Babcock & Miles in the News
Merchants of the Delectable: Steve and Kim Haman of Babock and Miles
By Stella Fong
Published October 16, 2023 at 9:45 AM MDT
By Stella Fong
Kim and Steve Haman, owners of the Babcock and Miles Market and Babcock and Miles Wine Bar and Café in Red Lodge take a break.
In Red Lodge, under the Beartooth Mountains there is a mecca of food and drink from around the world. Bounty abounds in a yellow house, and now, in a Montana mountain modern-themed building. At the Babcock and Miles Market, and right next door, at the new Babcock and Miles Wine Bar and Café Steve and Kim Haman, who proclaim to be the merchants of the delectable, are bringing deliciousness to under the Big Sky.
In 2008, Andrew and Karen Porth birthed the market with the logo of a flying pig. They brought to reality the offerings of flavors from beyond to under the Big Sky. The community embraced having the option of being able to access food and drink from around the globe. Then in 2016, the Hamans bought the business from the Porths to open the wine bar and café early this summer.
Steve And Kim Haman
The new Babcock and Miles Wine Bar and Café opened early this summer. Here, diners have a chance to taste the wines offered at the market along with having the opportunity to take a break with a cup of coffee or a bite of a sandwich, salad, or charcuterie option. The realization of the wine bar and café came to be with the efforts of Eric Simonsen, Langlas Construction, Dalton Interiors, and kitchen designer, Michael Miles.
“Steve has always had a passion for food and wine,” Kim said.
He shared his love of food with her. Steve broadened Kim’s appreciation of food from her childhood growing up in the Midwest. “I grew up in the heartland in Oklahoma and most things that I was exposed to were from my grandparents’ farm,” she shared.
Steve and Kim fell in love in college, marrying young, to live in Phoenix where Kim said they discovered “great places to eat. It was a really burgeoning, fun community in the early 80s, and we went to California quite a bit.”
“Our big date night out was to go to Streets of New York, this little deli, and we would get Italian, the number 7 sandwich, and we would share it and a little salad. In that same parking lot was this Liquor Barn, which was an old Safeway that had been converted to this wine store,” Steve said. “Kim and I would wander the aisles after dinner at Streets of New York pretending we were traveling to some far away destination.”
Then Kim’s boss, a member of the Phoenix branch of the International Wine and Food Society, who was an avid wine collector discovered Steve had a passion for wine. “So many weekends were spent with him, and his cellar, and then we were charted subscribers to Wine Spectator magazine,” Steve shared. “I was an avid reader of that from cover to cover, and again it just fueled my exploration of trying wines from all over.”
The couple’s affection for food and wine led them to buy the Babcock and Miles Market. Steve had previously worked for the Porths so knew his way around the business.
Stella Fong
The open-front merchandiser allows customers to quickly come into the Babcock and Miles Wine Bar and Café to pick up options to go ranging from yogurt parfaits to sandwiches and pastries.
These days a team procures the treasures available at the market. Willis Johnson takes on the role of head chef for the wine bar and café while acting as the cheesemonger. The Haman’s son, Matt, selects the beers, Kim the sparkling wines and chocolates, and Steve, the wines.
Over the years, customers expressed a want to have a chance to taste the wine and food sold at the market before purchasing the items. Opening the wine bar and café offered that opportunity. “At the wine bar, we currently offer 25 different wines by the glass including three different sparkling wines.” During the market’s business hours, customers can buy a bottle of wine and bring it to the wine bar and café to enjoy. “You have 1100 different wines to choose from,” Steve said. “We’re more than happy to uncork your bottle for you and lead you through the evening enjoying wine and a charcuterie board.”
The new mountain modern-themed space opened early this summer and debuted during the Red Lodge Songwriter Festival. The efforts of architect Eric Simonsen, Langlas Construction, kitchen designer Michael Miles, and interior decorator Kim Dalton helped realize the limestone and metal-fronted building. Steve termed the style as “historic Red Lodge meets sophisticated or “bougie” Babcock and Miles.”
The guest enters into a cozy spot softened with wood and wallpaper. A mural of 12th Street and Broadway welcomes the guests when they step into the foyer. Historic photos from Red Lodge’s yesteryears grace the walls of the main room. A 16-foot bar with a padded rail anchors the room with windows bringing the outdoor patio and 12th street in. The backdrop of the bar changes with shelves and panels that slide and move coffee cups in by day and wine glasses in by the evening.
Stella Fong
Steve Haman pours a sample of a Lambrusco for lunchtime sipping from behind the 16-foot bar, the centerpiece of the Babcock and Miles Wine Bar and Café.
The order counter next to the bar invites customers to settle into the dining room for a cup of coffee or glass of wine or quickly come in and grab premade sandwiches, salads, yogurt parfaits or pastries from an open front merchandiser. While the charcuterie boards are the most popular for sharing, the Montana Wagyu pastrami sandwich and Caprese Sandwich stand out as individual choices.
A small service kitchen stands behind the order counter while “there’s a full prep kitchen in the basement of this building, and that is nearly 45 feet long, and we have a culinary team that arrives at 6:45 in the morning. They start the prep of breakfast sandwiches, yogurt parfaits, and salads. By midday, they’re prepping the boards for the evening, getting the dinner menu going.” Offerings made fresh daily and in tune with the seasons, present flavors and products made locally and from around the world.
“Our menu is really designed to complement the other restaurants in Red Lodge. Come to Babcock and Miles and have a glass of wine or charcuterie board before you to one of the other restaurants in town, or you’ve been to that restaurant and you want to come by and have a glass of wine before you head home,” Kim said.
At the new Babcock and Miles Wine Bar and Café, Steve and Kim Haman are living up to their reputation as merchants of the delectable, serving up worldly sips and savors, making their dreams and pigs fly.
This article was written by Stella Fong for YPradio.org (https://www.ypradio.org/show/flavors-under-the-big-sky/2023-10-16/flavors-merchants-of-the-delectable-steve-and-kim-haman-of-babock-and-miles)
It’s all about the winer things in life at Babcock & Miles
Billings Gazette 8-9-20
If you are a self-proclaimed foodie, Red Lodge seems to be the Montana hidden gem of gourmet, inventive and extraordinary cuisine.
Located at 105 West 12th St., Babcock & Miles is an eatery, gift shop, and artisanal wonderland of cheese, food and wine.
Owners Kim and Steve Haman, who have owned the business since 2016, are devout food and wine aficionados. When the store opened in 2008, the couple had just moved to Red Lodge from Arizona. Upon hearing about the new food and wine shop opening, Steve was given the chance to oversee the wine ordering at the store, and the rest is history.
“At its inception in 2008, Babcock & Miles strived to be the ‘Merchants of the Delectable’ and help food lovers discover the world of specialty items that existed beyond what was commonly or locally available. Over the years our philosophy has become clear. We have a responsibility to preserve, protect, and promote food and wine products of unique provenance,” said Steve and Kim.
High Quality
Whether you want to eat on the patio of Babcock & Miles or find ingredients to create a masterpiece meal at home, this store has it all. From decadent sandwiches like the Italian muffuletta, to complete meal kits that create a gourmet five-course meal, the store is keen on high quality and authentic ingredients that represents the world’s finest foods.
The store also offers ready made picnic baskets for a relaxing day outdoors.
“Just a few of the things that might grab you when you look at our shelves include our many pastas, sauces, olives, vegetables, tapenades, jellies and jams, honeys, salts and sugars, crackers, and cookies from all over the world. We offer a wide selection of cured meats, salamis, chorizos, sea food, and foie gras in our fridges, in addition to local ground beef and lamb, Italian sausage, bison, duck, turkey, chicken and rabbit in our freezer displays,” said Steve and Kim.
Cheese if you please
The cheese selection is impressive. From Spain, Italy, France, and England to California, Wisconsin, and Vermont, the store carries as many as 70 artisanal cheeses.
“Cow, sheep, goat, and buffalo we have it all,” said Steve and Kim.
For those looking for cheese sourced from the Big Sky State, they have that, too.
Wine and dine
With over 1,000 select wines from around the world, the store offers a vast assortment of aromas and flavors fit for a daily glass with dinner or the dedicated collector.
“Beer drinkers, fear not, as our ever-expanding selection features craft beers from Montana, the U.S., and all over the world, as well as a delightfully modest selection of ciders and sakes. As merchants of the delectable, we want our store to be the end of your search and the start of your culinary journey,” said Steve and Kim.
Keeping it real
For Kim and Steve, authentic cuisine means keeping the ingredients as real as it can get. Like the hand-select wine, the food also needs to honestly represent the region it comes from – which means avoiding mass-produced and genetically engineered products.
“We champion small specialty food and wine producers and help them tell their stories. What is it that gives Old World flavors their allure? We call it terroir. It’s that special sense of place found in the aromas, textures, and tastes that says unabashedly, ‘this comes from somewhere special.’ Not from a factory, not from a lab, but from the land,” said Steve and Kim.
“Whether it’s Montana farmstead goat cheese or Belize single origin chocolate, those special products tell the stories of where they come from with every mouth-watering bite.”
For more information call (406) 446-1796 or visit their Facebook or Instagram pages.
Babcock and Miles: Merchants of the Delectable Under the Beartooths
Billings Gazette 3-3-20
Pigs fly at Babcock and Miles, Merchants of the Delectable in Red Lodge. Here, food and wine demigod Steve Haman preaches all things delicious. Standing in the gourmet store he purchased with his wife Kim in 2016 from Karen and Andrew Porth, he extols his passion for culinary treasures. The small yellow house with white trim just off the main drag recalls visiting a favorite aunt. Figurines of pigs safeguard the bounty of neatly arranged foodstuffs while another flies above the main counter.
On this sunny day after more than a foot of snow had dropped in the Beartooth Mountains and roads were clear, my friend Susan Carlson and I decided to take a road trip. When I first moved to Montana 20 years ago, I was told residents would drive hours for a good meal. Here we were journeying from Billings to secure some unique cheese and wine, among other culinary treats.
The ingredients to fulfill most recipes in cooking magazines can be found here. Specialty items such as duck breasts, caviar and smoked scallops fancify any occasion, while fresh-baked baguettes from the Red Lodge Pizza Company arrive daily at 11:30 a.m. Food snacks, cookies, crackers and nuts can satisfy everyday cravings, with rice, pastas and oils filling the pantry.
At Babcock and Miles, Steve Haman said, "We have a responsibility to preserve, protect, and promote food and wine products of unique provenance. It's our mission to champion those products with deep ties to the unique places they come from, whether it's a Montana farmstead goat cheese or Belize single origin chocolate, because those special products tell the stories of where they come from with every mouth-watering bite."
Haman is good at telling stories and it is no wonder. Once a minister in California, he easily shares what he is passionate about. These days he relays the backstory and facts behind the delights he sells, educating and enlightening those who come into the store. "We try to meet our customers where they're at," Kim Haman said while her husband added, "Our passion, in a large part, is driven by our desire to serve our customers. We are energized by people and they make our job so rewarding." He prides himself in having curated every product in the store. "You can shop confidently knowing that each and every item has been tried and vetted by our staff."
Steve Haman's first love of food came with a job in an Italian restaurant. "While I started washing dishes and busing tables I eventually worked my way into the kitchen, prepping food with the chef in the afternoon." When the chef did not show up one day, Haman was asked to work on the line and help cook.
Why did the Hamans choose Red Lodge for their store? "Situated at the foot of the Beartooths, the setting is spectacular. Historic downtown Red Lodge has a charm that sucks you in," Steve Haman said, plus it was a good place to raise their two sons.
Scott Mann, who ranches nearby, said that "I live in the country, but come into town on most days." On this day, while fueling equipment he was energizing himself with a specialty coffee. The Hamans own one of the only Nuova Simonelli Aurelia Wave espresso machines in Montana, allowing for the precise temperature control, extraction and dispensing that result in a refined cup of coffee.
I picked up a bag of Italian ginger molasses cookies displayed prominently on the front table, a bottle of Ponzu sauce from the selective Asian section, and several bottles of Chablis placed strategically next to the domestic Chardonnay. Susan grabbed a reasonably priced bottle of Portuguese wine on store employee's Willis Johnson's recommendation, and a goat and cow cheese after reading the descriptive labels identifying type, origin and beverage pairing.
On our way home to Billings, Susan and I smiled at the treasures we were bringing back from the Merchants of the Delectable, where pigs fly.