Tanda Cook

This delightful specialty deli, located at 270 West Kagy, is a place you won’t want to miss, whether you’re a local or just here passing through. Local owner and Registered Dietitian, Emily Ryan, has built Food For Thought with the overarching philosophy of providing the Gallatin Valley with simple, good, clean food. You get that and so much more.

Standing in the parking lot you get whiffs of fresh baked bread, savory soups, and sweet pastries. Upon entering the bustling little café the deli counter smiles with its bounty of color and fresh foods. Specials are listed up on the wall along with the soups and salads. A wall of wines on your left, and the staff, full of energy and love for good foods, take your order with gusto.

The amount of mouth-watering choices makes you want to eat here three meals a day for weeks. Sandwich combinations like smoked turkey, avocado, apricot Dijon, havarti cheese, baby spinach, tomato and marinated onion on whole wheat, or tuna salad made with curried mayo, red onion, cilantro, roasted red pepper with spinach and tomato on whole grain bread. One called The Greek Veggie, made with homemade hummus, cucumber, tomato, sprouts and feta cheese on whole wheat.

Not a sandwich fan? Don’t worry. Behind the deli case glass there are bowls and plates of beautifully prepared foods like a spinach, mushroom and bacon quiche, green bean Caesar salad, Thai peanut rice noodles or a lemon feta tortellini salad with toasted almonds. And on any given day the selection will change to include another delicious choice.

If you’re too busy to make a healthy hearty dinner for the family then choose from their dinner menu of grilled flank steak, barbequed baby back ribs, roasted veggies or the featured dinner special. And how can you leave without satisfying your sweet tooth? The dessert list alone is worth the trip especially when you have choices like death by chocolate brownie, oatmeal butterscotch bar, coconut cream pie, crumble cake and pumpkin spice bar.

Just walking into this little café you can feel the love of food, the dedication to making it fresh, from scratch, with a lot of heart. You can choose to sit and stay a while whether your alone to enjoy the noise of food and friends or if you’re with a group to gather around and catch up while also giving your taste buds a chance to rejoice.

Emily Ryan has also created a large amount of gluten free and dairy free alternatives that will catch you by surprise. And as a Registered Dietitian she will be more than happy to work with any dietary needs, food allergies or restrictions. She understands that life is busy and has created a way to make it healthier, fresher and easier for her customers.

FFT offers convenient to-go options, everything is made fresh daily and prepared on site. They also offer catering for all types of events from dinner parties, weddings, showers, corporate meetings, and holidays. They pride themselves on beautifully displayed fresh seasonal dishes, always make from scratch.

The catering services are flexible and can come to you in a variety of ways: plated on dishes ready to serve, take and bake style, delivery and set up or the full service with staffed buffets and seated dinners. And if you saw something you liked in the deli case, give them twenty-four hours notice and they will prepare any item for you in any quantity.

The Food For Thought web site: http://fftdeli.publishpath.com is updated daily with specials, menus, events, and recipes. You can hop on the web on your coffee break, pick out what deliciousness you’ll be having at lunch (or dinner) and get your tummy rumbling. Become a fan on facebook and get updates of daily specials as well, just before lunch each day.

If you haven’t made it a habit of eating at this delightful place, it comes highly recommended. Their summer hours are Monday-Friday 10:00 am to 7:30 pm and Saturday from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm. Lunch, dinner or dessert, you can go wrong with Emily Ryan’s creations. Enjoy!