“Act 3” Arrives
Boise James Beard Nominee Brings New Picnic-Style Menu
Story By Ash Golangco
Aside from supporting local venues and actors after the pandemic, there’s one more reason why Boise residents will be thrilled for Idaho Shakespeare Festival’s reopening – and it’s called Act 3.
The Idaho Shakespeare Festival is known for allowing visitors to bring their own picnics to the show, but plenty of delicious picnic foods will also be available to you at the venue’s own cafe, Act 3! It’s a whole new venture by James Beard Nominee Sarah Kelly and her business partner and husband DK.
“Act 3 offers picnic style concession food that is easily consumable to be packed and eaten on the grounds of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. We aim to offer high quality and approachable picnic fare and a fresh approach to a glorified amenity,” Kelly explained.
Sarah Kelly is the Mountain region’s first female James Beard nominee, which she has described in a past interview with KTVB as “something I never dreamed of happening” – but her nomination came only a few weeks before the statewide lockdowns. Shortly thereafter, her restaurant Petit 4* shut down.
“The pandemic has been a real challenge,” Kelly admitted. “I [would be lying] if I didn't say it already took one of the most risky businesses and made it even more challenging. Between the pandemic, the new labor shortage for our industry, and the unequal distribution of restaurant relief grant money, it has made the smallest of the small restaurants such as ours nearly impossible to operate.”
As many of our FARE members know, these tribulations of the service industry haven’t made all of the customers more understanding or patient either, making the “nice people nicer, and the difficult customer even worse.” Unfortunately, the adventurous chef faces some people’s confused expectations. “When we opened Petite 4*, people were expecting traces of the Bleubird menu. Like Petite 4, Act 3 is it's own separate entity.”
If you’re a Bleubird fan, Sarah Kelly explains that “Bleubird was a great venture for us,” however, Act 3’s menu is completely unique. “Act 3 has a variety of picnic focaccia sandwiches, none of which [resemble] Bleubird. They are smaller and have simple quality ingredients like a house smoked salmon or housemade green goddess chicken salad. They are essentially "old lady like" sandwiches that you would eat on a blanket while sipping wine and listening to the Bard.”
Want a chef recommendation off the menu? Sarah is most excited for the Frose, “a fruity wine slushie is great for these hot summer days,” as well as the Foie dusted potato chips.
If you’d like to take a look at Act 3’s menu and even make pre-orders, click here. You can also support the local award-winning chef and her team at Petite 4, now reopened and available for reservations here. Don’t wait too long to support the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Act 3 – their seasonal offerings won’t last forever!
*Businesses marked with an asterisk are FARE Idaho members. To see our full member list, click here.
