Blondie's music, martinis and coffee fill Bigfork niche

It’s pink, served with an orange slice and two of them are half-empty in martini glasses at a table to the right of the bar.

Mango puree, pineapple juice and Whistling Andy’s Hibiscus-Coconut Rum make up the shipwreck martini that Corby Guse and Dianne Froment order every Thursday night.

They order martinis, eat some appetizers and listen to music at Blondie’s on Thursdays for what they call “ladies’ night.”

Guse and Froment started going to Blondie’s a few months ago, and haven’t missed a week yet.

“It’s relaxing,” Froment said. “You can come dance if you want to or you can come chit-chat like we do.”

The ladies said it’s a nice alternative to the other bars in Bigfork.

“It’s a little classier,” Guse said.

Blondie’s is not quite a bar, but it’s not quite a coffee shop either.

It’s a little bit of both. There’s live music three nights a week and a full liquor bar. There’s a small retail wine shop and a large espresso machine, couches and tables, pastries and appetizers.

“I’m trying to be something for everyone,” owner Robin Reese said. “I don’t want it to be a bar-bar. I want people who don’t drink to be able to come in and feel comfortable.”

Reese opened Blondie’s at the Branding Iron Station in September 2011. The bar and coffee shop follows a progression of coffee shops that have been open in that location for the last few years. The progression started with the Coffee Cellar, which was a coffee house that sold wine. It was open for three years and closed at the end of 2010. Luna’s was opened after that, and also sold wine and coffee, but added martinis to the menu.

Froment said Luna’s was a great idea that wasn’t given ample opportunity to catch on.

Not long after it opened, Luna’s started closing at random times.

“First coffee in the morning went away,” Froment said.

The business only stuck around four months before it closed.

Reese said when she saw the spot was open, she jumped at it. She took out a small business loan, remodeled the space, got a food and beverage permit and bought the Coffee Cellar’s liquor license.

“My dream for at least 10 years was this,” Reese said.

She grew up in Whitefish and now lives south of Kalispell. Reese has worked with coffee since she became a barista in high school. She helped open both City Brews in Kalispell and sold coffee for Montana Coffee Traders.

“Old school city glam” is the vibe Reese is going for with her spot.

“I love the city,” Reese said. “I would never want to live there, but I like the vibe of it.”

And it seems that the vibe is something others are looking for as well. Reese said every day she has new customers and repeat customers.

Jae Hatt, acoustic guitar player and singer/songwriter from Bigfork performed last Thursday. Jeanne Robinson stopped in to drink a glass of wine and listen to Hatt perform.

Robinson said that after Priscilla’s Pour House closed, she didn’t have anywhere to write until Blondie’s opened. Now she’s a regular.

“I come here every night,” Robinson said.