Pans of freshly baked cornbread cool on a kitchen counter. The smell of smoked beef brisket wafts through the air.

As the wait staff serves mounds of homemade macaroni and cheese, bison chili and all kinds of comfort food to a lively lunch-hour crowd, it’s clear that Boyd’s Blacksmith Shop has been resurrected once again.

DeSoto Grill opened last week in the former restaurant that operated a couple of years as The Forge. Building owners Ken and Judy Sederdahl, who renovated the century-old blacksmith shop over a seven-year period, closed The Forge about a year ago after deciding the restaurant business wasn’t for them.

They’re now leasing the building to Willie and Shawnna Steele, and word on the street spread quickly about DeSoto Grill. It didn’t take long for tables to fill up.

“It was my dream to have something like this, but nothing was ever right,” Shawnna said, pausing for a few minutes away from the hubbub of a lunch rush.

Ken Sederdahl, a local musician with the Kenny James Miller Band, said he’s thrilled the historic building is once again being put to good use.

“People loved it so much,” he said. “It needs to be open.”

The Steeles, who recently relocated here from Portland, knew they wanted to return to Kalispell. They just had to figure out a way to make a living here.

Shawnna was raised as “a Hi-Line girl” and fell in love with the Flathead Valley as a child when her family vacationed here. Willie grew up in Kalispell and graduated from Flathead High School in 1989.

Shawnna has 27 years of experience in the restaurant business. She has been the general manager of a Sweet Tomatoes restaurant in the Portland area for the past 17 years. Before that she was a manager of Denny’s in Whitefish for five years and early in her career worked at Stumptown Station in Whitefish.

Plans for DeSoto Grill came together quickly and quite perfectly. Shawnna was looking online and saw a cabaret license for sale in Kalispell. The Steeles bought the beer and wine license and then got in touch with the Sederdahls.

“They decided they wanted to lease the building, so it became affordable for us,” Shawnna said.

She’s been catering for years, and had been renting a commercial Traeger smoker. After she took the plunge and bought her own smoker, “I knew it was a turning point in our lives,” she said.

The wood-fired heat is used to cook not only pulled pork, ribs and beef brisket but also the vegetables featured in dishes such as the smoked veggie frittata offered for brunch on weekends. Even the caramel rolls are cooked over wood heat.

“We wanted to bring something different to Kalispell,” Shawnna said.

The Steeles will continue their catering business, operated out of DeSoto Grill, and will begin serving dinner once the cabaret license transaction is finalized. Live music also is in the works.

DeSoto Grill hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, except on Tuesday when the restaurant is closed. Saturday and Sunday hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Once dinners are served starting in September, the restaurant will be open until 9 p.m. The restaurant is located at 227 First St. W.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.