The Fort at 49: Chef Made Food for a Community
Written and photographed by Stella Fong
Custer, MT
The Fort at 49, a restaurant and campsite in Custer, Montana, quickly becomes a blur in the rearview mirror while cruising between Billings and Miles City. No signage or kitschy Western objects lure the traveler off Exit 49 on Interstate 94. Even venturing south on MT-47 towards Hardin, the presence of the dark gray manufactured building adjacent to a campground with 12 hookups mostly goes unnoticed.
“My sister Carla bought this place in 2017 as an investment when it was a bar, and needed someone to run it,” Dave Erlanson, the current manager and chef at The Fort at 49, said.
At the time, he was working at the Four Seasons Resort and Residences in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and decided to make the move.
“My goal was to come up here and relax,” he explained.
He reached out to his friend, Becky Moore, who had previously worked with him in Jackson. Moore quickly decided to leave Texas behind, and, in a matter of months, the team had spruced up the old bar. On April 15, 2018, the restaurant opened to serve “country casual” food.
“This is beef country,” Becky said. “Everybody wants beef.”
But when creating their first menu, they added some variety with the inclusion of pork, chicken, and seafood. It was a matter of “figuring out what sells,” Becky explained.
Their offerings are posted on two blackboards – a small one with sides and starters, and a larger one with the main entrees. The menu lists choices described by a couple of words, but the plate arrives at the table with so much more.
At lunch, the Fried Chicken Wrap includes chicken breast coated in large-diced cornmeal and fried crispy, paired with fresh spring greens tossed in house-made honey mustard, wrapped up in a toasted spinach tortilla. The soup of the day, Strecker Farms Corn Chowder, made with locally sourced corn, brims with roasted corn kernels, potatoes, grated carrot, and bacon bits all anchored with cream. The Fork Steak Salad consists of browned prime rib pieces and seasoned french fries atop fresh greens tossed with homemade ranch dressing. Prime rib is served on the weekends at dinnertime with options such as Jerk Pork Chops, Chicken Fried Steak, Fried Shrimp and Southwest Chicken Salad.
“Cooking interested me because it is not set in stone and allows creativity.”
“Dinner is where we shine,” Dave proudly added.
And it didn’t take long for the locals to agree. Becky said The Fort at 49 is now a popular place for locals to congregate, socialize, and gather to celebrate anniversaries and birthdays. In the beginning, when people called to make reservations, they usually asked what was on the menu. These days, they don’t bother because they know it will be good.
“We write a new menu nearly every day because we are in such a small area,” Dave said, while noting the location can make sourcing food a challenge.
That challenge, though, allows the team’s creativity to shine.
Dave grew up in Ridgeway, Pennsylvania, receiving a degree from the Pennsylvania Culinary Institute.
“Cooking interested me because it is not set in stone and allows creativity,” he said.
He spent his early career in Jackson, Swan Valley, Idaho, and Palm Beach, Florida before migrating back West and settling for some time at the Jackson Mountain Resort. Over the next ten years, he moved up from line cook to sous chef to executive sous chef. In 2014, he was part of a team of five chefs from the Fine Dining Restaurant Group and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort selected to cook at the James Beard House.
Dave hired Becky to work with him at the Jackson Hole Mountain Lodge. She is mostly self-taught and trained by people from the kitchens in which she has worked.
“We are very well trained. We make everything in-house, if possible,” Becky said. “We plan a menu on what we can do successfully within the limitations of our kitchen. Selected dishes can be cooked with different techniques and kitchen equipment. This way, not everything is cooked in the oven, fryer, flattop or on the stove.”
Despite their past experiences and trainings lending to the wonderful meals prepared and served at The Fort at 49 over the past four years, building up the “hole in the wall” restaurant at the wide spot in the road is about much more.
“It’s not about our background or where we’ve been,” Dave said. “It’s about where we are going. We’re here now and we’re enjoying our community.”