In Custer, South Dakota, a town of 1,900 people, chef-driven Skogen Kitchen is making a name for ... [+]
When chef Joseph Raney and his wife Eliza Bellard opened Skogen Kitchen in May 2017, a high-end, chef-driven restaurant in Custer, South Dakota, a town of 1,900 people, they knew they were taking a risk. Nonetheless, they were all in, borrowing $30,000 from his mom and tapping their credit card to finance its opening.
But seven years later, Skogen Kitchen has become a hit. Indeed Raney was a semi-finalist for the James Beard Best Chef Midwest award in 2023. Previously, he had studied at the Hollywood Kitchen Academy and cooked at Napa Rose and Marche Moderne in Calif.
Location, Location, Location
As with many restaurants, location, location, location play a major role in its success since Custer is in driving distance to Mount Rushmore, historic Crazy Horse Memorial and scenic Black Hills. The Landscape Architecture Foundation reports that Mount Rushmore attracts about 2 million visitors a year.
They named it Skogen, which means the Forest in Norwegian, and seems fitting for an eatery located not far from the Black Hills.
Why did the couple choose Custer? Bellard wanted to return to living in a small town, and Raney says they didn’t even know tourism was such a big deal. “We knew nothing, nobody or what we’d be getting into,” he says.
A high-end restaurant Skogen Kitchen, in a small town in South Dakota, has found its niche and attracts tourist and locals.
But Skogen Kitchen’s average dinner costs $75 a person and includes entrees such as $55 filet mignon, $50 Buffalo short ribs and $49 halibut and is also known for its lobster steam bun appetizer. Raney says the lobster appetizer was influenced by his dining at the famed Clam Shack in the center of Kennebuckport, Maine.
It’s All About Celebrations
How do the farmers, ranchers and hunters in the town frequent a restaurant that costs $75 per person? Raney explains that celebrations constitute more than half of its business, comparable to a New York City steakhouse, which covers anniversaries, birthdays, bachelors and bachelorette parties, graduations, proposals and company retreats.
Customers Need a Respite from Dairy Queen
As Raney puts it, people who settle in Custer often stem from a variety of places and are “tired of Dairy Queen, gas station hot dogs or buffalo jerky. They want real cuisine; something you can get in cities,” he says.
Raney is also observant. He noticed early on that hunting was a major activity in South Dakota but most hunters didn’t want to dine on venison. Too often it was overcooked in venison stew and the smell could be unpleasant so that was left off the menu.
Skogen Kitchen seats 50 people in winter and 70 in warmer months with patio seating and is open from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. from Tuesday through Saturday nights. They once served brunch, but ultimately found it too exhausting to run the kitchen for so many hours, and now have more balance in their lives.
Unlike most eateries in large urban areas, they don’t have third-party delivery services in Custer, S.D. and to-go orders constitute about 1% of its revenue.
He also admits that in the summer, because of the tourists, the restaurant thrives. But the fall and winter are much tougher to attract diners. Nonetheless, he calls those colder times “the local season” and that entails attracting people from its home state and surrounding states such as Nebraska, Wyoming and Colorado.
It also has a varied beverage list of about 50 different wines from all over the world and serves a variety of local South Dakota craft beers.
Joseph Raney is the chef, and Eliza Bellard, who once worked at the Cannery Restaurant in Newport Beach, serves as general manager overseeing all front-of-the-house operations. It has 20 employees totally.
Have they ever considered expanding with a second Skogen Kitchen? Raney replies that landlords in various parts of South Dakota have contacted them, but “I don’t consider it,” he says. “I like the idea of keeping all the firepower in one place.”
And another secret to their success is they own the building it’s in, so they don’t have a landlord or have to face rent hikes, enabling them to control their costs. They acquired it for $200,000 in December 2020, half with profits, and half with a benefactor, and now carries no debt.
“This was a huge help during the pandemic. It helps us make better, calmer and smarter decisions. We’re not going anywhere, anytime soon,” he concludes.
