The notes from an antique Becker Brothers piano drift through The Rye & The Rose, where saddles sit on wooden shelves and cocktails with names like Saddle Leather and The Outlaw’s Prayer are served alongside oysters, small plates and grazing boards.
The piano, dating to around the turn of the 20th century, is not just décor because it is still in good enough shape to be played.
Lindsey and Ray Blanchard brought in Chris Isaac, a local piano tuner and owner of Rocky Mountain High Notes, to work on the instrument. Isaac can also be found behind the keys on some Saturdays.
It all fits the atmosphere the Blanchards are building at The Rye & The Rose, a new downtown Montrose bar at 439 E. Main St, with a cozy Western saloon feel and a concept that is still evolving.
The atmosphere can feel intimate, but the building itself is not small. The roughly 3,100-square-foot space includes a sizable, currently unused upstairs area overlooking the main bar.
For now, the Blanchards are focused on what is happening downstairs.
Lindsey Blanchard said the idea is to create a relaxed place for a date night, a night out with friends or a drink before or after dinner.
“There’s not really a place in town that’s like a little saloon,” she said.
The Blanchards did not have to start from scratch.
The space at 439 E. Main St. was previously home to Wild Horse Wine and Whiskey, owned by Scott Mijares, and much of the wood-heavy interior was already in place. The Blanchards added their own touches, including saddles and a new wall behind the bar.
Blanchard said the previous owner had done a phenomenal job with the space, allowing the couple to build on what was already there rather than completely remake it.
The result is a space that feels upscale without being formal. But, on a night with live music, it will also feel lively. Blanchard said she wants it to be a place where people can come in jeans or dress up for a night out.
For now, the food centers on small plates, snacks and boards, though the menu stretches beyond typical bar food.
House provisions include truffle chips with Parmesan, white truffle oil and chives; spiced cashews, candied pecans and smoked almonds; pretzels with chili butter and smoked salt; and jalapeno-stuffed olives with blue cheese.
The menu also includes guacamole, cowboy queso and black bean dip, along with sausage, barbecue and snack boards.
Seafood offerings include shrimp cocktail, ceviche, smoked salmon and fresh oysters on the half shell.
The oysters, offered Fridays and Saturdays, have already become one of the early draws.
“The oysters have been huge,” Blanchard said. “People have loved them.”
The Blanchards added a warmer, flat top, ice machine and refrigerated storage and preparation equipment to the space, enough to handle the current menu.
There is room to do more.
If the concept eventually calls for a full kitchen, Blanchard said there is space behind the existing kitchen wall to build one. The current kitchen area could then potentially be converted into a private dining area for small parties.
Those ideas remain down the road, she said. For now, the kitchen setup can handle everything on the menu.
The bar program is similarly built to grow.
The current cocktail menu leans into the bar’s name and its Western setting. House signatures include Smoke & Velvet, made with high-rye bourbon, smoked maple, black walnut bitters and orange oil; Rose Among Thorns, made with rye whiskey, elderflower, lemon and pink bubbles; and Main Street Midnight, made with Irish whiskey, blackberry, mint and lemon.
There are also whiskey classics, tequila and agave cocktails, a house martini collection and lighter drinks listed as “saloon refreshers.”
Ray Blanchard wants to eventually build the bar’s collection to more than 100 whiskeys, Lindsey said. The couple also wants to develop whiskey flights that allow customers to compare different styles.
“We want to come in here and allow people to do a flight of three whiskeys so they can kind of taste the different things and see if they like it or not,” she said.
Tastings and pairings are another part of the long-term vision, potentially bringing in people who can walk customers through different whiskeys.
“I think a lot of people appreciate that,” Blanchard said. “We would like to do more pairings and more tastings and fun things like that.”
Music is also expected to remain part of the experience.
In addition to Isaac’s piano performances, the Blanchards have brought in other local musicians and are looking at live music on Thursdays and Saturdays. Lindsey said more musicians have begun reaching out about playing at the bar.
If Ray is the brains behind much of the business side, Lindsey is helping shape the vision for what happens inside the space.
She sees possibilities for tastings and pairings, live music, themed nights and other events. She is also interested in occasionally clearing out some of the tables for something different, including the possibility of a dueling-piano night or transforming the space into a honkytonk, complete with line dancing and two-stepping.
How often those events might happen is something the Blanchards still want to test.
“There are so many ideas we have,” she said.
The possibilities extend upstairs, where the large, currently unused space looks down over the main bar. The Blanchards eventually hope to finish the upper level for private parties and add a private bar.
The Blanchards also own Ray’s Corner Café and Double Barrel Taco Company. Double Barrel is preparing for a new chapter of its own in a shared downtown space with Homestead Natural Meats.
Lindsey is balancing her role in the businesses with raising the couple’s three children.
“I want to support him,” she said. “I want to be the person that cheers him on.”
For now, The Rye & The Rose is settling into its identity as a cozy place for a cocktail, a plate of food and a night out, while the size of the building — and the Blanchards’ list of ideas — leave room for it to become something much more.
“It’s just a fun vibe,” Blanchard said.
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.
