A father's love and a daughter's determination have helped start a new business in Great Falls. What used to be a barbecue restaurant has now turned into Brick House Bakery, which can make and bake about anything you can think of.
Amanda Brooks started several months ago in the Mise En Place "ghost kitchen," which featured rotating chefs and menus, and she has been in her new location at 1720 10th Avenue South since mid-December and had an easy time coming up with the name for her new business.
"I was actually a roller derby girl here for the Electric City Roller Girls, and my nickname was Brickhouse Brooks. I broke my leg real bad, and this was an inspiration from it. It's been amazing since I started in August."
Brooks runs the bakery without a menu so she can test her baking limits and skills. Brooks says the lack of a menu allows her to be more creative and create whatever she and her customers want. Brooks added she doesn't normally make gluten-free treats, but added she has friends with Celiac Disease and can make snacks for gluten intolerance.
"It's been pretty busy. I do everything from scratch and I've been baking a really long time. The outpouring of support I've gotten has been crazy. Never in a million years did I think that I would be this busy."
While the last few weeks have busy, Brooks has noticed recent egg prices affecting business, but has been able to stay busy and keep making goods.
"It's hard to even find eggs sometimes, let alone pay $27 for five dozen," Brooks said.
While she is making all the goodies and sweets in the back, her father Del Voss is out on 10th Avenue holding a sign to help get customers into the bakery. Even in frigid temperatures, he's doing whatever he can to help his daughter's business succeed.
"The last two weeks have been tremendous," he noted.
"It means everything. I've been working another full time job and I'm pretty excited to just do this. I've always dreamt of owning my own bakery. My dad has always been there for me and has been a huge help. So it's amazing when he comes and just says, he's going to wash the dishes. It was kind of a let's just see type thing and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger."
Voss says that not only does he get to meet new people coming into the bakery, but he gets to see his daughter at work and couldn't be more proud of her.
"It took a lot of a lot of work to start this business. I'm so happy to be part of it. I really am."
The bakery's current hours are weekends from 8 am until 2 pm, and Brooks plans to have a full time schedule starting February 7th.
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