Carol Johnson | Southern Indiana Business Report
BIRDSEYE – From washing dishes and delivering pizza to managing a busy catering service Jamie Boaz’s route to owning his own restaurant wasn’t the fastest, but the years he spent honing his chef skills and listening to his instincts paid off.
Boaz owns and operates BMF Cafe, located inside the Old Homestead Hotel & Distillery in Birdseye near Patoka Lake. BMF Cafe is open to anyone, and is part of Alcohol Acres, which includes the Patoka Lake Winery and Patoka Lake Brewing.
Patoka Lake, an 8,800-acre lake, draws about 900,000 visitors a year to the area. BMF Cafe has become a popular spot, said Kaylee Gildersleeve, director of Crawford County Tourism.
“BMF Café provides many delicious breakfast and lunch options. Visitors to the area now have a hot breakfast option, making BMF a wonderful addition,” said Gildersleeve. “With ample space, BMF Cafe serves as a welcoming lunch location for group outings and get-togethers. Plus, you can pair your crispy chicken sandwich, or my personal favorite, Chef Jamie’s Mac N Cheese, with a delicious cocktail from Old Homestead Distilling, a craft beer from Patoka Lake Brewing, or a glass if wine from Patoka Lake Winery! Overall, BMF Café certainly enhances the Alcohol Acres experience.”
The restaurant celebrated its one-year anniversary in April and is gearing up for its second peak season. The menu is packed with pub-style favorites. Think juicy burger, tender fried chicken sandwich, nachos and a creamy mac and cheese that Boaz spent 15 years perfecting the sauce. Boaz changes things up on weekends, serving up specials like Korean barbecue or meat loaf and mashed potatoes.
Boaz talked to Southern Indiana Business Report about his career working in the restaurant industry and now owning his own restaurant.
What was your first job in the restaurant industry?
I started working in restaurants washing dishes, I delivered pizzas and worked in a Subway. At 21, a friend of our family owned a restaurant in Albion, Illinois. He asked if I wanted to move there and learn how to cook. I worked for them for about 8 years, where I learned how to cook, and more importantly, how to treat guests in your establishment. In 2004, I moved to Jasper and started working for Schnitzelbank Catering as the kitchen manager. I got an opportunity to move back to Illinois in 2006 and revive a failing Italian restaurant. Nine months into that, the owner died and the restaurant closed. Over the next year, I opened an event center and catering business with my sister and brother-in-law in southern Illinois. In 2012, the Hanselmans from the Schnitzelbank called and said they purchased the country club and planned to turn it into an event center. In 2013, I moved back to Jasper and worked at KlubHaus 61 until February 2025.
Describe how you chose the menu for BMF Cafe.
The menu is an amalgamation of several food truck concepts I had. I wanted the food to be bar food because of all the drinking establishments here. We have a small kitchen, and when we first opened, not a lot of equipment, and that dictated the menu. Later we added a fryer and a grill so we could serve fries and chicken sandwiches. Basically, the menu is things I’ve done over the years that I know people love. We make a Philly cheesesteak sandwich people really like. Our homemade buttermilk biscuits and gravy is one of our top sellers. We also introduced the gyros and the response to that really surprised me.
How have your previous experiences in restaurants shaped BMF Cafe?
I’ve been doing this for a really long time. When I was young I worked in many different restaurants, and learned lots of different ways to do things and not to do things. But I was able to pick and choose what I felt like worked the best and have honed those things over the years. Now I think we’ve got something where the food is pretty special.
As you enter the busy summer season when the area around Patoka Lake is buzzing with visitors, what are you looking forward to?
I think this year we will have the word out wide enough that we will have a really busy summer and within the next two or three years we may have to expand our kitchen.
Is the cafe just for hotel guests?
BMF Cafe serves all customers, not just hotel guests. We’re in the common area of the hotel and the distillery. We have seating for nearly 100 and patio seating.
It must be rewarding to be part of an effort to bring more to the area around Patoka Lake.
Activity is picking up and Steve Bartels and Heather Setser (co-owners of Patoka Lake Marina and Winery) are working really hard to make it a year-round destination. They’ve started putting on different shows in the winter, they had a murder mystery dinner, which sold out and a comedy show. The vendor markets they’ve organized have been the best days we’ve had.
Thirty years ago when you were a dishwasher, did you see yourself here?
No, there never was a plan to make a career of cooking. It was just something to keep me going until I figured out what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was probably 35 when I finally realized that people seemed to enjoy what I do and I guess this is what I’m going to do. What I’ve done is not what a lot of chef-types that I’ve known have done. I don’t care if I’m doing foie gras or hot dogs, if I’m doing them to the best of my ability and they are better than what’s around, I’m completely happy doing that.
Do you have a favorite meal?
I don’t have a favorite meal but if I had to pick one food to eat every day it would be pizza because you can eat it so many different ways.
Do you have a specialty?
That’s one of those questions people in this business don’t like because we cook lots of different things. Five years ago, I realized that my specialty is taking a dish and making it in a way that it appeals to the widest range of palates. For instance, my bread pudding – even people who say they don’t like it, like mine. A lot of what I make is regular food, but I try to do it a little better than everyone else.
If you go
BMF Cafe is at 2840 Station Drive, Birdseye. During the summer season, the cafe is open from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.