Feed Café owners Brian Schmidt and Ally Pitts are carrying on the original owners’ legacy after having worked as staff for several years. While Pitts oversees the adjoining market, Schmidt is busy in the kitchen.
Originally built in 1898, the red barn on Bozeman’s Main Street near the intersection of 19th Avenue has housed numerous new businesses over the last century. This combination of old and new is a fitting nod to the most current iteration of Feed Café, which has called the stalwart building home since 2015.
Though the restaurant may look the same inside and out, its heart and soul have evolved with a recent change in ownership. On March 1, 2024, beloved proprietors Serena Rundberg and Nick Garbiel passed the torch to Ally Pitts and Brian Schmidt, each of whom already had a strong connection to the eatery.
In 2023, Pitts started helping with merchandise at the café’s adjoining market. A Billings native, long-time teacher in the Bozeman school district, and mother to three, Pitts sought a way to support and help local businesses. Originally from Texas, Schmidt made his way to Bozeman, working in kitchens and managing restaurants all over town, including working with Rundberg at Nova Café and at Feed from 2018 to 2021.
When Pitts heard Rundberg was selling, she immediately considered purchasing the café, but knew she would need the right business partner—one who was also a chef. Rundberg introduced Pitts and Schmidt, and the duo agreed it was a match made in heaven. “We both love the philosophy of the restaurant, feel strongly about local food, and wanted to retain a local hot spot with a loyal customer base,” Pitts says.
The new owners have been able to maintain consistency in food and service thanks to the guidance offered by the previous owners and by retaining General Manager Brook Schroeder. “[Brook] really helped facilitate the transition,” Schmidt says. Pitts adds, “In fact, we’ve been so lucky to be able to maintain a great core staff, and they’ve all been amazing in keeping the business running smoothly.”
“I love the phrase farm goodness because not only is Feed known for our farm-fresh food, but our little team also has the mission to farm goodness in our community.”
—Ally Pitts,
co-owner of Feed Café
“Serena and Nick set a great philanthropic precedent, and we both feel strongly about continuing that and updating it as well,” Pitts says. A new initiative they’ve launched, Feed is donating proceeds from the sales of mugs, tumblers, and Mason jars to local organizations. A few recent recipients include Big Brothers Big Sisters of Big Sky Country, Haven Home, Random Acts of Silliness, and 406Cirque.
Another organization receiving support from Feed is Gallatin Valley Farm to School. “As a former teacher, I feel strongly about fresh food in schools,” says Pitts. “A part of our proceeds from our newly launched pancake, biscuit, and dessert mixes goes to supporting their mission of getting kids to eat locally and healthy.”
Noting wording on the new Feed Mix line, nicknamed Provisions with a Purpose and using “farm goodness” in the descriptions, Pitts adds, “I love the phrase farm goodness because not only is Feed known for our farm-fresh food, but our little team also has the mission to farm goodness in our community.”
As prices shoot up everywhere, from the grocery store to the gas station, Pitts and Schmidt have launched a new happy hour as a thank-you to their local and loyal customers. “On weekdays from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. we’re offering specials and selections from the menu, and everything’s $10,” Pitts says. “Support from our customers has been great, so it was intended as a way for us to support them.
While one innovation—a coffee and ice cream horse trailer to be parked at the back of the property—is still in the possibility stage, another change that’s already happened has roots in the restaurant’s past: the return of house-baked bread, which ceased when Schmidt stopped working at Feed in 2021.
“Thanks in part to our amazing baker, Kennedy Stock, a Bozeman native, we’ve gotten back to doing almost everything in-house, except our challah bread,” Schmidt says. “All our sourdough and wheat breads start from naturally leavened dough, and we’ve added sweet hand pies, scones, cookies, bars, and cinnamon rolls to the rotation of bakery goods.”
The team is also producing their own English muffins—and like other baked goods, these beauties are available in the market as well as for order at the café. Attesting to the quality of baked goods, Pitts says her husband requests the English muffins as payment for his handyman services around the café, and her daughter likes to bring them home for use as the base for homemade pizzas. “Brian and Kennedy are their own dream team when it comes to baked goods,” Pitts says.
Also making a triumphant return is the shakshuka, a North African and Middle Eastern egg-and-tomato breakfast dish. “It was a local favorite, and people have been asking for it to return for a long time,” Schmidt says. Otherwise, the café’s menu has retained its comforting mix of breakfast, brunch, salad, sandwich, and burger items. “For the most part, our changes in the kitchen have just been ingredient tweaks and trying to find ways to work in more Montana products.”
For her part, Pitts says the changes have been more pronounced than a few “tweaks.”
“Brian’s skill in the kitchen is absolutely incredible, and it shows,” she says. “He’s very humble, so I have to speak for him on this, but he has brought so much to the restaurant, and we are receiving rave reviews. Having grown up on a farm, I love to support local farmers and ranchers any way we can, and it’s super exciting that Brian feels the same way.”
It is easy to see their pride as Pitts and Schmidt list off the farms and producers who supply products to their café: Straight from the Farm Fresh Eggs, Community Craft, Bausch Potato, Wheat Montana, Amaltheia Organic Dairy, Chance Farm, and Greybull Valley Produce. Of the latter, Pitts says with a laugh, “They’re from Wyoming but we count them anyway.”
“We can’t forget Rockford Coffee, which has been making our coffee and espresso blends since 2015,” Schmidt adds. “Plus, we’re bringing in Tipu’s Chai from Polson, and all of our other teas are provided by Steep Mountain Tea here in Bozeman.”
Always a haven for treats and wares created within the state, the market has seen the addition of even more craft products, including Anomal Press cards, Maddie McGee’s pet treats, Montana Farmacy provisions, and Gallatin Candle Co. candles. The team is also featuring locally grown flowers from Bozeman florists in the summer, and Steep Mountain teas are available for retail as well.
If you didn’t know, Steep Mountain is owned by Rundberg and Garbiel, bringing everything full circle and intrinsically connecting Feed’s future with its past.
“Right now we’re just so happy that business is going in a great direction,” Pitts says. “We’re so grateful for our customers, guests, and staff; we wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
