Ruby's Kitchen: Roots bring family back home to McCall
One of Chris Braden’s earliest childhood memories is stopping in at Ken’s Lakeview Market overlooking Payette Lake in McCall. The market was a daily staple for locals in need of a quick bite to eat or fuel from an adjoining Sinclair station.
Some three decades later, Braden is carrying on the building’s legacy by fueling diners with hearty, homestyle meals at Ruby’s Kitchen, a restaurant he opened with his wife, Misty, in November 2017. During a vacation to McCall earlier that year, the couple noticed that the Alpine Pantry market and café had shuttered after operating out of the building for about five years. Chris and Misty leased the former Ken’s building within months, picking up their Nantucket, Mass., lives to return to Chris’s Idaho roots and start their old-fashioned family business.
Named after their oldest daughter, Ruby, the establishment has quickly blossomed into a signature McCall eatery serving cooked-from- scratch meals with locally sourced ingredients from 6:30am to 4pm daily.
“We enjoy being the neighborhood market and full-service café,” said Braden.
Among the most popular dishes offered by Ruby’s are its themed breakfast bowls. Those partial to a filling traditional breakfast feel right at home with the Backcountry Bowl, which comes with rich basted eggs, hash browns, grilled ham steaks, fresh tomatoes, country gravy and shredded cheddar.
The lighter Oat Boat supplies diners with the fuel needed to kick-start their day without committing to a large meal. This bowl contains organic yogurt mixed with granola, fresh seasonal mixed fruits, locally sourced honey and toasted pecans.
As a business that prides itself on family values, the Banzai Bowl gives a nod to Chris’s background, as well as his years of working in family restaurants in Japan. The Asian twist on breakfast is a medley of crispy bacon, basted eggs, fresh scallions, spicy shoyu soy sauce, nori seaweed, house aioli and tsukemono fresh homemade pickles.
“It’s a bit of my childhood from growing up in a Japanese household,” explained Braden, whose mother is Japanese. “It’s my personal favorite.”
In addition to numerous sandwich and burrito offerings for lunch and an “Off-Piste” a la carte breakfast menu, the café also doubles as a local market. The market features a variety of local produce like fresh eggs from Western Farms of Idaho in Middleton and crisp sunflower microgreens from Hungry Bear Gardens in McCall.
“What I do is start in McCall and work my way out,” Braden said of sourcing local produce “During the summer, about 90% of our inventory is from within 125 miles.”
The café and market may close at 4pm but that is not when the fun stops. During the evening hours, Ruby’s hosts a hodgepodge of activities, including ladies’ nights with local arts and crafts sales, free live music, local wine tastings, children’s events and private dinners.
“Come and enjoy life with us,” said Braden. “We have something for everybody.”
