Flavors of the World, Rooted in Tradition: Brickhouse Grille Reopens
Aug. 16—DICKINSON — After a few months of closure, Brickhouse Grille is once again open for business. The building is one of the oldest in Dickinson, and now it has a new look with an abundance of historic local photography on the walls. They also added barn doors to their private dining space.
"The Christmas lights are gone. We changed the art so most of the art is old Dickinson," General Manager Erika Ruis said.
They reopened in late July and the staff said things are going smoothly.
Joseph Babia is the executive chef at Brickhouse. Babia explained that his current salmon recipe was inspired by a Nordic vacation.
"I was in Iceland last May, it was beautiful. I love that country," he said. "I didn't really go looking for a lot of stops in travel. I look forward to eating at a nice restaurant over there. Since I work in the kitchen and run the kitchen, I build the menu. I'm always intrigued about trying something new."
He added that waterfowl has also landed on the new menu.
"I cooked the duck from their own fat for like three hours to make it super, super tender. It was amazing and people love it," he said, adding that basically everything he does is made from scratch.
Babia is originally from the Philippines and first came to America during his third year of college to work a seasonal job for the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation. He graduated from a Manila based college called University of the East with a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management in 2012, then returned to work at Theodore's in Medora.
He was later head chef at The Crossing until they closed, then was brought on here when the same owners purchased Brickhouse. Babia is intensely dedicated to his craft.
"I enjoy creating dishes. It's tough. It's a lot of work and it's stressful because you have to think of a lot of ideas all the time: reading, watching cooking shows and following a lot of chefs on Instagram to get some ideas but not to copy it. You know, I hate copying it. But I can tweak and play around with my own stuff," he said.
He likes to keep things interesting, and is already thinking about his next menu.
"I love to change every, you know, twice a year. See what people are looking for," Babia said. "Every chef has an ego that, you want to create a lot of stuff that people will enjoy."
Janira Garcia is one of Brickhouse's newest servers. She moved here from Mexico two years ago. When asked what she enjoys about serving, she said she loves meeting new people and working in a fast paced environment.
"I like working with the pressure. So like the pressure of having to serve five, six tables at the same time. I don't stress that much," Garcia said.
She added that there's better staff cohesion compared to other restaurants she's worked at.
"My other jobs, it would be like you're on your own," she said. "Here I feel like all of the servers, we're a team. We work with each other and help each other. Our manager, she's always like, 'What do you need? Can I help you with something?' And that just helps a lot to give better service."
Wes Wilmeth is the head bartender and has worked here for approximately nine years. He said new drinks are coming soon.
"With the reopening we are bringing in a lot more of these mixology drinks, a lot more time processed cocktails instead of just the quick ones that we were doing," Wilmeth said. "We're still working on them, waiting for some bitters to get in and some other ingredients... We've got one with habanero bitters in it. We've got another one that's going to have a housemade green tea vodka or gin with a little bit of lavender bitters."
He said he loves the variety that comes with this occupation.
"I love bartending because it's not the same thing every single day. Like I go into work, and I really don't know what to expect. It might be one of the busiest days of my life, might be super slow. I might meet somebody famous or you know, talk to the same bar fly that's there every day," he said. "It's great to meet people from literally all over the world who come through Dickinson, stopping by on the way to Medora or just going through the states."
He emphasized that customers will still get everything they've always loved about this place.
"Just because we have a brand new face doesn't mean the Brickhouse is any different," Wilmeth said. "Same good brand. Great food, good drinks. Great customer service. You know we're just, we're chugging along."
Brickhouse is closed to the public Sundays and Mondays, but open to private parties all week. The rest of the week it opens for drinks and appetizers at 3 p.m. and dinner at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday they close at 9 p.m., then at 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. For more information or to make a reservation, call 701-483-9900.
