There are two projects you’ve been hearing about for some time: two new restaurants set to open in the former Daily Bread property on the corner of East Main and Cascade in downtown Montrose — and, just down the street, a boutique hotel and club concept planned for the old City Hall and Fire Station buildings.
MSSO, a modern-Asian street food eatery that’s been soft-launching from a food truck at The Association, will be the first to open, with a soft opening slated for late November and a full launch in early December. Persimmon, a refined, farm-to-table Asian grill, will follow next year in the same beautifully restored corner property.
The projects are the latest investments from Typhoon Group, a Hong Kong-based, global holding company that develops ventures across hospitality, real estate, farming, and wellness — and now, increasingly, in Montrose. Their CEO, Alia Eyres, calls their company “purpose-driven” when it comes to choosing what to its portfolio.
For Montrose, the arrival of these ventures represents something rare, maybe even unprecedented: an internationally connected team of hospitality leaders choosing to plant roots in a small Western Slope city, not as a test market, but as a long-term commitment.
From Hong Kong to Montrose
Eyres, co-founder and CEO of Typhoon Group, is no stranger to Montrose — or to global leadership. She spent more than a decade in corporate law and international nonprofit work before launching Typhoon with her husband, John Eyres, and a team of business partners with backgrounds in luxury hospitality, wellness, and real estate.
Typhoon operates worldwide, with a philosophy built around “purpose-driven enterprise.” The company invests in projects that combine innovation, sustainability, and community impact — from high-end hospitality and property ventures in Asia and Europe to Typhoon Farma, the CBD-focused, Montrose-based agricultural and wellness arm that has doubled in size since 2023.
“For our family, it’s about building a portfolio of enterprises that have a generational impact,” Eyres said. “We want to empower visionary leaders and connect them with the people, ideas, and capital they need to create positive transformation. For us, that means investing in the places that have shaped us — both Hong Kong and Montrose.”
The Eyres family has deep ties to the area. Alia grew up spending summers here; her parents were part of the founding team behind Mother’s Choice, a Hong Kong-based charity founded in partnership with Olathe locals in 1987 to support children without families and pregnant teenagers.
Now, she says, her family’s investment through Typhoon Group is a way of giving back to the city that welcomed them decades ago.
“We’re all in on Montrose,” she said. “We see so much potential here. The restaurants and the hotel are just the beginning.”
'Radical hospitality' in the heart of downtown
At the core of Typhoon Group’s expansion in Montrose is Typhoon Hospitality, the division leading the restaurant and hotel projects. The company’s philosophy is summed up in a term they use often: radical hospitality — the belief that thoughtful design, culinary innovation, and human connection can coexist at a high level, and that hospitality can catalyze community growth.
“Great experiences can transform not just a guest’s night — they can transform a community,” Eyres said. “We want to make Montrose a center of excellence for hospitality on the Western Slope.”
To make that vision tangible, she enlisted two global hospitality professionals who have worked at the highest levels of food and service: Chef Nate Green and, overseeing hospitality, Edward Read.
The food: modern, local and proudly not “good enough for Montrose”
Green’s résumé stretches from Michelin-starred kitchens in the UK to acclaimed openings in Hong Kong. His style — rooted in live-fire cooking, butchery and bold ingredient-driven menus — has earned international acclaim.
When he first visited Montrose, he said, one phrase stuck with him.
“All I kept hearing was, ‘It’s okay for Montrose,’” he recalled. “Montrose deserves a lot more than ‘okay.’ You’ve got phenomenal product, phenomenal people. Why can’t Montrose be on the map for food and beverage?”
That conviction fuels the concept behind MSSO and Persimmon.
MSSO — pronounced “Miss So” — will bring approachable modern-Asian food to downtown Montrose: sandwiches, bowls, noodles, and small plates that fuse American comfort with Asian flair. Green describes one idea inspired by a Chef Matty Matheson creation, the “Seoulzinger” — a Philly-style ribeye sandwich laced with kimchi and gochujang, topped with crispy Japanese-style fried chicken and spicy “dragon” sauce. “It’s very Asian, but also very American,” he said. “It’s the kind of dish people will talk about.”
The space itself, once finished, will be designed to feel social and fun, with a beverage program heavy on Japanese highballs, soju and sake — all meant to invite guests to experiment without intimidation.
Persimmon, set to open next year, will be the more refined sibling: a live-fire grill with steaks, seafood, and vegetable-forward sides inspired by Asian flavors but firmly grounded in farm-to-table technique. “If I want to put like an Asian-style compound butter on my steaks… we can do that,” Green said. “If your grandma wants a plain steak and fries, we’ll make that happen. We want everyone at the table to have a great time.”
Building a menu around local sourcing
While Green’s background spans London and Hong Kong, his instincts for Montrose are distinctly Western Slope. “You’ve got amazing farms, great beef, incredible produce,” he said. “Why would we go to Sysco when we can buy from people here?”
The team has begun working to build relationships with local producers and says the goal is to eventually source the majority of ingredients from within Colorado. “(Food and beverage) is about relationships,” he said. “I’m not a lazy chef. I don’t want to work with middlemen — I want to know the growers, the ranchers, the mushroom guy at the farmers market. That’s how great food happens.”
Even when he can’t find something locally, he’s committed to keeping it regional. “If there’s an American soy sauce maker, I’ll buy from them,” he said. “We’ll age it in bourbon barrels from a local distillery. It’s about celebrating what America — and Montrose — already does well.”
The service: empowerment over hierarchy
If Green is the fire, Ed Read is the calm that keeps it steady. A veteran of luxury hospitality, Read spent years leading teams for Ritz-Carlton, Shangri-La, and Mandarin Oriental, eventually overseeing one of Asia’s largest private member clubs — the Aberdeen Marina Club in Hong Kong — where he managed 400 employees and 10,000 members.
He’s now tasked with building Typhoon Hospitality’s service culture in Montrose.
“Service is what you provide,” Read said. “Hospitality is how you make someone feel.”
He defines the company’s difference through two pillars: training and empowerment. And he aims to bring those to Montrose with the restaurants and the hotel.
Training, he said, “isn’t a one-time event.” It’s daily briefings, tastings, and feedback loops that make staff fluent in the menu and confident in their recommendations. Empowerment, meanwhile, means frontline staff are trusted to make decisions — even to fix problems — without waiting for a manager’s approval.
“We don’t want staff paralyzed by hierarchy,” Read said. “If something’s wrong with a dish or a drink, they should fix it right there. That’s how you build trust.”
That approach, he said, reflects lessons from his global experience, but it’s designed for Montrose’s scale — a small downtown where word of mouth spreads fast. “We want people to come in and feel recognized, noticed,” he said. “That’s what turns a restaurant into a community place.”
From the Daily Bread to a new downtown anchor
For decades, the corner of Main and Cascade was home to The Daily Bread, a breakfast institution with Montrose charm. The Typhoon team is working to preserve the building’s warmth while transforming it into something new — a pair of restaurants designed to keep that sense of gathering but extend it into the evening.
“When you walk in, it’s just a beautiful space to enjoy,” Read said. “It’s got history, character, light — everything you want in a place that brings people together.”
Green hopes the same energy will spread to the younger generation. “We want to be the cool place to work — the fun place, the one with the right vibe and energy,” he said. “If we can make downtown Montrose the place where teenagers want their first job, that’s how you regenerate life into a town.”
The hotel around the corner
Around the corner, Typhoon Group is moving ahead with plans to transform the old City Hall and Fire Station into a boutique hotel and private club space overlooking Centennial Plaza. The properties, both listed on the city’s historic register, will be carefully restored. Eyres said she’s meeting with the Historic Preservation Commission in the coming weeks to advance designs.
The project also ties into a growing partnership with Colorado Mesa University (CMU), which hopes to expand hospitality and culinary arts programs at its Montrose campus. The vision is for CMU students to train in Typhoon’s restaurants and future hotel — an arrangement loosely modeled on CMU’s Hotel Maverick and Devil’s Kitchen in Grand Junction.
Read said the hotel will bring Typhoon’s “radical hospitality” to its fullest expression. “When guests stay with you, it becomes their home away from home,” he said. “That’s when the small details — remembering names, anticipating needs — really shine.”
Eyres added that because the project isn’t tied to any corporate brand, Typhoon has the freedom to build something completely its own. “We can set our own standards and service philosophy,” she said. “That’s rare — and really exciting.”
A global company betting local
Typhoon Group’s reach spans continents, but Montrose has become one of its most meaningful hubs. Alongside Typhoon Hospitality, Typhoon Farma continues to expand its regenerative farm operation on the Western Slope — a sister enterprise to the group’s broader wellness and sustainability initiatives. Together, the ventures reflect the group’s belief that business can serve both profit and purpose.
The investments also signal something larger: confidence. Not just in Montrose’s economy, but in its people, its food scene, and its future.
“We love this city,” Eyres said. “We believe in it. And we want others to see it the way we do — as a place full of potential.”
While Eyres doesn’t actually say it, the implication is clear: when a Hong Kong–based firm with global leadership in hospitality and wellness decides to put down long-term roots in small-town Western Colorado, people notice. It’s the kind of move that could attract more vision-aligned investment, both from locals and outside investors.
“We want to create spaces people want to be in, not places people leave,” Eyres said. “If we can spark that kind of pride, it won’t just be about our company. It’ll be about the whole community.”
What's next?
* MSSO (Old Daily Bread Building) – Soft opening in late November; full launch in early December.
* Persimmon (same property) – Expected 2026 opening, refined Asian grill concept.
* Boutique Hotel + Club (City Hall / Fire Station) – Design and historic approvals underway; partnership with CMU in development.
As construction and renovations continue, training ramps up, and menus take final shape, the people behind Typhoon Hospitality is focused on one thing: building places that make Montrose proud.
Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.
