I LOVE BEING SURPRISED

"If people come three times a week to your restaurant they are the ones who find something they really love."

                                           - Wolfgang Puck

I love being surprised.

A meal. A view. A destination. An experience. When something is better or radically different than expected.

I am not often motivated to do what is commonly referred to as a "restaurant review". That's just a small part of Travel, capital T.

Then you find the exceptions.

I'm in Idaho Falls, Idaho, for a couple of meetings related to my day job. It's a smallish kind of city, in a flat part of the country. It's an outdoorsy kind of town, with summer and other seasons making up for a fairly drab winter. It's the doorway for many to Yellowstone National Park, or Grand Tetons if you're aimed a bit southerly of that.

I'm staying in a nondescript chain hotel, not really different from its brethren properties throughout the world. Nice, certainly, but not particularly 'Idaho".

As I do whenever I travel, I look for the local things to do, see and experience. As I've said -- probably ad nauseum -- it's the difference between traveling with a small "t" and Traveling. Capital T. For me it's vitally important to get out and find out what makes a place unique.

Among the real keys is to eat at a local place.

I found a place online called Jaker's. It's actually part of a small 5 location upper Midwest chain with properties in Missoula, Great Falls and Idaho Falls among them.

It looked "okay" from the outside, and online. Nothing extraordinary, but I kept seeing the name at the top of places to go in town. The website, however, didn't fill me with much in the way of expectations. It looked, frankly, like just another sports bar with a restaurant attached. Pictures of guys clanking beers, and other images on the site were not too promising, though the menu appeared to be good if a little pricey -- with the caveat that if you eat in the bar there are discounts to be considered.

I went back and forth, and really wasn't certain I was going to Jaker's until I climbed into the massive Chevy Suburban I'd been blessed with by the rental agency. Mind made up, I pulled into the already-full parking lot, pulling in on the south side of the building.

When I walked in I was immediately struck by how NOT "Sports Bar" Jaker's is. Warm and inviting, with a low lighting decor in both the restaurant and bar. I was immediately greeted and when I indicated I was headed for the bar the hostess smiled, pointed me in the right direction, and told me to take any seat I liked.

As I walked in, the hostess at my side, I was surprised by the nicely appointed bar with seats to my left, and a row of booths which bisected the room to my right. Along the far side were hightops with a good view of the festivities. Naturally I selected one of the hightops, in the corner on my right. Great view of the entire room, and comfortable,

Despite three bigscreen TVs, which weren't annoying the way they can be in other establishments, the bar at Jaker's was a warm and inviting place. The sound on the televisions was down, and the ambient music was a nice selection of popular jazz -- an instrumental version of Waters of March at that particular moment, one of my favorites -- a very pleasant surprise in a place where my Suburban's radio had an unnatural selection of country music on the pre-programmed list.*

The sound level was also surprising. Not the loud, usually boisterous crowd, the room was filled with hushed conversations, with a clientele mix of elderly couples, business people and younger people gathered at the bar itself. Again, a warm white noise versus an overarching chaos of conflicting conversations.

My server, a charming young woman named Megan, arrived almost immediately and took my drink order. When she noticed I didn't have a menu she immediately got me one from the hostess' station. While she was gone getting my drink I had a chance to go through the menu in a bit more detail. The menu online, like the rest of the website, wasn't exactly right and I discovered a few more selections than had been promised online. 

When Megan got back she took my order, said she was so happy I'd come in, and left to take care of the order. 

While I waited I read a placard left on the table -- the type that usually screams about the daily specials, or a tasty dessert, or beers and wines. In this case the placard was a detailed description of the restaurant's ingredients, noting the vast majority were sourced from Idaho. Obviously a point of pride and rightly so. The whole Locally Sourced movement makes for fresher and tastier dishes.

Another item of note was the inclusion of the story of Jaker's. Their philosophy and origins. This is indicative of an eatery proud of what it brings, ahem, to the table. The menu speaks to that with detailed notes and a nice selection ranging from very high end to the more reasonably priced options.

I ordered a 6 ounce sirloin with baked potato (Idaho!) and asparagus. 

When the food arrived -- not so fast as to make me feel unwelcome, but not so slow it got annoying -- it looked and smelled delicious. 

The steak and potato were excellent. The flavors on the steak were nicely balanced and added to the flavor of the meat without overwhelming it with spices or salt. Beautifully prepared. The baker was, naturally, just a great baked potato. It had better have been, considering my location.

The only issue was with the asparagus, which was stringy and tough. Very few restaurants get it right. I'd originally planned to order the broccoli, which would have been a better selection.

As I ate I watched Megan's interaction with the other tables. She was pleasant and engaged, with a warm personality. She said she was new, and a question I had regarding the available vodkas threw her for a moment, but she quickly consulted the bartender for the straight answer. (I was looking for a local brand to taste. They had two available. I'll just note I picked wrong...)

In all, a truly pleasant evening in a nice environment with excellent -- and I mean excellent -- food. (Next time, I thought, I order the broccoli.) I found myself thinking, several times, how sad it would have been to stay at the hotel for dinner and to have missed such an enjoyable night. Fortunately my own travel advice won out over a complacent attitude.

Their website does them a disservice, capturing none of the relaxed, warm and welcoming atmosphere of the real thing. If this seems like a complaint, it isn't. What concerns I had were picayune compared to the overall appreciation I have for a great night out. If you're in one of the towns Jaker's have properties they certainly warrant your business.

I love being surprised.

Post Script: I returned for a second night and as expected thoroughly enjoyed the evening, proving this is not an accident. The server, this time the confident and friendly Trisha, was wonderful. Attentive and upbeat. I overheard her at other tables explaining the details of the preparation and making it alluring. The food itself was delivered in a timely but not rushed manner. The steak, to be honest, was just a *touch* less tender the second time around -- I'm supposing this is due to the cooking being a bit more on the rare side than the medium rare the night before -- but the broccoli, as predicted, was terrific, as were the garlic fries. In my final assessment Jaker's is perhaps thankfully many miles from my home, lest it become a major habit and distraction. (In the best possible way.) This is where I'd happily hang out if I lived in town.

* The musical choice is a sophisticated one. Having returned for a second night at Jaker's I paid more attention to the musical selection. I'm certain it's an ambient collection, but whoever makes the decision at Jaker's to use this as a mood-setter deserves credit. It's perfectly suited to the atmosphere. At one point an upbeat instrumental version of Offbeat of Avenues was on the playlist. Pop Jazz, straightforward and standard...it's a wonderful accent.

JAKER'S BAR AND GRILL