Jenny's Kitchen to open soon on First Street in Havre

10-year Havre resident Jenny Parks has spent most of 2022 trying to get her restaurant and catering business, Jenny's Kitchen, located in the old Red Wing Boot Repair location at 416 First St., up to full service, and it seems like the time for the doors to open may be just around the corner.

Parks said they were originally hoping to open in February of this year, but extreme delays caused by supply chain issues have caused her to shelve those plans until she can get some of the last few parts to make her business properly open.

In the meantime, she said, they are doing lunch deliveries to local businesses.

The restaurant, which specializes in naturally gluten-free foods, is still waiting on a vital part of their fire suppression system, but is otherwise ready to go, and that part may well get in in time for an official opening next month, though that estimate is tentative, Parks said.

She said the restaurant serves all kinds of food including food with gluten in it, but it's speciality is serving gluten-free food, food made with completely separate equipment and tools so even those most sensitive to gluten can eat there without fear.

While the restaurant serves plenty of different foods like sandwiches, soups and all manner of meat dishes, their rice bowls are put front and center, as they are naturally gluten free and not a kind of dish that's easy to find around Havre either.

Parks said she and her husband, McCord, who has family in town, moved to Havre to raise a family, and while they love the country, they miss some of the flavors they had from the Thai and Indian restaurants back home, so they're looking to bring some of those flavors to Havre as well.

She said the restaurant does have gluten-free bread and things like that, but they focus mainly on dishes that are naturally gluten free and require no alteration for people sensitive to the substance.

Parks said her husband and daughter Miley were diagnosed with celiac disease, which causes a painful immune response for people who have it when they eat food with gluten in it.

She said they are both very sensitive to gluten, with her daughter at risk of getting sick for up to a week even if she comes in contact with small amounts of the substance.

Because of this, Parks found they couldn't eat practically anywhere in town because, even if a place had gluten-free food, it was often made with the same equipment, putting her daughter at risk of a reaction via cross-contamination.

This situation inspired her to create Jenny's Kitchen, and while this is her first restaurant, she's worked in practically every position one would find at a restaurant, having started waiting tables in her home state of Oregon at age 13.

She said she's also been through a number of restaurant openings, so it's not entirely new ground for her.

"I've been through the beginning process of it all before," she said.

Parks said the restaurant, when it opens to everyone, is decorated with old mining and railway equipment from Havre's past and will provide a unique atmosphere for people in the area, as well as fill a void in terms of the food they sell.

She said it will have a 14-foot salad bar, none of which is frozen or processed.

She said they're hoping to set up outdoor seating and host private parties on the weekends.

Jenny's Kitchen also has off-street parking accessed through the alleyway.