett and Candice’s culinary past, in their unexpected, exciting present.
