Our Valley | 2022 by Rosebud Media

OUR VALLEY MAY 8, 2022

Our Valley, Our Food

a look at some of the ways we

FILL

our bellies in the

ROGUE VALLEY

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TABLE of CONTENTS OUR VALLEY MAY 8, 2022

6. The pro-fresh-ionals

49. Front yard food

Farmers’ markets connect local growers with consumers

Here’s how to turn a lawn into an attractive food garden

8. Green bags are back

50. Dining in the vines

Neighborhood food pickups are rebounding after the pandemic slowed them a bit

10. Mobile eats Local food trucks are a culinary gateway

14. Food on the street Efforts to feed the hungry increase, but never seem to catch up

16. Bread & Raised Baking the Rogue Valley a better place

Fermented foods are alive and well in Southern Oregon

54. Shop and learn The stand-alone kitchen shop is like a candy store for grownups

30. Gardening together Community gardens are flourishing across the region

32. The elements of romance Ambience, service, food and the variables that make a night out extra special

36. Natural isn’t niche anymore It’s gotten easier to shop locally for natural, organic foods in recent years

38. Food adventure Eating at MÄS is ‘more of an experience than a meal’

40. Health on wheels ACCESS mobile food pantry programs are returning after hiatus

42. Less waste, happier dirt Efforts are underway to reduce food waste going to the landfill

Our Valley 2022 Our Valley, Our Food

62. Clean food

PUBLISHER

58. ‘The healthiest food you can get’

A pair of roadside entrepreneurs dish up some tasty barbecue

our bellies in the

ROGUE VALLEY

Not all pot-infused foods are sweet treats

56. Living flavors

20. Feeding our future

26. Flavor faves

a look at some of the ways we

FILL

Our Valley is an annual publication focusing on life in the Rogue Valley. This year’s theme is “Our Valley, Our Food,” a look at the many ways we fill our bellies and some of the people who prepare our food.

Food fosters learning, so school meal sites are a key to education Local chocolatiers have fans near and far

52. Kefir, kraut, kombucha

Chef of plant-based Melange Eatery in Medford espouses a raw vegan diet

22. Sharing the cacao love

More wineries offer restaurant-style meals

Our Valley, Our Food

Rogue Produce delivers food from fields to your front door

60. Herbs and spices

Fry Family Farm and Whistling Duck were among the first to go all in on organic

64. Bison in the trees Lori and Joe Moore raise bison near Butte Falls for their store in Shady Cove

Steven Saslow

OUR VALLEY EDITOR David Smigelski

GRAPHIC DESIGN

66. Familiar flavors

Robert Galvin

Medford has long been ground zero for national chain restaurants

PHOTOGRAPHERS

68. More cheese, please! A world champion creamery and a winery that makes cheese

Jamie Lusch Andy Atkinson Denise Baratta

COVER DESIGN

70. That’s amore!

Paul Bunch

Three local pizzeria owners talk about what makes their pies special

WRITERS

72. Good food, good times Couple turn their love of good times into a local tour business

44. Safety in numbers

74. ‘It takes a village’

An inside look at county restaurant inspections

SOU class focuses on food at the center of Pacific Islander cultures

46. A cut above

77. Dine out ... while dining in

The charm of an old-fashioned butcher shop

Have you ever considered hiring a private chef?

Vickie Aldous Allayana Darrow Jim Flint Terri Harber Sarah Lemon Damian Mann Nick Morgan Kevin Opsahl Buffy Pollock

Our Valley

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GROWERS MARKETS

ANDY ATKINSON PHOTOS / MAIL TRIBUNE

At the Growers Market in Medford, Jessica Stapp, left photo, and her 3-year-old twins Royal (white hat) and Avalon sample Vital Salts. Nick Hardage (right photo) buys plants from Ben Carder of Fry Family Farm.

PRO-FRESH-IONALS

Farmers’ markets allow local growers to connect with consumers By Jim Flint for the Mail Tribune

here were no fireworks heralding the opening of the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Markets in Ashland and Medford March 1. But there was a lot of celebrating going on as crowds thronged to the outdoor markets. Shoppers were welcomed by booths brimming with tumbling bunches of fragrant herbs and veritable forests of dark leafy greens. Vendors sold bedding plants, flowers, freshly baked loaves of bread, organic meats, winter and early spring produce, artisan goods, handcrafted gifts and more. Fans of the market love the ambience of shopping for a cornucopia of goods

in an outdoor setting. There’s a sense of community as friends greet friends. And the frugal among them appreciate being able to buy one sprig of dill or get a bargain on a basket of slightly dented tomatoes. In addition, there are educational moments for children, inspiration for meal planning, and buskers playing music or making balloon animals to add to the fun. Hours at the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market are 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesdays in Ashland at the National Guard Armory, 1420 E.

Fans of the market love the ambience of shopping for a cornucopia of goods in an outdoor setting. There’s a sense of community as friends greet friends. And the frugal among them appreciate being able to buy one sprig of dill or get a bargain on a basket of slightly dented tomatoes.

Main St.; and 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursdays in Medford in Hawthorne Park, East Jackson and Hawthorne streets. The Ashland market will move this summer, to a new location near Southern Oregon University. Watch for a future announcement and check

for updates at rvgrowersmarket.com. The Ashland Saturday market on Oak Street opened May 7. The outdoor market season runs through the end of November. As the seasons change, so does the mix of offerings at the market, reflecting what is being freshly harvested locally at the time. The mix of vendors is quite varied. You’ll find bakeries such as Four and Twenty Blackbirds, Bright Star, Coquette, Windmill, Rise Up! and others. SEE MARKETS, PAGE 13

Fresh produce is for sale at Barking Moon Farms booth at the growers market in Ashland. JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Our Valley

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NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD PROJECT

GREEN BAGS ARE BACK Neighborhood food pickups rebound after the pandemic slowed them a bit By Damian Mann for the Mail Tribune

eighborhood food drives to feed the poor are in full swing again after the pandemic put a damper on operations. Every two months — the second Saturday of every even-numbered month — residents of Southern Oregon put nonperishable food items in a green tote bag and set them on their front porch. The food is picked up by neighborhood volunteers and distributed to local food pantries, which get the items to families.

The food drive typically collects 75,000 pounds of food. In December, the Medford drive hauled in a record 42,290 pounds from 2,800 donors. For 2021, Medford, which collects for Central Point and Jacksonville, hauled in a record 220,000 pounds of food distributed through 14 pantry locations. “I’m amazed that people continue to press in and give and give,” said Marcy Bliss, director of the Medford Food Project. She said the need for food has increased over the past few years because of the fires and the pandemic.

“Throughout the pandemic people have wanted to give. It shows how great the community has been in wanting to help.” Courtney Williams, president of the local Neighborhood Food Project, the umbrella organization for the various food projects

PHOTO BY DENISE BARATTA

Hundreds of bags of donations from Neighborhood Food Project volunteers are unloaded at ACCESS in Medford. 8

Our Valley

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NEIGHBORHOOD FOOD PROJECT More recently, the cost of food has escalated, squeezing the budgets of many families. “SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) benefits don’t go as far anymore,” Bliss said. Medford has been one of the largest food drive locations in the state, as far as donors and volunteers. “Bend has passed us up as far as the number of donors,” Bliss said. During the pandemic, the food drive was canceled and Jackson County residents were asked to provide donations of cash instead of food. “Throughout the pandemic people have wanted to give,” said Courtney Williams, president of the local Neighborhood Food Project, the umbrella organization for the various food projects. “It shows how great the community has been in wanting to help.” Food drives in Jackson County take place in Medford, Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Jacksonville, Central Point and Eagle Point. The Medford and Ashland programs are the largest, each collecting around 30,000 pounds of food during the drives. The Medford effort, which also includes Jacksonville and Central Point, distributes the food to pantries such as at The Maslow Project and St. Vincent de Paul. Many of the pantries are still providing boxes of food rather than letting customers select what they need from shelves because of COVID restrictions. Grants Pass also has a neighborhood food collection program. Ashland started the first local food drive in 2009, followed by Medford in 2011. Oregon has 18 Neighborhood Food Projects, the most of the 11 states that participate in the program. Donations can also be made directly to a local food project in your area by going online: ashlandfoodproject.com, medfordfoodproject.com, talentfoodproject. org, phoenixfoodproject.org, eaglepointfoodproject.com and www. gpfoodproject.com (Grants Pass). Here’s a general list of items needed by the food banks: cereal,

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PHOTO BY DENISE BARATTA

Merry Fischer and Tory Fischer, 9, of Medford, sort Neighborhood Food Project donations on a Saturday morning at ACCESS.

soups, canned meat, canned fruit, cooking oil, canned tuna, canned beans, dried beans, pinto beans, canned corn, masa, brown rice, long grain white rice, stewed tomatoes, fruit cocktail, side dishes, soy milk, canned milk, texturized vegetable protein, pasta, Hamburger Helper, Rice-a-Roni. Brad Galusha with the Ashland Food Project said his organization has 2,400 donors who collected 28,000 pounds of food

in December. The organization is seeking cash donations as well. In December, he said, the organization was accepting all types of nonperishable items, but many of the volunteers became concerned about the risks from the omicron variant of the virus. When the pandemic began, only canned goods were accepted and then were stored for 10 days in a container. Galusha said he’s hoping his organization will begin accepting more nonperishable goods if the pandemic abates. Donations via checks can be mailed to Neighborhood Food Project, P.O. Box 1089, Ashland, OR 97520. Donors should specify which community they’d like their money to go to. For more information on the Neighborhood Food Project, go to https://neighborhoodfoodproject.org. Also go to the website to sign up to be a food donor.

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MOBILE EATS

A CULINARY GATEWAY The variety of food trucks in the valley continues to grow By Damian Mann for the Mail Tribune

edford is a long way from almost everywhere, but the region boasts dozens of food trucks and carts that give us a taste of the world. Taco trucks started the trend, followed by Asian and South American-inspired delicacies, along with more traditional pizza, hot dog and burger offerings. “Except for the taco trucks, I was probably one of the first 10 here,” said Russell Evans, owner of Wok Star. He estimates there are now about 50 food trucks and carts around the valley, with most clustered in Medford. The food truck scene really started to take off during the Great Recession 14 years ago. Various locations have popped up over that time that attract clusters of food trucks. Some of the more popular locations include Fourth Street and Bartlett Avenue, Barnett Road across from Rogue Regional Medical Center, and next to the U.S. Post Office on Riverside. Medford has the most food trucks, but most other towns in the region also have them, particularly along Highway 99.

ANDY ATKINSON PHOTOS / MAIL TRIBUNE

Jessica Cash takes orders at the Wok Star food truck off Murphy Road across from Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford.

Teriyaki chicken meal prepared at the Wok Star food truck.

More than a decade ago, competing taco trucks offered five tacos for $5. They’ve since increased prices along with everyone else. When Evans started serving teriyaki chicken, Asian tacos and other popular plates from his food truck, he continued

his day job framing houses during the summer. He’s left the construction industry and is currently setting up another food truck, hoping to place it on Highway 99 just outside Ashland, which doesn’t allow food trucks. Food trucks started

The food truck scene really started to take off during the Great Recession 14 years ago. Various locations have popped up over that time that attract clusters of food trucks. out as a budget option for lunch, but prices have crept up in the past two years as the cost of food has escalated. Evans said his most expensive item is the teryaki plate with filet mignon, priced at $16. SEE FOOD TRUCKS, PAGE 12

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MOBILE EATS FROM FOOD TRUCKS, PAGE 10

His teriyaki chicken has gone up from $8 to $10 over the past few years. Chicken has gone up dramatically in price lately, Evans noted. Another food truck pioneer is Christian Ainzuain, owner of Peruvian Point. He started nine years ago and has two food trucks, one located across the street from Rogue Regional Medical Center on Barnett Road, another that is often at Fourth Street and Bartlett Avenue downtown, while a recent Facebook post showed the truck at the new Rogue Credit Union location on West Main Street near Thunderbird Market, and at a new location in Talent. Ainzuain’s Peruvian dishes are so popular he regularly gets people from out of town stopping by. “I had a lady from Grants Pass send her employee down here to pick up an order,” he said. While successful, Ainzuain said it’s been difficult to keep prices down as the cost of food escalates. Two years ago his most popular dish, antecucho de pollo, was $9, but he’s had to raise the price twice to $13. “Things are very hard right now,” Ainzuain said. “The price of everything has skyrocketed.” He still gets fresh chicken and other meats from a local butcher because he likes to keep the quality high. Ainzuain also prepares his own local sauces from scratch and imports spices and other seasonings because they’re unavailable here. 12

COURTESY PHOTO

Peruvian Point, started nine years ago by Christian Ainzuain, has two food trucks that occupy various locations around the area.

Finding food trucks can be either an annoyance or a hobby for some people. Google Maps and other apps generally list the location of the food trucks in the valley, though they don’t always stay up to date. John McCalip started www.facebook.com/ roguevalleyfoodtrucks/ more than six years ago for a class project at Southern Oregon University. He said the idea was born out of frustration at not being able to find a food truck at the same location as the prior week.

“I used to work downtown for the county,” McCalip said. “I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if there was a Facebook page that told you were they were.’” Even though he doesn’t update the site anymore, he still gets five to six new people every week. “It’s been dormant, but it just keeps growing,” McCalip said. He said he’s been approached by one food truck operator to take over the site. McCalip said he expects

cities in the valley will follow the lead of places like Portland, which has a large concentration of food trucks in one location. Over the years, the variety of food available locally has improved at food trucks, McCalip said. He’s still got a soft spot for taco trucks, which are more numerous than ever. “The taco trucks are the real culinary rock stars,” he said. Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com.

| Our Valley

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From MARKETS Page 6

Offering freshly harvested vegetables and fruits are farms such as Antonio’s, Banyan, Barking Moon, Bigham, By George, Oak Valley, Green Ridge, Rolling Hills, Wild Circle, Windborne, Wizard Way, Waterleaf, Peach Rock, Whistling Duck, Tipsy Bee, Sweet Lucy and more. Other growers sell microgreens, fresh eggs, lavender and flowers. You can buy mushrooms, artisan cheeses, ice cream, coffee, cider, doughnuts, jewelry, jams, seafood, beef, pork, chocolates, soaps, salsa, skin care products, honey, shave ice, crafts and more. Each market has food vendors ready with grab-and-go snacks and lunches you can eat on site or take home. Double Up Food Bucks, SNAP and Oregon Trail Card participants are welcome. See the RVGCM for details on how the programs work. The RVGCM is under new leadership. Jaimie Griffin is the new executive director. She previously was the community relations director for a senior living community in the Rogue Valley. Before that, she was director of marketing and development for an orthopedic group in the Seattle area. Griffin grew up on a forestry farm in rural Washington State and GRIFFIN professes a love for sustainable farming, with a specific interest in agroforestry practices. “The Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market is a vital ingredient of our local food system and community,” she said. “It’s a centerpiece in the valley for connecting farmers to consumers, helping to bring fresh ingredients into our diets.” Griffin said she admires the sense of community at the markets, as a place where neighbors shop together and farmers serve as food educators. “It reinvigorates how consumers shop and eat,” she said. “I look forward to being able to make a positive impact on this organization and the community.” If you haven’t experienced a trip to the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market, it may be time to check them out. You can’t get much more local than a farmers’ market. These sustainable marketplaces present a unique opportunity to meet the people who grow your food, connect with your community, and explore the best in local farm-fresh produce and handcrafted items. It’s all in good taste.

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COMMUNITY MEALS

FOOD ON THE STREET By Damian Mann for the Mail Tribune

cross the Rogue Valley, there has been a long-term community effort to feed the hungry. The Gospel Mission, St. Vincent de Paul, ACCESS and Uncle Food’s Diner are just some of the grassroots efforts to get meals to hungry people. St. Vincent in Medford has been offering meals since it was begun in 1982 by Bill and Lil Howe. “We serve five hot lunches a week,” said Rich Hansen, with St. Vincent. “At times, we’ve had over 200 people eating in our dining room.”

Efforts to feed the hungry have increased, but it never seems to catch up to the need

St. Vincent offers lunch from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the Gospel Mission in Medford offers dinner. Other organizations pass out meals at various locations, including at Hawthorne Park. Since the pandemic started, St. Vincent has had to keep the dining room closed, instead passing hot lunches served in clamshell-style containers to those waiting outside. Hansen said he hopes the dining room is able to reopen soon because

it offers a place to socialize and relax for those living on the streets. The meals also go to the working poor, people who have a job but barely earn enough to feed and house themselves. Hansen said St. Vincent has a good menu, receiving food donations from local restaurants and even from Rogue Valley Manor. Gleaners provide fresh fruits and vegetables. While the dining room is the ideal spot to sit down and have lunch, Hansen said there have been behavioral issues in the past. As a result, a security guard was hired to help keep the peace inside the building. “It’s not too hard to understand why we have fights,” Hansen said. “Many of the people who are homeless are not happy about it.”

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Maren Faye of Phoenix helps with meal preparation for Uncle Food’s Diner in Ashland.

“We soon realized how many hungry people there are out there. Just in the last two years things have really amped up.” Elizabeth Hallett, Uncle Food’s Diner 14

| Our Valley

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COMMUNITY MEALS

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Volunteers help prepare a meal at Uncle Food’s Diner in Ashland. At right, volunteer JoAnn Prujan prepares a sandwich wrap.

St. Vincent also has a food pantry and collects mail for many people who lack an address, and the mail and food boxes are passed out Tuesdays and Thursdays. Many local organizations provide food to the poor, including ACCESS and various food banks. “We deliver food on the street to five different locations,” said Elizabeth Hallett, with Uncle Food’s Diner, which is celebrating its 30th year in Ashland and is sponsored by Peace House. She said the program started by serving meals to teens. “But we soon realized how many hungry people there are out there,” Hallett said. “Just in the last two years things have really amped up.” The pandemic and the 2020 Labor Day fires have increased the need to provide food locally, she said. Survivors of the Paradise, Obenchain and Almeda fires are some of the participants in the food program. Seniors struggling to pay the rent are seeking food as well, Hallett said. Food preparation is underway Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at Ashland First Methodist Church, but Hallett said higher costs because of pandemic-related issues will likely force her organization to cut back. “We had to hire people to work during the pandemic,” she said. “We also had to buy a vehicle to make deliveries.” Because of these higher costs,

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Hallett said, “It’s not financially sustainable for us to do four days a week.” She said she expected to have to cut back on the service sometime this year. “We’ve spent a lot of money trying to sustain this thing,” she said.

Going forward, Uncle Food’s Diner also will need a new kitchen to prepare the meals. She applauds the efforts of other organizations around the valley that prepare meals for those in need. “We’re each trying to serve the population where we live,” she said.

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ARTISAN BAKERIES

COURTESY PHOTO

A baker at Mix Bakeshop in Ashland caramelizes lemon meringue toppings with a torch.

COURTESY PHOTO

Carla Guimaraes, owner of Vida Baking Company in Ashland, drizzles icing on a batch of cinnamon rolls.

BREAD & RAISED COURTESY PHOTO

A baker at Mix Bakeshop dips Swiss meringue-topped cupcakes into chocolate for the finishing touch.

COURTESY PHOTO

Cakebar + Bakery in west Medford tempts its customers daily with treats like this moist slice of cake.

Artisans bake, and make, the Rogue Valley a better place

| Our Valley

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ARTISAN BAKERIES

“I bring 110% to everything I make, but it can be tough trying to balance the not-so-fun administrative tasks when I’d rather be eating cookies for breakfast.” Dawn Naymik, owner, Four and Twenty Blackbirds

By Jim Flint for the Mail Tribune

f you like to bake at home, you know the warm feeling you get when you peek inside the oven and see your loaf of bread rising, or your chocolate chip cookies turning golden brown. There’s always a moment of joy tucked into the experience of baking — and tasting the results. Like any creative pursuit, baking is also a form of self-expression that can help relieve stress. Is it the same in a commercial bakery? Yes and no. A bakery is no place for pansies. There are the night shifts, getting up in the wee hours and lots of hard work. But Rogue Valley bakery owners will tell you it’s also a labor

of love, a job that has its share of gratifying moments. After all, bakery customers have happy faces. There is no shortage of bakeries in the Rogue Valley. You’ll find them in supermarkets, in restaurants, and as stand-alone establishments. An online search reveals bakers catering to a variety of tastes and cultures. Here is a sampling:

Four and Twenty Blackbirds Four and Twenty Blackbirds Bakery, 130 A St., is the oldest bakery in Ashland. The newest owner, Dawn Naymik, took over the operation in the middle of the pandemic. “It was founded in 1988 by Mary Martha Dust,” Naymik said, “who visited me shortly after I purchased the business and we baked cookies together.”

The business has changed over the years from a predominately wholesale bakery selling cookies and pies to one that shifted toward retail and direct sales, with a heavy presence at the local growers markets. SEE BAKERIES, PAGE 18

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ARTISAN BAKERIES her skills and passion for baking. It’s in her DNA. Naymik grew up in a family that “My father was an excellent cook, did a lot of baking, preserving so he got me interested in creatand cooking from scratch. One of ing delicious meals from scratch. I her first jobs was in a commercial baked a lot of brownies when I was bakery. a kid,” she laughed, “and I rememShe says all her items are made ber baking a seven-layer Dobos by hand from scratch and remind torte that was quite intensive.” customers of home-baked goods. The couple have enjoyed seeing “My cherry turnovers and the business grow and become an marionberry scones are the most important part of popular items,” the Rogue Valley she said, “folfood scene. lowed by the Buttercloud marionberry added online pies. Oregon ordering for loves their pickup and offers marionberries.” shipping of baked She’s also very goods across the proud of her country. cheesecake. Their whole“It’s my favorsale business ite dessert of all includes biscuits, time, and this banana bread recipe is of my and hazelnut own creation,” espresso shortshe said. “I make bread cookies a nice thick at Market of COURTESY PHOTO yummy graham Choice, and the A baker assembles pear-almond tarts at crust and the shortbread cookcheesecake itself Buttercloud Bakery & Cafe in Medford. ies also are sold is light and fluffy, at Dunbar Farms, where they buy packed with flavor.” the flour for their cookies. “Probably the most challenging aspect of the job is being both the Vida Baking Company owner and baker,” Naymik said. “I Another café with a bakery, Vida bring 110% to everything I make, but it can be tough trying to balance Baking Company is fairly new on the not-so-fun administrative tasks the scene in Ashland, at 149 N. Pioneer St. Their breads and bakery when I’d rather be eating cookies goods are all 100% gluten-free. for breakfast.” Owner Carla Guimaraes, who moved to the U.S. in her early 20s Buttercloud Bakery & Café Buttercloud’s café menu is just as from Brazil, had a wholesale bread business in Santa Barbara before popular as its bakery items. she moved to Ashland. She’s a Customers love their farmhouse biscuit sandwiches with egg, bacon, graduate of the bread program at the International Culinary Center in tomato and basil aioli inside a New York City. housemade buttermilk biscuit. “When I moved to Ashland in Other favorites include eggs benedict, bacon cheddar scones, orange May of 2020 and saw this location vacant, I knew that was my pecan sticky buns, chocolate dream opportunity to pursue my vision of cake, and mini banana cream pies. having a place to make and serve Located at 315 S. Front St., in fresh breads, like our warm Pão de Medford, Buttercloud is owned Queijo,” she said. by Ellen and Gibson Holob, who Pão de Queijo is a traditional Brastarted the business in 2011. Ellen has been baking for 29 years zilian cheese bread, usually served as a small roll or bun. and welcomed the chance to share From BAKERIES, Page 17

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ARTISAN BAKERIES It has a crunchy crust, a light, and garlic, to name just a few. fluffy center, and a slightly tart Everything is made from scratch flavor. Vida also serves a bagel from all-natural ingredients. version. Central Point Perk & Bakeshop Other popular items are her Brazilian carrot muffins, pear-almond Fans of this out-of-the-way shop tarts, and a quiche of the day. say it’s worth the trip. Located at Having an outdoor dining space 117 E. Pine St., in Central Point, this helped Vida survive the pandemic. small coffeehouse and bakeshop Expansion plans are in the works. inhabits an old, uniquely decorated “We’re going building with to be adding lots of character. new items to Central the line,” she Point Perk & said, “including Bakeshop’s sandwich bread housemade baked loaves, crackers goods include and more grabcroissants, and-go items. cinnamon rolls, We also plan to COURTESY PHOTO kolaches, bagels, expand the deck Fresh-baked artisan breads tempt shoppers scones, fruit pies, and put a roof at The Village Baker in Ashland. tarts, cupcakes, over it.” lemon bars, baked Guimaraes hopes to build her doughnuts and quick breads. wholesale business along the way. The café side has a limited breakCurrently, she sells frozen packfast menu as well as a lunch menu aged bread through the Ashland featuring sandwiches, seasonal Food Co-op. soups and desserts.

Cakebar + Bakery Another dine-in, takeaway shop is Cakebar + Bakery at 915 W. McAndrews Road, in Medford. The shop is known for its cakes for all occasions, tarts, scones, kolaches and other pastries. Its croissants come in a variety of renditions, from chocolate-drizzled to cardamom to ham and cheese. Dine-in customers rave about their biscuits and gravy, and a relatively new addition, flatbread pizza. With a menu that changes almost daily, you can get updates from Cakebar’s Facebook page.

The Village Baker You can find cookies and pastries at The Village Baker, 372 E. Main St., in Ashland, but they’re famous for their artisan breads. Whole wheat, sourdough, baguettes and other traditional breads are baked fresh daily. Also popular are their fruit and nut breads, French breads and a large selection of specialty breads, such as sundried tomato, basil and garlic; blue cheese and olive; pumpernickel-cranberry; and jalapeno, artichoke

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Mix Bakeshop An Ashland fixture popular with tourists and locals alike, Mix Bakeshop is located at 57 N. Main St., on the Ashland Plaza. It’s open seven days a week from morning to evening. Customers enjoy the ambience of Mix, likening it to a French café with a pinch of smalltown hospitality. With online ordering, customers found it easy to continue to pamper themselves during the pandemic with goodies from Mix. For many of its fans, Mix is their go-to place for a special treat for a dinner party. The artisan bakery produces a variety of breads, cakes, cookies, desserts and pastries. Also available are sandwiches, granola bars, housemade ice creams and direct-trade coffee. With a lineup of bakeries like these, even pandemic times can be sweet times. And as the French say, there is nothing a good loaf of bread can’t fix. To learn more about bake shops near you, do an online search for your town.

4/25/2022 11:05:01 AM

SCHOOL FOOD

FEEDING OUR FUTURE By Sarah Lemon for the Mail Tribune

hicken coalesces in Anne Leavens’ kitchen as “strips,” “nuggets” or “popcorn” — depending on what the national supply chain can muster. Adapting daily to the availability of food, Leavens still must serve about 3,000 demanding customers. “Just because they’re kids doesn’t mean they’re not our customers,” says Leavens. As nutrition services supervisor for Central Point School District 6, Leavens managed to reconfigure cafeteria fare as takeout throughout the coronavirus pandemic. But even as students returned in the fall for standard school days, Leavens still hasn’t seen a return to normalcy where food is concerned.

Food fosters learning, so school meal sites are a key to education

ANDY ATKINSON / MAIL TRIBUNE

Salad bar for students at Jewett Elementary School in Central Point.

“Normally, we like to have the same (items) all year,” she says, explaining that one week’s pizza may be round, the next week’s square because the

district can’t rely on orders being filled as requested, particularly where the U.S. Department of Agriculture plays a role. Operating on a $3.5 million annual budget, says Leavens, the district relies heavily on USDA commodities, despite their vagaries. “So far, the kids have handled that really well.” And District 6’s food service staff has handled unprecedented challenges with creative solutions. In response to 2019’s distance learning, they delivered an entire week’s worth of takeout breakfasts and lunches to district drop sites. By comparison, furnishing a single day’s allotment of food — taken to go — when on-campus learning resumed in 2020 was a cinch. “They were adaptable; they didn’t fight change; they were happy to be at work,” says Leavens of her staff, which number 30 to 35.

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SCHOOL FOOD Now that District 6 skills, reinforced inclusivfood-service workers ity and provided outdoor are back to interacting learning spaces. with students at its eight “The garden is ideal for schools, Leavens is lookthat,” says Foster. “The ing ahead to the federal programs had a huge government’s latest impact. We’ve realized school meal requirements, that, pandemics aside, including the proposed that’s a really big role we increase to 80% wholecan play in the school.” grain products over The coronavirus-rethe 50% allowed by the lated crunch on school Trump administration. bus systems even mobiShe says she’s also hopelized Farm to School. ful Congress will extend When a Medford firstwaivers allowing public grade teacher couldn’t schools to serve every secure bus transportastudent free of charge. tion for her students to a “Taking the stigma local pumpkin patch last away is something any fall, says Foster, Farm to food service program School brought Applewould want.” gate-grown gourds to her Every student — classroom. regardless of household Such activities lay the income — is entitled to foundations for a future free breakfast, lunch with Farm to School and dinner each day at support on every local Kids Unlimited Acadcampus, says Foster, emy, which also provides citing eight schools as daily meal service during current program sites. summer break. The organization is Cooking every dish expanding its reach next from scratch in the year through Family charter school’s full, Nurturing Center’s work ANDY ATKINSON / MAIL TRIBUNE at Historic Hanley Farm on-site kitchen, Kids Candy Ford and Laura McQigg serve lunch for students at Jewett Unlimited staff learned near Central Point. Elementary School in Central Point. years ago that feeding More than 20 local students freshly prepared, farms already work with top-quality food was among its chief responsibilities, Farm to School to put their products on plates in local says Tom Cole, executive director of the organization school cafeterias. with program sites in Medford and White City. As Southern Oregon’s procurement hub, under The pandemic, says Cole, only magnified the nutrithe leadership of Oregon Farm to School and School tional need of kids — and their entire families. Garden Network, Foster and her staff help to broker “Food … it became one of the most important sersales between area farmers and schools. vices for us,” he says. About half of all school districts locally operate their Fresh, nutritious foods, according to “tons of studown food services, while the others contract with ies,” are among the most significant contributors to Sodexo or Chartwells. children’s success, says Sheila Foster, executive direcKids have their say during Farm to School’s “hartor of Rogue Valley Farm to School. But connection to vest of the month,” which brings samples of local, food in school settings, she says, goes beyond meeting seasonally fresh fruits and vegetables into cafeterias. kids’ calorie requirements. Encouraged not only to try new foods, students vote Foster’s organization founded a school garden over for items to feature on lunch menus for the rest of the the past year at Central Point Elementary on the advice month. of La Clinica mental health specialists contracting with “It’s super exciting to see them try new things,” says the district to address students’ psychological effects Leavens. “We love feeding people, and it’s really fun to from the pandemic. feed kids. We like serving our future.” Gardening, says Foster, was independently legitiReach freelance writer Sarah Lemon at thewholedish@ mized over the past year by a separate assessment of gmail.com. Farm to School’s programming, which instilled social

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4/25/2022 11:05:05 AM

CHOCOLATE

O A C A C E V LO Rogue Valley chocolatiers have fans near and far By Jim Flint for the Mail Tribune

PHOTO BY JIM FLINT

Deena Branson, shown here with a tray of hazelnut sea salt caramels, started her chocolate business online 16 years ago. She now sells retail in Ashland and has a large wholesale component.

opamine, a feel-good neurotransmitter in the brain, is released anytime you experience something that gives you joy — which explains why, after snapping off a piece of dark chocolate, then pressing it to the roof of your mouth and letting it slowly melt around your tongue, you can’t wait to rinse and repeat. When it comes to enjoying chocolate, the experts say

biting and chewing are a waste of money. It’s the melting that produces the most exquisite pleasure. You’ve got 30 seconds to let that happen, right? You can buy chocolate at grocery stores and mini-markets. You can find it in department stores and gas stations. But the real treat is a trip to a local chocolatier to check out the selection of freshly made artisan chocolates. The Ashland franchisee for Rocky Mountain Chocolates offers a wide variety of chocolates and chocolate-forward treats.

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CHOCOLATE Some items are made in-house. Others are shipped in from the company’s factory in Durango, Colorado. Two local independent chocolatiers of note include Lillie Belle Farms, 211 N. Front St., in Central Point, owned by Jeff Shepherd; and Branson’s Chocolates, 1662 Siskiyou Blvd., in Ashland, owned by Deena Branson. Both make chocolates in-house and have loyal followings in the Rogue Valley and beyond.

An aha moment Jeff Shepherd, in search of some culinary independence, founded Lillie Belle in 2002 in Jacksonville. “I have spent the better part of my life in kitchens,” he said. “I had been a professional chef for two decades before latching upon the idea of making fancy boxed chocolates.” It was on an extended trip through Europe when the aha moment occurred. It seemed like every city and town had a chocolatier. “You can find a good baker or butcher in most towns in the U.S.,” he said, “but a local chocolatier? That’s rare. That planted the seed.” Ever since he started the business, it’s been constantly evolving, Shepherd said. “The one thing that I have been told year after year is that it all comes down to taste,” he said. “People like the balance we achieve between the chocolate and the flavoring, infusion or addition. The chocolate has to be the star and not be dominated by another ingredient.” The reward for him is not only pleasing his customers, but the act of making something with his hands that makes people happy. Shepherd believes his “fierce individualism” sets him apart from other chocolatiers and the chains. “I treat chocolate like I do a canvas,” he said. “I have been a painter and musician for over 40 years. Chocolate is my medium now, and we like working together.” So, while it is a business, it’s also

PHOTO BY JIM FLINT

COURTESY PHOTO

Ashland Nuggets, a bestseller for Branson’s Chocolates, are shown being enrobed with milk chocolate at its Ashland headquarters.

The complex flavor profile of Branson’s matcha green tea squares combine mellow grassy notes and a natural sweet nuttiness.

the main outlet these days for his artistic and creative expression. Lillie Belle makes more than 80 products. Customers have their favorites, but the biggest sellers, hands down, are their lavender sea salt caramels. The company does both retail and wholesale business. “We’ve been in our current retail location in Central Point for 15 years, but we sell to hundreds of stores around the country,” he said. “Locally they are found at Market

of Choice, Paddington Station, Zuzu’s Flowers and a few wineries.” The pandemic produced an unexpected bonus for Lillie Belle. When the first COVID wave hit and everything shut down, Shepherd came up with the idea of painting a mask on one of his chocolate Easter bunnies, calling it the COVID bunny. “We put it on our website, figuring we could keep the internet part of the business going even if we had to close the shop,” he said. SEE CHOCOLATE, PAGE 24

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4/25/2022 11:05:08 AM

CHOCOLATE

“I treat chocolate like I do a canvas. I have been a painter and musician for over 40 years. Chocolate is my medium now, and we like working together.” Jeff Shepherd, right, founder of Lillie Belle Farms, an artisan chocolate business in Central Point From CHOCOLATE, Page 23

About a week after it was up on the site, it wound up on the front page of the New York Times. And things got pretty wild. “We got destroyed,” Shepherd said. “We ended up making something like 20,000 bunnies over the next month. It went super-viral (pun intended) and saved our business.” After the initial flash, however, and facing a summer of zero tourists, it was brutal. “We were able to pay the rent and keep a skeleton crew employed,” he said, “as we became a lean, mean chocolate machine.” If that wasn’t enough, supply chain issues became a challenge as well. “Those issues were real, and they can turn hair gray and make a grown man weep,” he said. It is no secret that Shepherd tried to sell the business a year ago. But when the word got out, he was inundated with local customers begging him not to sell. “After many months of thought, we decided to sign a new lease, take it off the market and go for it,” he said. “It has been a great year since then, and we’ve had support from multiple generations of fans. We’re looking forward to making people’s favorites for many years to come.” For more information, go to lilliebellefarms.com.

Door closes, another opens When Deena Branson’s husband came home and said, “Do you know that Ashland Fudge Company has closed?” her first thought was not about her job, but about preserving the recipes and saving the equipment. “That was the start of the journey,” said Branson, who had worked for Ashland Fudge for 10 years. “I worked for three sets of owners and helped train two sets.” Branson and her husband were able to acquire the equipment and recipes from the second owners. The bank wouldn’t negotiate for the retail part of the business, so she took the plunge and started her own company. Sixteen years later, the business is quite different from when it started. In the beginning, milk chocolate outsold dark chocolate 2 to 1, and now it’s the reverse. The creamed fudge was discontinued because of the short shelf life. “Salted caramels were not a thing when I started,” she said, “but now it’s one of the staples.” She added new products along the way, but two were because of requests from local businesses. She started making chocolate bars for Ashland Springs Hotel, and 24

COURTESY PHOTO

toffee for Paddington Station. “Both have become a big part of the business,” Branson said. Customers love her chocolates and other confections, but they also have expressed appreciation for the options she offers. “We make sure that our products are gluten-free, that we have vegan and dairy-free options, and that we have some options for diabetics,” she said. “And people appreciate that we support other small local businesses by using locally sourced ingredients.” Branson’s biggest sellers are toffee and caramels. There are three different toffees — almond, hazelnut and pistachio. And the caramel lineup includes caramel sticks, Ashland Nuggets, whiskey caramels, and five different salted caramels — tequila, lavender, hazelnut, smoked and plain. “Our whiskey caramel uses whiskey that is distilled in Talent by Pioneer Whisky,” Branson said. “We make everything in small batches, by hand,” she said. “We do not use wrapping machines. We hand wrap and label every chocolate bar.” Custom labeling has become a niche in the business, which Branson’s does for several businesses in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Branson started the business with no retail outlet, just a website and working events like the Oregon Chocolate Festival, Oregon Cheese Festival and others. Wholesale customers were added a couple years in, including several wineries. Branson said her wholesale business was a lifeline during the pandemic. Also helping during the lockdown were the company’s web business and curbside pickup. Things are looking up in 2022. “We are planning new items and changing things up,” she said. “You will have to stop by from time to time to see what we are up to.” Gosh. Stop by a chocolate shop and check out what’s new? One can imagine the line of volunteers forming now. For more information, see bransonschocolate.com.

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BARBECUE

FLAVOR FAVES

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Pork belly mac and cheese at Sid’s Gourmet.

A pair of roadside entrepreneurs are dishing up some of the tastiest barbecue in the valley By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

German sausages are cooked at Goebel’s in Shady Cove.

vast and varied assortment of barbecue shacks, food trucks and other eateries have cropped up and even flourished locally despite two years of pandemic drudgery. While the economy hasn’t been the easiest on small businesses of any sort, food trucks and restaurants maintain a reasonably steady following serving up big helpings of comfort food. As a result, barbecue is solidly represented around Southern Oregon these days. Whether it’s straight off the smoker, shredded into pasta or turned into a sandwich, a slew of barbecue favorites are earning praise from Shady Cove to Ashland, with cooks hailing from different regions of the country and abroad. SEE BARBECUE, PAGE 28

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BARBECUE If you go Barbecue joints around the Rogue Valley offer everything from classic menu items to their own spin on favorites from around the country. Whether it’s a specialty sandwich or side item or a full rack of ribs to take home for dinner, the local food trucks, eateries and barbecue shacks have barbecue seekers more than covered. All Smoked Out BBQ Medford: A mobile caterer and food truck tucked alongside the Medford post office, it offers “Oklahoma-style BBQ” cooked over mesquite hardwoods. (allsmokedoutbbq.org) Back Porch BBQ Medford food truck and Jacksonville eatery: In business since 1989, Back Porch offers Texas-style barbecue, with steaks, burgers, sandwiches, wraps and entrée salads for lunch, dinner and catered events. (backporchjacksonville.com) Hemi and Hogs Bar and Grill Medford: Offering dine-in, takeout and delivery, Hemi and Hogs serves regular “bar food” items in addition to daily, freshsmoked barbecue, including St. Louis-style ribs, barbecue chicken, angus sirloin steaks and big servings of pulled pork sandwiches. (www.facebook.com/Hemi-and-Hogs-Bar-andGrill-113834450054093) J’s Bistro Wagon Talent: Named for three J-named chefs, John, Joe and Jeff, J’s Bistro offers a “wagon menu fit for cowboy royalty,” ranging from teriyaki and buffalo-style chicken legs to cod fish and chips or pork ribs. The wagon also cooks for “Wine & Dine” events, posted to its social media and web page, partnering with local wineries to provide dinner. (https://jsbistroast.com) Mary’s BBQ Place Central Point: Outdoor smoker — dine in, drive-thru or delivery — smoked meats and homemade sides (marysbbqplace.com) Rogue-Ish Smokers Medford: A mobile smoker and catering service based out of Roxy Ann Winery, the eatery offers unique menu items such as barbecue stuffed maple bars, apple slaw, smoked mac and cheese and bacon-wrapped poppers. Servings range from lunch-sized to “by the pound” for family-style meals. (rogue-ishsmokers.com) Sweet Tea Express Central Point, Medford, Grants Pass: Offers lunch and catering; Sweet Tea Express has a robust barbecue offering on its menu at its four locations, including burgers and barbecue classics. (sweetteaexpress.com)

JAMIE LUSCH PHOITOS / MAIL TRIBUNE

Nick Smith, pit master, slices a beef brisket at Goebel’s in Shady Cove. From BARBECUE, Page 26

Goebel’s General Store & BBQ in Shady Cove commands a steady stream of folks from at least a twocounty area who seek out the aluminum shack along the frontage of Highway 62. Owners Laura and Seth Goebel, originally from Texas, started serving smoked meat and a slew of barbecue-compatible sides out of sheer necessity, said Larkynn Tupper, Goebel’s guest service supervisor. “They’re from Texas, so they know what good barbecue is supposed to taste like. When they first moved here, the barbecue scene was so sad that Laura said, ‘I guess I’m gonna have to make my own,’ she added, noting that, most days, the little shack sells out of food before closing time. “It’s a great stop if anyone’s traveling to Crater Lake, Union Creek or Lost Creek. Not cutting any corners as far as the preparation of everything is huge. When it comes down to the meat itself, our ingredients are all locally sourced and we are slow about smoking it. Our

A beef brisket is sliced at Goebel’s.

owners built the smoker on their ranch in West Texas, and we source our wood — a combination of oak, pecan and mesquite, from Texas.” The owners have a focus on helping the community. Goebel’s fed the community and firefighters after devastating fires two years ago, and they feature 80-plus local vendors inside Goebel’s General Store, boasting a relaxing and colorful atmosphere where visitors can shop while they wait for their dinner. Tupper added, “Our food is great. We do make everything from scratch, and we have the best customer service. It’s genuine Texas BBQ in Oregon.” For details, see www.goebelscountrystore.com/ or call 541-878-3807. The address is 22299 Highway 62, Shady Cove.

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BARBECUE

“I keep everything simple, and I don’t do too much to complicate the seasoning of the meat. It’s just simple and fresh. I want the meat to speak for itself.” Sidiki “Sid” Cisse, shown cooking a pork belly mac and cheese at Sid’s Gourmet.

Offering a different spin on things is Sid’s Gourmet Smoke N Grill. Owners Sid and Nora Cisse were brainstorming what to serve when they opened their food truck in August of 2020. In the midst of the pandemic, and the heat of summer, they wanted something happy. Starting with homemade popsicles, which they offer in an array of ever-changing custom flavors, Sidiki “Sid” Cisse, who hails from the Ivory Coast, decided to make some of his own favorites — fried rice and mac & cheese, with smoked proteins that elevate the flavor profile into the stratosphere. “He makes the best fried rice anyone has ever eaten, so I said why not do the fried rice and some other stuff with the smoked meat,” said Nora Cisse. “He started playing with smoking brisket, and then we added chicken

JAMIE LUSCH PHOTOS / MAIL TRIBUNE

Smoked pork belly is heated up for a mac and cheese at Sid’s Gourmet in Medford.

and other meats like pork belly.” As for ingredients, whether meat, cheeses or produce, everything is locally sourced and fresh, including a list of custom sauces. Sid’s rounds out the menu with specialty drinks — think Jamaican Tea (Hibiscus Drink), natural sodas and OMGinger, a West African drink made with fresh ginger, pineapple and lime. “We don’t open a jar or a can.

Nothing is ever frozen. All from scratch,” Nora said. When it comes to barbecue, fresh ingredients, good meat and doing it “from scratch” is the best recipe from wherever you’re eating. “A gentleman came in the other day and said he was from Tennessee, and he said, ‘I’ll tell you what! I’m from the part of the United States that is known for having good barbecue … but this is the best barbecue I’ve ever had,” said Sid. “I think it just has to be fresh and the ingredients have to be the best you can find. I keep everything simple, and I don’t do too much to complicate the seasoning of the meat. It’s just simple and fresh. I want the meat to speak for itself.” Sid’s Gourmet is at 702 S. Grape St., in Medford. For details and to order ahead, call 458-226-2538, or see sidsgourmet.com.

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4/25/2022 11:12:35 AM

COMMUNITY GARDENS

PHOTO BY RHONDA NOWAK

Jamie Howington was one of the new gardeners tending the restored Blue Heron Park community garden last summer.

GROWING TOGETHER By Damian Mann for the Mail Tribune

C JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Volunteers Cameron Radcliff, left, and Kaleb Rigby, work at the community garden in Blue Heron Park in Phoenix.

Community gardens are flourishing across the region 30

ommunity gardens have sprouted around the valley, growing in many neighborhoods and in most cities. There are small gardens and large gardens, many with vegetables, fruit and flowers. “The biggest part of it is the sense of community,” said Mary Foster, a Master Gardener with the Jackson County Master Gardener Association. She said the gardens are a place to socialize and get to know your neighbors, while endeavoring to try your hand at earning a green thumb. Her organization provides a list of some two dozen community gardens in Jackson County at jacksoncountymga.org/

community-garden-grants/. The Jackson County Housing Authority, which manages low-income housing, has nine community gardens from White City to Ashland. Foster said the list doesn’t contain all the community gardens in the valley. Her own work with community gardens locally began in the early 2000s. Foster was working with kids in a Jackson County shelter and taught them gardening techniques. Some 15 years ago, she received a $5,000 Carpenter Foundation grant and received the support of the city of Phoenix to establish a community garden in Blue Heron Park. Foster remembers going around to different apartments in the area to see what people wanted in the garden.

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4/23/2022 12:25:37 PM

COMMUNITY GARDENS “I remember one woman said just one word: ‘Flores,’ which means flowers in Spanish,” she said. The site for the garden had terrible riverbed soil, Foster remembers. “We had to bring in soil for $4,700, and that used up almost all the money,” she said. “We were begging for a shed.” The garden has 20 20-by-20foot plots as well as a children’s garden. In 2006, after Foster retired from the Southern Oregon Education Service District, she got involved in a food-sharing gardening project with ACCESS. “We started a community gardening network about 15 years ago,” she said. There can be fees attached to joining a community garden to help pay for water and other services. The local Master Gardener association also offers a grant program to help start community gardens. The Jackson County Master Gardener Association Community

Garden Grant Committee, in collaboration with the Oregon State University Extension Service Master Gardener Program, helps assist with establishing community gardens throughout Jackson County. Some of the requirements for the grant include the applicant being sponsored by a nonprofit, the garden has to be in an established location, gardeners have to participate in the garden, produce cannot be sold, the garden has to have clearly stated policies and procedures, and it must have an ongoing educational component. To learn more about starting a community garden, call Foster at 541-482-5283 or email at abdiaziz10@charter.net. If you really become serious about growing things, you can become a Master Gardener. There are costs associated with the program, and you have to put in some time. It requires 45 hours of volunteer

service, 21 of which is at the Master Gardener Plant Clinic, which operates at the Southern Oregon Research and Extension Center on Hanley Road in Central Point and at the Grower’s Market in Medford. To learn more, see https://jacksoncountymga.org/ become-a-master-gardener/. Another useful network for community gardening is the American Community Gardening Association, which links 2,000 gardens in the U.S. and Canada. Its website, www.communitygarden.org, lists 12 gardens in the Grants Pass/Medford area that are members of the organization. Sandy Wine, a Master Gardener who is involved in the Blue Heron Park garden, said a portion of all Master Gardeners produce goes to ACCESS, which provides food and other services to the poor in Jackson County. Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com.

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4/23/2022 12:28:24 PM

FINE DINING

THE ELEMENTS OF

ROMANCE

Ambience, service, food and the variables that combine to make a night out extra special By Jim Flint for the Mail Tribune

COURTESY PHOTO

Garden dining on a summer’s eve at Peerless Restaurant in Ashland is popular for a romantic dinner out.

hat is it that makes a restaurant a great place for a romantic evening out? For some, preparing a dinner at home for your loved one can be the most romantic gesture for a special occasion. For others, a picnic in a park can be a sweet option. “For romantic dining when the weather’s nice, my husband and I like to eat in Lithia Park,” said Angela Decker of Ashland. “We’ll grab a slice from Martoli’s or a sandwich from Mix and find a spot near the creek. Lithia Park is always gorgeous, and a perfect place to canoodle with your honey.” But sometimes, the occasion demands an allstops-out restaurant dining experience. While the food is important, other elements come into play as well: lighting, noise level, table linens, soft music, service, stemware and décor. Even memories of a previous experience can amp up the romance factor on a repeat visit. Celebrating an anniversary, for instance, at the same restaurant where she proposed can make the evening more special.

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FINE DINING

COURTESY PHOTO

Cucina Biazzi is housed in a small cottage in Ashland, with patio dining available.

For some, no romantic dinner is complete without a special dessert, preferably chocolate. Restaurateurs will tell you that a couple’s proximity to each other and surrounding tables is important. The two should be close enough to be able to engage in conversation, but not so close that legs and elbows get tangled — unless intended. Attentive but not hovering service is appreciated. When someone is tending to your food, silver, wine and comfort, you can tend to your partner. It all adds up to ambience. The challenge for the restaurant is in the mixing and matching of all the variables to cater to individual tastes and expectations. The Rogue Valley is blessed with a multitude of excellent dining options, thanks in part to the lively arts scene and tourism. But several stand out for heightening the romance factor. And with the pandemic waning, a celebratory dinner might be just what the doctor ordered. In no particular order, following

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COURTESY PHOTO

Wood, brick and brass give Harvey’s in Ashland a posh pub vibe.

are some that receive high marks for their romance quotient.

Bella Union Bella Union Restaurant and Saloon in Jacksonville charms its diners with the ambience only an historic, 1864 building — and the 100-year-old wisteria on the patio — can deliver.

“We’ve seen many proposals and other celebrations out there,” said hostess Sara Smith. “I also think the happy employees come across in the friendly, relaxed service.” With a diverse menu, Bella Union is at the gateway to the Applegate Valley wine region. It has a full bar with an extensive list of wine and craft beers to complement the dining experience. “It depends on the occasion,” Smith said, “but we offer a free dessert for a birthday, and our mud pie is a common choice.” Angie Knight and Don Walker of Central Point celebrated their anniversary at Bella Union. “We always enjoy the great food,” Knight said. “That night, a couple at the next table were having crème brûlée for dessert. Don commented that it better not be the last one, because I love crème brûlée. “When the check came, we discovered the other couple had paid for our dessert, which made the evening even more special.” SEE ROMANCE, PAGE 34

4/25/2022 11:12:38 AM

FINE DINING Alchemy

From ROMANCE, Page 33

Porters Porters, Dining at the Depot, located in Medford, is nostalgically named in honor of the men and women who work professionally aboard passenger trains. The classic American restaurant features steaks and seafood, the usual accompaniments, and a few surprises in a romantically lit atmosphere with a taste of oldtown Oregon history. “People like our private booths where they can pull the curtain for privacy,” said Jeff Gray, a member of the management team. “And we don’t rush the diners. We figure 90 minutes for a four-course meal and a bottle of wine.” Porters also offers a complimentary birthday or anniversary dessert. Steve and Andrea Shapiro of Ashland are Porters regulars. “We like the intimate privacy of the booths, the generous wine pours, and especially the sinful desserts,” Andrea said.

Alchemy Restaurant and Bar at Ashland’s Winchester Inn is famous for its holiday Dickens Feasts, a multi-course dinner where the owner, dressed up as Santa, passes out gifts to the diners. It’s also a popular spot for special occasions and celebrations. Casey Watson, who works at the Winchester front desk, summed up why: “People love the lighting and intimate dining areas, the incredible chefs serving decadent food, and the complimentary little desserts for an anniversary or birthday,” he said.

Jacksonville Inn

Jacksonville Inn Restaurant & Lounge is located in the heart of historic Jacksonville. The dinner house offers a distinctive cuisine using fresh ingredients, many of which are grown in their gardens. Tami Deese, who works in the inn’s wine shop, says people love the décor. “The linen tablecloths in the dining room and the fun of our unique bar and Peerless COURTESY PHOTO bistro area combine for a Peerless Restaurant and Diners have their choice of romantic dining indoors or outdoors at memorable experience,” Bar in Ashland gets great Porters in Medford. she said. reviews as a lively, sophis“Jacksonville Inn is a ticated place to dine. place of traditions, memories and many generations of Paul and Priscilla Arnold of Ashland count Peerless diners. A complimentary champagne birthday cocktail as one of their favorites. is a tradition,” she said. “An early summer evening dinner in the garden area of Peerless is about as romantic as can be,” Priscilla said. “The food and wine are always very good, and it’s Cucina Biazzi a place we like to take visitors too.” Cucina Biazzi, housed in a small cottage in Ashland People love the ambience inside as much as al fresco with a wisteria-covered patio, is a traditional Italian dining. Reviews have cited the warm, relaxing atmotrattoria. It’s small, intimate and warmly decorated. sphere and the “delectable” food. Mark and Nora Knox like Cucina Biazzi’s romantic “Our goal is to give diners an intimate space to celappeal. ebrate,” said host Ayanna Barnes. “And our service is “Its inside setting is intimate and the candle-lit lightdesigned to give them space for their private moments ing reflecting off the historic house’s redwood décor and and conversation while providing good food and service. white tablecloths with a bottle of chianti is memorable,” “We keep things running smoothly so they can conKnox said. centrate on each other,” Barnes said. Its four-course meals finish with a small salad of mixed Elements greens, feta cheese and walnuts, a European tradition. Sous chef Eve Kemp says patio dining is a favorite with Elements Tapas Bar in Medford lives up to its name many customers. with a menu that includes small plates, perfect for “It’s especially beautiful when the wisteria is bloomsharing. Seafood, “landfood” and paella anchor a ing,” she said.“I think it’s a great place for a romantic varied menu. dinner because of the ambience of an historic building, “We are warmly lit,” said bartender Blake Satre, “which I think is underrated. There are no TVs blaring. our subdued lighting and the white tablecloths.” Birthday and anniversary couples usually receive a And on the bar side, the emphasis is on specialty cockcomplimentary pot de crème or tiramisu, depending on tails, which make for a celebratory experience.” Linen napkins on the tables add a touch of elegance. the night, Kemp said. 34

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FINE DINING Bambu

service,” she said. “That way we can tell whether the diner is ready for the next course or needs a little more time. We want them to have a fine dining and leisurely experience.”

Bambu in Medford offers both indoor and outdoor dining, with limited seating. The menu features a blend of regional Asian cuisine, featuring flavors from Japan, China, Harvey’s Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Harvey’s Place in AshHawaii, Indonesia and the land is a happening place, Philippines. but not with a lot of noise. One thing that appeals It’s a favorite spot for Bob to romantics are the small and Jean Scott of Ashland. plates, allowing diners COURTESY PHOTO “The lighting is subtle, to share tastes with one Diners enjoy their meals under 100-year-old blooming wisteria on not stark,” Bob said. another. the patio at Bella Union in Jacksonville. “The décor and table “We try to set ourlinens make for a nice selves apart with our duck hindquarter, braised lamb atmosphere.” one-on-one, attentive service,” shank, seared tuna, gnocchi and Harvey’s bartender Alex Bazzell said Veronica Ward, co-owner with mustard-crusted filet mignon, said the wood, brick and brass give husband and chef, Adam Ward. to name a few. It’s a menu that the restaurant a posh pub vibe. “Bambu is run by a husband and reflects the seasons. “People love our ambience,” he wife who love each other very much, Harmony Duet, co-owner with said, “with our small tables tucked and we try to show that in how we partner and chef Gabriel Murphy, away in little intimate spaces.” treat our customers,” she said. says the smaller space provides an For long-time regulars, they have intimate atmosphere that appeals For more information, to book been known, with advance notice, tables, and to check menus, search to romantic couples. to surprise them with a greeting these and other restaurants online. “We course it out with attentive card or special flower arrangement to celebrate a birthday or anniversary.

Hearsay Hearsay Restaurant, Lounge & Garden in Ashland employs a modern take on American cuisine and cocktails but welcomes diners with the atmosphere and music of the 1920s and 1930s. “It’s a warm and inviting space,” said restaurant manager Freddy Herrera. “The speakeasy vibe, the elegant décor, the warm colors, and the larger-than-life artwork are a great combination.” Piano music adds to the ambience Fridays and Saturdays from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. “We like to surprise anniversary couples with a complimentary flute of prosecco to start things off,” Herrera added.

Gogi’s Gogi’s Restaurant in Jacksonville offers a full menu of appetizers, salads and entrees, with a large wine list and full bar. Its entrees include some ambitious dishes, including confit of

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4/25/2022 11:12:40 AM

NATURAL FOODS

JAMIE LUSCH PHOTOS / MAIL TRIBUNE

The Medford Food Co-op opened in 2006, and the business has steadily grown to the point that supporters are considering expanding into a new space.

IT’S NOT A

NICHE By Damian Mann

for the Mail Tribune

Shoppers enter the Medford Food Co-op on Riverside Avenue in Medford.

It’s gotten easier to shop locally for natural, organic foods in recent years

rarity in Jackson County a few decades ago, natural food stores have become a staple throughout the valley. The Ashland Food Co-op led the way in 1971 when several local families started a food-buying club that evolved into the region’s only certified organic retailer. After its first successful year, the store became a cooperative in 1972, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary this past Valentine’s Day. “The idea started because a group of local families had a hard time sourcing whole organic foods,” said Tracy Kaiser, marketing and

education manager for the Ashland Food Co-op. If anything, the store has gotten more committed to organic and local foods in the intervening years. Unlike other grocery stores that commingle organic and nonorganic produce, the Ashland co-op shuns this practice. “When the sprayers come on, the water from nonorganic produce can contaminate organic produce,” Kaiser said. Only rarely does the Ashland co-op offer nonorganic products in its produce section, and then only when a product is unavailable otherwise. The kitchen and bakery contain 90% organic products, though it’s difficult to source organic spices or items such as Tabasco.

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NATURAL FOODS To meet its qualifications as “local,” the store now considers 100 miles as its target rather than 200 miles in the past. “It’s also about the carbon footprint,” Kaiser said. The store has a couple of organic meat vendors, and the recent wildfires affected many of the vendors who supply the store, she said. In the past, the Ashland co-op has explored moving to a bigger space in Ashland. Kaiser said the store is still looking at expanding within 30 miles of Ashland but remains committed to the city where it all started. Based upon the success and interest of the Ashland Food Co-op, a group of Medford residents started their own store. The Medford Food Co-op opened in 2006, and the business has steadily grown to the point that supporters are considering expanding into a new space. “What was once a niche market selling to a handful of people, it

suddenly just exploded,” said Anne Carter, general manager of the Medford Food Co-op. “We have been, for the last year and half, trying to find a way to get into a larger facility,” Carter said. The new location would offer a bigger selection and help keep up with Medford’s growth. In 2017, the Medford store expanded its kitchen to keep up with demand for food from the cafe. The natural foods industry has gotten bigger since the two co-ops came on the scene. Now, Jackson County boasts two Market of Choice stores, a Natural Grocers, Cartwright’s Market came to town, and most grocery stores — notably Sherm’s Food 4 Less — have created natural products sections and added organic produce. “By 2015 almost every single other grocery store had a complete organic section,” Carter said. However, the labeling and mix of organic and nonorganic products can be confusing for many shoppers

at more conventional grocery stores. Also, throughout the country, small organic businesses have been bought out by larger corporations, Carter said. The Medford Co-op continues its tradition of selling exclusively organic produce and organic meats. The Medford store strives to carry as many organic, local or sustainable products as possible. Local small businesses that produce food products in small batches are also highlighted. Carter said that in order to get a local designation, the food is limited to a 100-mile radius. Regional foods, particularly from the Willamette Valley, are also available. The Medford co-op and the Ashland co-op both boast cafes and food offerings that strive to offer mostly organic and local. Reach freelance writer Damian Mann at dmannnews@gmail.com.

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4/23/2022 12:31:52 PM

PUSHING BOUNDARIES

‘MORE OF AN

EXPERIENCE THAN A MEAL’

Eating at MÄS, Ashland’s latest culinary sensation, is an adventure in food

MÄS chef Josh Dorcak tops raw bluefin tuna with roe. “The experimental stage of a restaurant like MÄS is over,” he says. “Every single one of these dishes is a knockout.”

By Sarah Lemon for the Mail Tribune

COURTESY PHOTO

food foray to Portland and Seattle convinced Andrew and Michelle Finazzo the “best in the Northwest” was back at home in the Rogue Valley. The Medford couple, in short order, booked a reservation at Ashland’s MÄS. Even in the wake of an epicurean excursion, they could hardly wait to travel the latest culinary trails that MÄS chef-owner Josh Dorcak is PHOTO BY LINDSEY BOLLING Josh Dorack started MÄS blazing. “You just go five years ago as a pop-up on a journey,” restaurant in Ashland. says Andrew Finazzo, 44. “It’s an adventure.” Dorcak’s journey to Ashland started at San Francisco’s Le Cordon Bleu-affiliated California Culinary Academy and progressed through restaurants in Seattle, Berkeley, California, and Phoenix-Scottsdale, Arizona. On vacation in Northern California, Dorcak decided to just keep driving north on Interstate 5. He awoke the next morning to a winter wonderland that charmed him enough to leave big-city hustle and bustle for the relative calm and quiet of Ashland.

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4/23/2022 12:32:13 PM

PUSHING BOUNDARIES “This is automatically a very comfortable feeling,” he says of visiting Ashland 15 years ago. Dropping off a business card at Erik Brown’s former Amuse, Dorcak was hired as chef de cuisine to prepare French-inspired Pacific Northwest fare. A few years later at Ashland’s Lorella, he met then-dishwasher Luke VanCampen, an Ashland native who became his sous chef and business partner in MÄS and its sister restaurant, NAMA. Along the way, Dorcak, now 36, won top chef honors at the 2015 and 2016 Ashland Culinary Festival before gaining recognition as the state’s “Iron Chef” at the 2017 Bite of Oregon in Portland. The accolades, however, didn’t influence Dorcak as much as a pilgrimage to Tokyo, where he and VanCampen, now 25, realized they could operate a restaurant with only their four hands and create a cuisine the region’s diners had never seen. Their observation of Japanese methods and mentality, says Dorcak, “tilted the idea of what a restaurant is on its head.” Starting as a popup five years ago, MÄS has made a dizzying impression on Southern Oregon. “We love sitting at the bar watching them make the food,” says Finazzo, “And in just a couple of bites, you’re blown away. “When we go to MÄS, it’s almost like we went to 10 restaurants.” Indeed, MÄS’s 10 fixed courses far outnumber any other multicourse meals at Southern Oregon restaurants. And the cost of $185 per person easily identifies it as the region’s most expensive dining destination. But the Finazzos attest to family, friends, co-workers and acquaintances that there’s more to MÄS than its price tag. “It’s really more of an experience than a meal,” says Michelle Finazzo. “Every time we go there, it’s a memory,” echoes her husband. The couple COURTESY PHOTO rhapsodize over Dorcak’s succuSea scallops are among the proteins lent duck breast, regularly served at Ashland’s MÄS. surprisingly savory custards and Japanese milk bread topped with roe to mimic sushi. The course immediately preceding dessert tantalizes with subtle sweetness, says Andrew Finazzo. The mixed wine and sake pairing, he says, shows MÄS’s versatility and Dorcak’s willingness to take risks — a boon to customers who can relinquish dining decisions and step outside their comfort zones.

PHOTO BY LINDSEY BOLLING

Luke VanCampen works in the kitchen at MAS.

“He really, really pushes the boundaries,” says Finazzo. It’s a commonplace reaction, say Dorcak and Finazzo, for MÄS customers to swear they usually “hate” an ingredient, but they “love” the way Dorcak prepares it. He’s enticed vegetarians and vegans to set aside their ethic for a single evening of incomparably fresh seafood. Dorcak even manages to characterize items customers never would think to eat — magnolia flowers or koji fungus, for example — as delicacies. “The experimental stage of a restaurant like MÄS is over,” says Dorcak. “Every single one of these dishes is a knockout.” Dishes defy description at MÄS, which continuously adjusts to seasonality and even one-time windows of availability. An early spring menu lists: dashi; kohada; geoduck, lovage and mirin; king crab and magnolia; roe, potato and koji; trout and kohlrabi; lamb and herbs; stewed morel; wagyu, roasted cabbage and egg yolk; cherry blossom and woodruff. “We’re promoting overwhelming access to quality ingredients,” says Dorcak. “Any chef from a big city would be like, ‘This is amazing here.’” Although an Ashland farm grows produce almost exclusively for MÄS and NAMA, Dorcak and VanCampen still draw inspiration from farmers markets and natural landscapes. Their cuisine has been dubbed “Cascadian” in national publications. But Dorcak says the term more accurately describes not finished dishes but their annual efforts to forage and preserve the native bounty as a “stepping stone into other seasons.” “Wild ingredients are really interesting and have all kinds of potential,” he says. “Our larder is this localism thing.” While the West Coast’s metropolitan diners make tracks to MÄS, locals still claim the restaurant for their own — as comfortably as eating in Dorcak’s home kitchen, says Finazzo. Once they taste MÄS, no one takes for granted such a “treasure to have here in Jackson County,” he says. “It tastes right for Medford, Oregon — or Ashland.” See masashland.com Our Valley

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4/23/2022 12:32:23 PM

MOBILE FOOD BANKS

HEALTH on WHEELS

ACCESS mobile food pantry programs are returning after hiatus By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune

or those driving past it on South Pacific Highway, ACCESS’ mobile food pantry looks a lot like a delivery truck, but for the dozens of Rogue Valley families it serves at each stop, it’s a lifeline. On a Friday afternoon, Omar Delgado and a small team of volunteers braked for about 20 families to pick up nutritious staples at a Healthy Mobile Pantry stop in front of La Clinica in Phoenix. ANDY ATKINSON / MAIL TRIBUNE Delgado, ACCESS’ Mobile Pantry Omar Delgado and volunteers organize produce from the ACCESS mobile pantry at La coordinator, said he loves helping Clinica in Medford. people, as he carefully arranged packages of fresh broccoli and palIn 2021, ACCESS helped 44,029 lets of blueberries on a folding table programs director. But even the traditional mobile food pantry pro- Jackson County residents with near the truck. food assistance, which is roughly grams are just coming back online “People let us know this is 1 in 5 locals, according to numbers now that coronavirus helping them,” DelMobile food pantries provided by the nonprofit. Among restrictions are lifting. gado said, describing “Mobile food pantry those residents helped, 21% were are geared toward “sweet” comments children and 20% were seniors. from regulars such people with special is back in full force,” ACCESS formed in 1976 with Champion said. as, “You guys make dietary needs, such the goal of meeting unmet needs During the panmy Friday a better as diabetics or folks demic, mobile pantry of low-income senior citizens, Friday.” according to the nonprofit’s webservices went offline, with high blood Mobile food pansite. Its acronym initially stood for tries are geared toward pressure. In addition and many ACCESS “Aging Community Coordinated pantry programs went people with special to fresh fruits and to drive-thru only as Enterprises & Supportive Services, dietary needs, such as vegetables, people they worked to limit Inc.” diabetics or folks with Local food pantries began in the contact while feeding high blood pressure. In can pick up such early 1980s with cheese giveaways, people in need. addition to fresh fruits healthful shelfand the nonprofit got a $23,000 In March, Chamand vegetables, people stable items as grant from the Ben Cheney Founpion said the program can pick up such dation to set up a warehouse and almond milk, sugar was “kind of a mix” healthful shelf-stable distribution program. between in-person items as almond milk, alternatives and By 1982, ACCESS was desigshopping-style food sugar alternatives and whole-grain bread. pantries and limitnated the regional coordinating whole-grain bread. agency for distributing food from The mobile pantries — conducted ed-contact drive-thru services involving preassembled food boxes. Oregon Food Share, and by 1985 the in partnership with nonprofits La Champion said gradually returning federal government had designated Clinica and Rogue Community ACCESS a Community Action Health — are among the newest to the structure they used prior to ACCESS food programs, according the pandemic is “ultimately our goal Agency to help combat poverty in to Marcee Champion, ACCESS food because it allows for greater choice.” Jackson County.

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MOBILE FOOD BANKS The nonprofit has developed For 2022, TEFAP guidelines the healthy mobile food pantry. She nutrition programs designed to help highlighted the no-sugar-added diced show single-person supplement seniors’ pantries with peaches in single-serve packages as a households with an annual favorite of regulars. boxes of shelf-stable items such as income of $40,770 or lower-sodium and high-fiber foods. “People love these, even my kids,” The largest ACCESS food pantry is in said Abercrombie, who used to volless as eligible for food west Medford, which serves between unteer at the Central Point food bank, assistance, while two90 and 100 families, or about 250 but has grown to enjoy helping at the person households with people each week, Champion said. mobile food pantries. All of the nonprofit’s food pantry “I like this concept. You’re out in a yearly income of up to services run on help from volunteers, the open, you get to meet the people,” $54,930, three-person according to Champion, and there are she said. “Besides, it gets me out of the all sorts of ways to help — be it through households making $69,090 house.” or less, and four-person volunteer community gardens, or its Champion said they prefer volunfresh alliance program picking up food households earning $83,250 teers who can serve on a consistent from local grocery stores that grocers schedule such as once a week or once a or less are eligible. can’t sell, but is still safe to eat. month at a certain time of the day, but Starting next fall, ACCESS will take over a backpack backups are always welcome. program meant to feed food-insecure kids on weekends, In determining eligibility, the nonprofit uses The and they’ll be able to utilize all the help they can get. Emergency Food Assistance Program or TEFAP guide“If somebody wants to volunteer, we will find a place lines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. For 2022, TEFAP guidelines show single-person housefor them,” Champion said. holds with an annual income of $40,770 or less as eligible ACCESS had help from 753 volunteers last year, the for food assistance, while two-person households with a bulk of whom helped in food pantry programs, accordyearly income of up to $54,930, three-person households ing to Champion. making $69,090 or less, and four-person households “People who volunteer, they have a heart for people earning $83,250 or less are eligible. in the community,” Champion said. “More people are probably eligible for food assisAmong those longtime ACCESS volunteers is tance than probably know it,” Champion said. Edith Abercrombie of Central Point, who helped at

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4/23/2022 12:35:04 PM

FOOD WASTE

LESS WASTE, HAPPIER DIRT Efforts are underway locally to reduce the amount of food waste going to the landfill By Damian Mann for the Mail Tribune

ore and more table scraps are being turned into compost for gardens in Jackson County. Rogue Produce & Community Compost collects five-gallon buckets of scraps from up to 200 households every week and delivers them to Happy Dirt Veggie Patch in Phoenix for composting. “We pretty much pick up

anything but meat, fish or yard debris,” said Adam Holtey, who owns Rogue Produce with his wife, Stephanie. He also doesn’t accept compostable food containers because they don’t break down fast enough. The Holteys began Community Compost in 2011 after he heard about a similar program in Santa Cruz. “I realized at that time we weren’t doing anything of that nature locally,” he said. “I figured it was worth a try.” Holtey said he estimates the average amount picked up at each household is roughly three gallons, so he collects around 450 gallons or more a week for delivery to Happy Dirt Veggie Patch, providing about 75% of its fertilizer needs. Food waste is left outside front

JAMIE LUSCH PHOTOS / MAIL TRIBUNE

Matt Suhr, owner of Happy Dirt Veggie Patch, works on a compost pile at his three-acre vegetable garden in Phoenix. Above right, donated food waste is composted. 42

doors or at the curb at locations from Ashland to Medford, as well as in Jacksonville. The cost to join the food waste program is $55 every three months, or about $4 a pickup. Rogue Produce started with a little table in front of Shop’n Kart in Ashland, and the materials collected were then used at Eagle Mill Farm in Ashland. Since then the business has expanded, and Rogue Produce now offers home delivery of local food products, including vegetables, grass fed beef and pork, eggs, sauerkraut, cheese and other products. Home deliveries go to Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Medford, Central Point, Jacksonville, White City, Eagle Point, Shady Cove and Rogue River. A delivery costs $12, an amount that is waived if you sign up for a $9.99 monthly plan or a $99 yearly plan. For more information about either the food delivery or compost programs, go to https://rogueproduce.com or call 541-301-3426. Items that can be picked up include all non-meat food scraps and leftovers, including fruit and vegetable peelings, pits, shells and pumpkins. Rice, pasta, bread, cereal, oats as well as egg and nut shells are acceptable, though coconut shells are not. Dairy products such as cheese and butter are picked up along with coffee grounds and filters, as well as teabags. Items that aren’t allowed include meat, yard debris, flowers, wreaths, weeds, plants or soil. Paper products, other than teabags or coffee filters, aren’t allowed.

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FOOD WASTE Rogue to Go started a service in January 2020 to Coal, charcoal and over-the-counter or prescription provide restaurants with food to-go containers that drugs aren’t accepted. can be used again and again after they’re run through a Holtey said he would like to expand his customer base to help bring down the cost of the pick-up service. commercial dishwasher. Risa Buck, one of the founders of Rogue to Go, said Typically the limit on the number of gallons picked other organizations around the country have created up is five, but Holtey said he’s got a few customers similar programs. Rogue to Go started with a $9,000 who provide up to 10 gallons. Oregon Department of Environmental The material is rapidly composted Quality grant. at Happy Dirt Veggie Patch. “I go back The idea is a restaurant customer a week later and it looks completely pays a one-time fee of $10, so food different,” Holtey said. gets delivered in the reusable and Not only does the program help keep recyclable container. food waste out of the landfill, it helps grow vegetables. The company started with five Matt Suhr, who runs Happy Dirt restaurants and now makes the containJAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE Veggie Patch, said, “It’s great for me ers available to 10 restaurants, eight of Matt Suhr, owner of Happy Dirt Veggie because it gets delivered.” which are in Ashland, such as Burrito Patch, says stickers are a problem Republic and Pie + Vine, and two in Over the past year, the amount of food when composting food waste. Medford, Buttercloud and Common waste has increased because Market of Block Brewing Company. More Medford Choice also sends its waste to his farm. restaurants are expected to join the program, and other He said he mixes the food scraps with leaves, grass cities such as Talent and Phoenix have shown interest. clippings and other debris he collects from other sources and composts it. The containers can be used anywhere from 100 to He amends the soil with chicken manure and other 300 times before they are recycled by the Oregon commaterials as well. pany that produces them, OZZI. “In general, the compost is great,” Suhr said. Buck said that with supply-chain issues for containMost trash collection services offer to recycle yard ers used by restaurants, she expects more demand for waste, but other efforts are underway to reduce waste. the OZZI O2GO containers.

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FOOD and HEALTH Restaurant inspectors look for what the public can’t see, such as the internal temperatures of foods that are ready to eat, and cooked foods that must be chilled for storage.

123RF.COM

SAFETY IN NUMBERS Baseline understanding of food safety, such as using separate cutting boards for meat and produce, can go only so far in a restaurant setting, where space restrictions for storage of potentially hazardous foods can lead to unsafe practices.

By Sarah Lemon for the Mail Tribune

irty floors, dusty shelves, grimy grill hoods — all deserve hardly a glance from health inspectors evaluating the state’s restaurants. Inspectors are looking for what the public can’t see: namely inter- An inside nal temperatures of foods that are look at county ready to eat, and cooked foods that restaurant must be chilled for storage. Digital probe thermometers are inspections inspectors’ most valuable tools. Any potentially hazardous foods — meat, dairy, eggs, seafood, cooked grains, pasta and cut-up fruits and vegetables — warmer than 40 degrees or cooler than 140 degrees have entered the “danger zone.”

| Our Valley

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FOOD and HEALTH Thriving under these conditions, microorganisms that cause food-borne illness continued to pose the gravest danger to restaurant diners amid the coronavirus pandemic. Sanitation measures, including hand-washing and cleansing surfaces, designed to prevent disease outbreaks in restaurants already were more than adequate to combat COVID, says Chad Petersen, who manages Jackson County’s Environmental Public Health Program. “Just because COVID is here doesn’t mean you should be washing your hands any more or any less.” Some restaurants’ reliance on gloves to minimize bare-skin contact with food took a back seat during the pandemic’s glove shortage. Health inspectors such as Petersen saw an opportunity to reiterate that gloves can create a “false sense of security” when food-service workers can’t sense from touching raw foods that they need to change their gloves — or dispose of them and wash their hands. “Good hand-washing can really negate a lot of that fear,” says Petersen. A public fearful of germs lurking on solid surfaces also drove developments in new sanitizers recently approved for restaurant use, says Petersen. Alcohol- and acid-based formulas are showing up alongside the food service industry’s standard chlorine bleach and quaternary ammonium compounds, he says. And new equipment, primarily used in fast-food restaurants, isn’t only minimizing contact with food, says Petersen. Corporate chains are constructing such systems to address a nationwide shortage of workers, he says. While customers may experience the lack of restaurant staff through longer wait times, or even dining room closures at locations with drive-thru windows, health inspectors more than ever must be educators, over enforcers, says Petersen. “Every time my inspectors go into a facility, it’s like starting all over again,” says Petersen. “You used to depend a lot more on stable management,” he says. “A lot of that essential knowledge … is disappearing.” Baseline understanding of food safety, such as using separate cutting boards for meat and produce, can go only so far in a restaurant setting, where space restrictions for storage of potentially hazardous foods can lead to unsafe practices, says Petersen. Managers must be vigilant against failures of heating and cooling equipment, as well as improper employee procedures. A workplace ethic — upheld by management — of not just passing an inspection but acing the evaluation sets the region’s highest-performing restaurants apart.

Performing less than half of its normally scheduled inspections last year, Petersen’s staff was slim during the pandemic and was also working through a backlog from 2020, when state regulators advised against on-site verification of restaurant sanitation. With the county’s return to full-time inspections, some of its 785 licensed establishments underwent their first inspection in two years. Ordinarily, inspections are required every six months. Restaurants begin their inspections with 100 points, from which inspectors deduct for violations, categorized as “priority,” “priority foundation” and “core.” The first designation directly prevents food-borne illness; the second entails management’s specific actions, equipment or procedures that control risk; the third relates to cleanliness, maintenance and facility design. Violations warrant deductions of three to five points apiece, and the penalty for repeat violations is double. Restaurants also must undergo reinspections for priority violations to ensure compliance. “They want to do the right thing,” says Petersen of restaurants’ attempts to adhere to sanitation standards. If more than 30 points are deducted during an inspection, the facility has “failed to comply” and must post a state-issued notice to that effect. Inspectors remove the facility’s notice when it passes a reinspection, usually a week later. A restaurant is not required to close when it’s failed to comply. The vast majority of restaurants score in the high 80s or 90s, says Petersen, and a handful fail each year. Held to the same standards as brick-and-mortar counterparts, the county’s 166 mobile food units also are inspected semiannually. Among pandemic success stories, the county’s food trucks increased about 15% in 2021, reflecting steady growth for the past few years, says Petersen. While wondering at what point the market for mobile eateries is saturated, Petersen says he thinks some of the new endeavors reflect a pandemic-fueled desire for self-employment. And despite several highly publicized restaurant closures locally, says Petersen, the number of fixed-location establishments is largely unchanged since the pandemic. Factor in corporate chains’ new construction with the region’s existing food service facilities, and “there’s always kind of a net gain,” he says. “For every restaurant that goes out of business, that is prime real estate for somebody else,” says Petersen. “There’s always somebody who thinks they have better barbecue than you.”

The vast majority of restaurants score in the high 80s or 90s, says Petersen, and a handful fail each year. Held to the same standards as brick-and-mortar counterparts, the county’s 166 mobile food units also are inspected semiannually.

Our Valley

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BUTCHERS

COURTESY PHOTO

The Butcher Shop in Eagle Point finds enthusiastic customers ready and willing to purchase these thickcut “cowboy” ribeyes to slap on the grill.

A CUT ABOVE

The charm to be found at an old-fashioned butcher shop By Jim Flint for the Mail Tribune

COURTESY PHOTO hen most customers think about Owner Brian Stofflet cuts and trims a chuck roast for the case at The Butcher butcher shops, succulent meals Shop in Eagle Point. come to mind — a thick steak sizzling on the grill; a Sunday pot roast with onions, potatoes and carrots; smoky, savory The Butcher Shop housemade sausages; or a sweet, tender, delicately An area favorite since 1999, The Butcher Shop is smoked ham or turkey for the holidays. located in Eagle Point at 1532 S. Shasta Ave. Is your mouth watering yet? Brian Stofflet bought out his partner of 22 years in These days you’ll find accommodating butchers in November. most supermarkets who will help you find that special He and his wife, Stacy, run the operation with a crew cut or custom trim and tie a roast for you. Certainly, the variety of meats and seafoods is much of nine employees. Stacy says feedback from customers is one of the greater than in the days of mom-and-pop grocery most satisfying aspects of the job. stores. “We love hearing great stories of how satisfied cusBut there’s something of an old-world charm in a tomers are with our products and service,” she said. butcher shop that specializes in quality meats, that “They like our variety of meats, from our ground beef emphasizes personal service, and has butchers who to our dry-aged ribeyes.” also can provide expert advice for the home chef.

| Our Valley

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BUTCHERS Although it’s primarily a meat market and known for that, the shop stocks some grocery items, freshly baked breads, specialty items, fresh fruit and produce, and local wine and beers. They also sell 100% natural, all-meat dog food. The service is often appreciated as much as the meats they sell. One customer called the shop to inquire about the availability of hanger steak to grill for a special occasion. There is only one hanger steak per animal, which explains why they are rarely seen in most meat cases. The Butcher Shop ordered the prized cut of beef, trimmed the silver skin and excess fat, and had three beautiful filets ready for the customer two days later. He was pleased and so were his guests, the customer reported. “Our biggest sellers are our prime grade ribeye, our 85% ground chuck, and fresh seafood,” Stofflet said. “Also popular are our made-to-order, in-house smoked products, which include bacon, jerky, salami, pepperoni, lunch meats and smoked hams and turkeys for the holidays,” she said. There are some pretty wild items on the list of meats available. “We’ve sold rattlesnake, not available anymore, as well as camel, emu, ostrich, kangaroo and alligator,” she said. The business also offers in-house meat processing.

NEW CONSTRUCTION

COURTESY PHOTO

Beautifully marbled filet mignons like these are snapped up in a hurry at Cherry Street Meats in Medford.

Cherry Street Meats A neighborhood butcher shop at 986 Cherry St., in Medford, Cherry Street Meats has been serving the community there since 1990. It had its beginnings in 1981 as Cherry Street Meats and Emerson Distributing, providing quality meats to restaurants and the public. A two-generation business, it prides itself on its customer service, the quality of its products, and competitive pricing. Cherry Street Meats sells beef, pork, lamb, veal and poultry, as well as house-made sausages. SEE BUTCHERS, PAGE 48

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BUTCHERS From BUTCHERS, Page 47

Montgomery’s Meats At 175 N. First St., in Central Point, Montgomery’s Meats was established in 2009 in Weed, California, where the company still has a processing operation. The store sells Cedar River all-natural beef, Carlton Farms natural pork, Smart Chicken, specialty sausages, and offers in-house smoking of a variety of meats. “We take pride in our wide selection of quality products,” Shauna Montgomery said. “All of the products we offer are from trusted brands.” The company expanded in 2014 when it purchased Jerry’s Custom Meat Processing of Central Point. It soon will offer mobile slaughter services, according to its website.

Southern Oregon Fine Meats It’s been an interesting journey for Robert and Alisa Holland, owners of Southern Oregon Fine Meats. The company started out as Bert’s Custom Butchering. The couple bought a building in 2011 to add a full-service, old-fashioned retail meat shop. Then in recent years, the on-the-farm slaughter and custom processing end of the business grew so much, they decided to close the retail shop and concentrate on building the other side of the business. “With few other processors in the Rogue Valley, it just made good business sense to close down retail,” Alisa Holland said. “During the pandemic, we became an even more essential business. More people started raising their own animals with the meat shortage scare, and business boomed,” she said. Employees were hard to come by during the period and it was difficult to keep up with the demand. “We worked very hard with a small crew to keep up with the farm butchering demand as best we could,” she said. “At that point, we were so grateful to be out of the retail business.” The company does a lot of game processing and fish smoking too. Customers bring their game and catches, and they’re turned into a 48

COURTESY PHOTO

Robert Holland, owner of Bert’s Custom Butchering doing business as Southern Oregon Fine Meats, works on a custom farm slaughter and butchering job.

variety of smoked products, sausages, brats and hotdogs. Robert Holland’s first job in 1980 was at a slaughter plant in John Day where he learned the art of meat cutting and butchering. Today Southern Oregon Fine Meats is a family business. Oldest son Brady formulates, grinds and stuffs a variety of sausages, is in charge of inventory, and oversees completion of customer orders. Youngest son Connor operates the kill truck and is learning to be a meat cutter.

“Two of our employees have been with us eight-plus years,” Alison said, “which truly makes this a family business.” She sees a bright future for the company. “Farm butchering is not going away,” she said. “People will continue to raise animals to put food on their table and the tables of friends, family and those in need.” June through January are the busiest times of the year for Southern Oregon Fine Meats, and August is the beginning of the wild game season.

| Our Valley

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LAWNS to GARDENS

‘I CAN WALK OUT AND SEE WHAT’S FOR DINNER’ Grants Pass woman’s front yard serves as attractive food garden

Her shady side yard is devoted to One side of her yard is separated from her neighbor’s yard by a peach lettuce greens, which would wilt if exposed to the full sun in summer. tree, an apple tree and a plum tree Kimball gives her planter beds a trained to grow espalier-style on a slow, deep watering once a week, trellis. then ups the watering to twice a The peach tree produced several By Vickie Aldous week when temperapeaches its first year, Mail Tribune To keep the tures get above 90 then a bumper crop of degrees. She suppleabout 80 peaches last view attractive ments the soil with year despite its diminufor neighbors, hen Kimberly Kimball egg shells, chemtive size. Kimberly Kimball ical-free fertilizer moved into her new house, “It’s amazing what she quickly went to work turning her you can get out of such advises putting and, at the end of the front lawn into a food garden. a small space,” said plants next to the season, chicken or cow Her house in Grants Pass has a manure. Kimball, who turned sidewalk that will tiny backyard, plus the front yard is some of the peaches Because she’s still the area that receives the full light stay green all year. carrying out big projinto pies, froze others of the sun. Kimball had experience ects like building new and served many to creating a front yard food garden at people she hosted at her house for planter beds, Kimball estimates she her previous home. spends about four to eight hours get-togethers. “I had done it before so I knew how working on her garden each week. Strawberries, root vegetables, to make it look not ugly. You don’t But the time outside is a welcome tomatoes, flowers for cutting and want to upset the neighbors,” she said. more round out the front yard garden. hobby for Kimball, who works as an To start, Kimball put thick cardon-call hospice nurse for patients Neighbors who walk by delight board down on patches of her front in seeing the garden as it grows and spread throughout Jackson and Josephine counties. changes over the year. The plants lawn, then built raised planting attract bees and butterflies, adding “Digging was always my stress beds on top of the cardboard. She relief. Being able to work in the dirt filled the planting beds with organic to the color and liveliness of Kimball’s front yard. is absolutely critical to me,” she said. raised bed potting mix. Fewer weeds grow in raised planting beds, and when they do, they’re easier to spot and pull out. To keep the view attractive for neighbors, Kimball advises putting plants next to the sidewalk that will stay green all year. She has hardy kale plants that have flowered with yellow blooms. “I try to have something that will still be there in the winter so it’s not barren,” she said. One planter bed near her front door is filled with a small bay leaf tree, thyme, parsley, scallions and chives. Chives help ward off pesky bugs. “It’s easy to get to. I can walk out and see what’s for dinner,” Kimball said. She said mint tends to take over, so she grows the fresh-smelling VICKIE ALDOUS/MAIL TRIBUNE herb in pots to keep it under control. Kimberly Kimball works in her front yard food garden at her Grants Pass house.

Our Valley

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WINERIES

DINING in the VINES More wineries offer restaurant-style meals By Vickie Aldous Mail Tribune

ore and more Rogue Valley wineries and vineyards are serving restaurant-style meals to go with their wines. DANCIN Vineyards owners Dan and Cindy Marca caught on to the trend early, offering food when they opened their tasting room in 2012 outside Jacksonville. “When we started, only a few places were doing this, and they had a very limited selection of food, mostly on weekends,” Dan Marca said. “Cindy and I wanted to do something different. “Food was going to be an integral part of the experience at DANCIN. We wanted the food to complement the wine and for people to stay for a bit and enjoy the experience.” DANCIN’s menu includes woodfired pizzas, macaroni and cheese, Caesar salad, cranberry and almond salad and mushrooms stuffed with spicy Italian sausage with chardonnay cream sauce, Parmesan cheese and balsamic syrup.

Visitors can indulge in decadent desserts like Signature Semi Freddo — housemade vanilla bean ice cream with espresso, fresh whipped cream and shaved chocolate. Each item on the menu comes with a suggested wine pairing. DANCIN recommends a pinot noir with its stuffed mushrooms, for example, or a chardonnay with the Caesar salad. People who want a snack with their wine can order an artisan baguette or a board of bread, local cheeses, candied walnuts, fig jam and other treats. DANCIN sources many of its ingredients from local food makers, from the Rise Up! artisan bakery in the Applegate Valley to Taylor’s Sausage in Cave Junction. “We are blessed to be in the Rogue Valley where there is such an amazing variety of resources related to locally grown food. We’re so thankful to be able to partner with artisans who are here,” Dan Marca said. Dunbar Farms in Medford started

serving restaurant-style food last year with the launch of its tasting room. The farm grows and sells a variety of food, including vegetables, flour and pancake mix. “It’s been an experiment. It’s been an evolution,” said Nick Stevenson, director of marketing and business development for Dunbar Farms. “A lot of wineries are a little nervous about offering food because we already do so much. Restaurants can be complicated.” He noted restaurants often operate on slim profit margins. Some wineries don’t have the expertise to make and serve food, so they may need to bring on extra staff. To meet the challenge, Dunbar Farms hired a professional chef. “We have learned across the industry that people really like to have food with their wine and other beverages,” Stevenson said. “We, like a lot of wineries, are set up to be a destination.”

With people spending more time at wineries and vineyards, many visitors want more substantial food than a traditional cheese board.

DANCIN Vineyards near Jacksonville offers stuffed mushrooms, pizza, salad and other foods to pair with its wines.

PHOTO COURTESY OF DANCIN VINEYARDS

| Our Valley

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“Our customers love to come here because they can spend a whole afternoon wine-tasting, eating meals that are locally sourced, listening to music and hanging out with farm animals,” he added. With people spending more time at wineries and vineyards, many visitors want more substantial food than a traditional cheese board, he said. “If you hang out for a couple of hours, you’ll probably get hungry,” Stevenson said. Dunbar Farms’ menu includes wood-fired pizzas, paninis and weekly salads, soups and entrees that change based on what’s in season. Stevenson said the chef often likes to plan meals around ingredients he finds at local growers’ markets. The pizza dough is made with organic flour that is grown and milled at the farm. Stevenson said Dunbar Farms has menu prices that make visiting the farm affordable. “We want to make food that’s a good value and approachable to a broad audience. They’re getting quality, but it’s not super expensive,” he said. Cowhorn Vineyard & Winery in the Applegate Valley eased into the prepared meals-with-wine trend with a pairing menu that combines wine tastings with food. Like many wineries, Cowhorn offers wood-fired pizza. “We wanted to engage our garden. Pizza is a natural progression for us. We can change the toppings seasonally,” said Mini Byers, owner and general manager. She’s found that customers prefer the pairings menu versus sampling wine alone. “It draws the tastings out and they become more educational. Once we introduced it, there was a big demand for it. I think it’s great. Part of wine and experiencing wine is this component of pairing. It’s amazing that other wineries are doing it, too. This will do wonderful things for the approachability of wine,” Byers said. She said it goes back to the time-honored tradition of enjoying wine with food. “A big component of enjoying wine is hospitality and bringing people together around the table,” Byers said. “Food and wine have always gone hand-in-hand.”

Meet me at Dancin. “A perfect wine country experience.” ~ Hilarie Larson

“One of the most innovative producers… in Southern Oregon.” ~ Forbes

Our Valley |

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PROBIOTICS

KEFIR, KRAUT, KOMBUCHA Fermented foods are alive and well in Southern Oregon By Sarah Lemon for the Mail Tribune

eflated from working as a nurse throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Lisa Brown felt her enthusiasm bubble when brewing kombucha. The longtime Phoenix resident who loves to garden naturally gravitated to fermenting “the flavor of the day” — homegrown vegetables, homemade wine and handmade cheese from goat milk she purchased. Brown’s small batches of kombucha grew in significance with her adult daughter’s encouragement. “It’s crafted; it’s creative,” says Brown, 54. “There’s an infinite amount of flavor choices.” Strawberry-lavender, citrus-juniper and elderberry-grapefruit kombuchas are the signature flavors Brown sells at local farmers markets. She and her daughter, who works for a kombucha company in Northern California, dubbed their enterprise Moxie Brew and started dispensing their elixir from kegs. “We sell out in the summer,” says Brown. “They love it; they come back every week; they bring their growlers.”

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Lisa Brown, left, and Alyssa Brown make a giant tea bag for a batch of kombucha.

“We sell out in the summer. They love it; they come back every week; they bring their growlers.” Lisa Brown, Moxie Brew PHOTO COURTESY OF ROGUE VALLEY GROWERS AND CRAFTERS MARKET

Strawberry-lavender, citrus-juniper and elderberry-grapefruit kombuchas are the signature flavors Phoenix resident Lisa Brown sells at local farmers markets under the name Moxie Brew.

| Our Valley

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PROBIOTICS One of dozens of local businesses specializing in fermented foods, Moxie Brew caters to a widening circle of customers. A traditional form of preservation, fermentation has won more and more fans over the past decade as awareness has increased around its role in supporting human health. Modern-day studies credit consumption of “probiotic” foods and supplements with reducing cholesterol, improving immunity and assisting weight loss, among other benefits. “The fermentation conversation is all over the map now,” says Kirsten Shockey. The Applegate resident with five fermentation books to her credit also operates The Fermentation School, founded in spring 2020. Shockey’s authority developed over the past decade since she started selling krauts, pickles and other ferments at local farmers markets. “When we were standing at market ... 10, 11 years ago ... we were really teaching people,” says Shockey. As “probiotic” became a mainstream term in the health and wellness realms, demand for fermented foods followed. Long contained in such cultured dairy products as yogurt, buttermilk, sour cream and kefir, probiotics also reside in sauerkraut and some soy foods, including miso and tempeh. The latest surveys, says Shockey, show fermented foods are outpacing growth of the larger natural foods category to become a COURTESY PHOTO nearly $11 billion sector Applegate resident Kirsten nationwide. Shockey has five fermentation The price of books to her credit and operhigh-quality ferates The Fermentation School, mented foods is just one founded in spring 2020. factor that encourages consumers to start experimenting with their own recipes, says Shockey. More time for do-it-yourself dabbling during the pandemic, as well as the dual ethics of self-sufficiency and sustainability, are drivers of interest in fermentation. She cites fermented vegetables — kraut — and fermented tea — kombucha — as the two main routes through which people enter the field. “It is exceedingly safe,” says Shockey. “You don’t even need to know how to cook to ferment something.” Naturally occurring bacteria do the work of transforming fresh produce into highly nourishing preserved foods. All it takes is some salt, a container that keeps the food submerged in its own secreted liquid and some time. The process tends to appeal to people who appreciate a “one-and-done” project, says Shockey. Once a fermented vegetable has reached its peak at room temperature, it can be transferred to the refrigerator, where it keeps for months.

COURTESY PHOTO

Kirsten Shockey started selling farmstead krauts, pickles and other ferments at local farmers markets more than a decade ago.

Outside the home kitchen, more and more food-service professionals are practicing fermentation, says Shockey, adding that pickles, miso and hot sauces are seen on local restaurant menus and counterparts around the country. Farming operations, including Medford’s Fry Family Farm and Applegate’s Whistling Duck Farm, have built fermentation kitchens to maximize their profits and divert food waste, says Shockey. State agricultural regulators, she adds, are “friendly” toward fermentation. “More small farms and businesses are adding fermented products,” she says. “You can take a great cabbage and, all of the sudden, add so much more nutrition to it.” Unlike the bacteria that colonize sauerkraut, the microorganisms that yield kombucha are a “symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast” — SCOBY — which must be kept alive between batches. The cultures can be purchased from fermentation suppliers but often are bestowed by kombucha brewers with excess on hand. Feeding on sugar dissolved in brewed tea, the culture converts the solution’s carbohydrates to alcohol and carbon dioxide, culminating in kombucha’s sweettart flavor and fizzy mouthfeel. The longer kombucha ferments the more sour and alcoholic it becomes. “Kombucha was hardly known,” says Shockey, “and now it’s really taken over the soda market.” Anecdotally, her friends, colleagues and customers consider kombucha a wholesome alternative to sodas and fruit juices, says Brown. While Moxie Brew’s nonalcoholic recipes are sold at a local brew pub, restaurant and grocery store, Brown envisions her own tasting room for pouring alcoholic kombucha. First, Brown plans to reach more customers by contracting to serve private events locally once her daughter, Alyssa, joins the business full-time this spring. In addition to bottling, the mother-daughter team will add vinegars and sales of SCOBY to their product line. If the response to Moxie Brew keeps surpassing Brown’s expectations, her work as a nurse could fizzle out. “It’s just really changed my outlook.” Our Valley |

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CHEF STORES

GADGETS, GIZMOS ... AND HOW TO USE THEM The stand-alone kitchen shop is like a candy store for grownups who cook By Jim Flint for the Mail Tribune

ho among us doesn’t consider a spiffy new kitchen gadget or a piece of quality cookware as one of life’s simple pleasures? I can say, truly, that my first salad spinner, my Thermapen digital food COURTESY PHOTO thermometer, our enameled castA well stocked kitchen supplies store in Jacksonville, The Pot Rack is owned by Erika iron Dutch oven, and a recently Bishop, a former Food Network executive producer who helped launch the network. acquired heavy-duty, hand-held Two local stores — one in Bishop, an enthusiastic cook herchef’s citrus juicer all changed my Jacksonville and one in Ashland — self, brings some impressive cred to life in the kitchen for the better. typify the stand-alone stores that the job. She produced cooking shows Building an efficient kitchen cater to home chefs. at the Food Network from 1995 to is not something that happens The Pot Rack, 140 W. California 2002. overnight. There are the treasured St., in Jacksonville, owned by Erika “As an executive producer, I was on passed-down items from previous Bishop, opened in Florence in 1992 the original team that launched the generations. You acquire a great and moved to Jacksonville in 2002. network,” she said. She helped create and durable piece here and there The Culinarium, 270 E. Main St., multiple famous chef brands, includand, in the middle, pick up whatin Ashland, owned by David and ing Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay. ever you might need in a pinch at Constance Jesser, opened as the What sets independent kitchen the grocery store. Jacksonville Mercantile in 2005 and retailers like The Pot Rack apart from But there comes a time when moved to Ashland in 2016. chains like Williams-Sonoma or Sur you decide to say goodbye to those In addition to kitchen supplies, La Table? aluminum-foil pans or infomercial you’ll find owners dedicated to “We are part of our community,” knives (that never were as sharp helping their customers cook with Bishop said, “and customer service is as promised) and plan a trip to the ease and confidence. They are a good our priority. Our staff has been with kitchen store. source of advice and are delighted to us for up to a decade, so you can shop In the Rogue Valley, you can find share what’s new in the culinary arts. in comfort, knowing you are well excellent kitchen departments in supported.” most department stores and box A lifetime opportunity The Pot Rack has a small footprint, stores. And there are restaurant Bishop is not the founding owner but is well stocked. suppliers which also have well“We have loads of classy items,” stocked retail outlets, like US Foods of The Pot Rack. She purchased the established business when the orig- she said. “We also display our invenChef’Store in Medford. inal owners retired. tory out of the packaging so you can But it’s the stand-alone kitchen “I bought the business during the really see what you’re getting.” store that provides the immersive pandemic and two days after the Meeting customer needs is what experience, the place for not only the latest in kitchenware but good Almeda fire,” she said. “I knew it was it’s all about, but Bishop enjoys suradvice as well. a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” prising them too. 54

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CHEF STORES “I love it when a customer comes in and asks for a special hard-tofind item — and we have it on the shelf!” The shop has a customer mix of 75% local and 25% visitors. There were challenges during the pandemic, but silver linings as well. “The COVID disaster affected everyone in Jacksonville,” she said. “However, we are lucky to be a cooking store at a time when people are cooking more than ever.” Recent buying trends have been in the areas of bread baking, pizza oven accessories and charcuterie. Also selling well are Wusthof premium knives, ScanPan nonstick cookware, and Emile Henry ceramic cookware and bakeware. “We are celebrating our 30th anniversary year,” she said, “and we invite our customers to celebrate with us.” For more information, go to thepotrack.com.

Filling a need The Jacksonville Mercantile was primarily a gourmet foods store with a selection of kitchenware. The Jessers decided to expand the kitchenware lines and retain just a few of their customers’ favorite food items when they relocated to Ashland as The Culinarium. “Alyson’s (kitchen store) had been gone since 2008,” Jesser said. “We understood there was a need for a stand-alone kitchen store in Ashland.” Constance is the cook in the family. She graduated from the Culinary and Hospitality Institute of Chicago, a Cordon Bleu school. “Constance formerly had a wedding cake business in Sonoma

before we moved to and using quality the Rogue Valley,” kitchenware in David Jesser said. their own homes.” “I’m the grill and air “People embraced the fun fryer enthusiast. We of cooking at home both love to eat and cook, and we really again,” he said. enjoy sharing what “What’s better we know with our than gathering customers.” with family and friends in your own Their passion for the business home?” Like The Pot is evident in their Rack, The Culinarenthusiasm for ium has experienced sharing recipes, an uptick in sales cooking tips, and PHOTO BY JIM FLINT of bread-baking how to use the cookware they sell. David and Constance Jesser opened supplies, pizThe Culinarium after seeing a need za-making items The Culinarium and quality kitchen carries many of the for a stand-alone shop in Ashland knives. “Our quality items found when Alyson’s closed. Constance is a Cordon Bleu chef, and David is a American-made at the big chains, stainless-steel but the Jessers enjoy grilling and air fryer enthusiast. cookware has been curating a unique incredibly well received.” selection of the best and newest He says some customers are they think will appeal to their clienlooking for just the basics, but get tele without overwhelming them. excited to learn about new gadgets “Our customers enjoy being able the store carries. to find high-quality kitchenware The store inventory evolves, with and specialty foods not found in the new items added regularly. grocery store,” he said. “We laid “The most recent additions are out the store in an easy-to-navigate a large selection of cocktail mixers way and not too cluttered.” He says they enjoy helping their and bitters, and an expanded colcustomers solve problems and find lection of Japanese shoyu,” Jesser just the right tools that work for them. said. Shoyu is made from fermented The Culinarium coped with having soybeans, wheat, salt and water. to close in the early days of the pan- It’s generally lighter, saltier and demic by offering private shopping, thinner than Chinese soy sauce. curbside pickup and local delivery. For the Jessers, it’s a two-way “We also expanded into more street: they love to share ideas with cocktail bar ware, bitters, and shoppers, “but we also have learned bread-baking items,” he said. “The many things from our customers.” disruption created by COVID made For more information, see ashpeople truly appreciate fine food landculinarium.com.

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PLANT-BASED DINING

“I challenged myself to stop eating trash. I tend to gravitate to ready-made foods — as long as I don’t have to cook it.” Brian Igarta, chef, Melange Eatery in Medford

JAMIE LUSCH PHOTOS / MAIL TRIBUNE

Brian Igarta, co-owner of Melange Eatery, prepares a vegan cheesecake.

LIVING FLAVORS Chef of plant-based Melange Eatery in Medford espouses a raw vegan diet

By Terri Harber Mail Tribune

rian Igarta is the chef and co-owner of Melange Eatery in Medford. The restaurant’s menu describes Igarta’s Asian-fusion dishes as “nourishing, plant-based meals” and “a palette of living flavors.” His Sushi Rolls, Thai Curry Bowl and Maui Tacos are some of the more popular items at this organic, plant-based restaurant that also features desserts and freshsqueezed juice creations. The menu also includes several

Gluten-free pumpkin spice cupcakes are for sale at Melange Eatery in Medford.

dishes that are grouped under the heading “Rawsome.” A favorite among these raw food offerings is a burger wrapped in a lettuce and cabbage leaf. The patty

is made from sprouted buckwheat, seeds and veggies. Toppings include avocado, cashew cream, tomato, cucumber and live ketchup — a raw cultured condiment. On the side is a bowl of fresh kale with lime-tahini dressing. Igarta, 55, grew up on Maui, and his culinary training centered on French and Japanese techniques. He has prepared plant-based dishes for more than 20 years. He has also written vegetarian cookbooks and teaches classes about healthful cooking. Igarta stopped eating meat nearly 35 years ago and has been a vegan for more than two decades.

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Discussions with people he admired as a young adult convinced him to change his diet and reexamine his spirituality. Igarta was raised Catholic but became a Seventh-day Adventist as a result. He says he got the motivation to stop eating meat from religion. Seventh-day Adventists urge one another to be health-conscious. Exercise and avoiding tobacco, alcohol, caffeine and mind-altering substances are encouraged. Many are vegetarians or vegans, as well, Igarta noted. Cooking provides Igarta with challenges he enjoys meeting. “I’m excited about bringing in ideas,” Igarta said. “It’s like therapy, almost.” Though Igarta quit eating animal products long ago, he realized his eating habits needed some improvement. He is extremely busy, especially with the restaurant. It’s a two-person operation for him and his wife, Ligia Radoias. Their commute to Medford from a small community in Douglas County is about an hour each way. Time at home includes gardening and tending an orchard, as well as time in church. Igarta said he was eating too much and not making the best choices because they were both so busy. He was eating frequently at a fast-food chain restaurant that encouraged substitutions, which still allowed him to eat vegan, but not in a truly healthful way. And he was eating packaged desserts that technically fell under the banner of “no animal products.” They were nothing like offerings at Melange. “I challenged myself to stop eating trash,” he said. “I tend to gravitate to ready-made foods — as long as I don’t have to cook it.” He decided to devote himself to a vegan raw diet. Vegan foods eaten raw made it difficult to “gain weight or feel heavy,” he explained. “The benefits are amazing.” That includes having much more energy throughout the day. Igarta said it’s likely he won’t be eating as many cooked meals as he used to. He has course-corrected his diet in the past with cleanses and simply eating fewer meals in the course of a day, but has been enjoying this method of eating. Overeating even healthful foods can be a problem for some. He pointed out that while nuts are an excellent protein source, consuming too many nuts can cause weight gain, for example. Moderation is important. Even little changes can make big differences,” he added. “We do the best we can and leave the rest to the Lord.” Our Valley

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COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE

‘THE HEALTHIEST FOOD YOU CAN GET’ By Sarah Lemon for the Mail Tribune

ecades before social distancing and mask requirements discouraged grocery shopping in person, local farms pioneered produce sales for pickup and delivery. Community supported agriculture programs have grown locally since the 1990s from boxes of seasonally fresh vegetables to fully fledged online stores selling goods from locally baked breads to pasture-raised meats. Adam Holtey brings the best of the region’s farms and artisan food producers to one platform in flexible quantities on customers’ terms. “To me, it’s the healthiest food you can get,” says Holtey. “It’s the freshest.” Acquainting himself with local farmers through his compost service, Holtey founded Rogue Produce in 2011. Originally conceived as an online farmers market with subscription options in the spirit of traditional CSAs, Rogue Produce always filled a niche for dropping orders directly on clients’ doorsteps. “As soon as COVID hit, we boomed,” says Holtey. “They were desperate for any food delivery. It’s continued to stay really strong.” Surging grocery prices nationwide — coupled with COVID’s aftershocks — are driving more and more Americans to reevaluate their shopping habits, whether it’s

Rogue Produce delivers food from the fields to your front door

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Rogue Produce has always filled a niche by dropping orders directly on clients’ doorsteps, and when COVID hit, the service boomed.

consuming less meat or patronizing locally owned businesses that keep dollars circulating through their communities. Concerns over climate change and clean energy additionally are casting critical eyes on the environmental impacts of everyday purchases. “Some people, I think, are very picky about only choosing the local stuff,” says Holtey of Rogue Produce regulars. Sourcing from as far away as Northern California and the Eugene area, Holtey even acts as a middleman for moving small producers’ goods around the region. In the winter, he routinely relies on Oregon and Washington wholesaler Organically Grown Co., but in the warmer months, produce is almost exclusively from Southern Oregon. “In the main growing season … it’s all the local farms,” says Holtey. “There’s all these unique levels of

scale, and we’re all supporting the same thing.” Some of Holtey’s produce sources, including Medford’s Fry Family Farm, also support their own CSAs. In its purest form, the model solicits shareholders to front cash when farmers need it most. Late winter and early spring — when CSAs typically assign shares — is the time for purchasing equipment, tools and seeds and to hire workers for planting season months before farms can recoup any expenses through produce sales. Shares are paid out in boxes of farm-fresh produce that vary week to week, depending on what’s ready to pick. Most traditional CSAs run from late spring or early summer through fall. Some farms offer wintertime CSAs for a shorter duration, and many will add optional items such as eggs, bread, meats, cheeses, flowers or even wine.

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By committing to a CSA, members assume some of the farmers’ risks but also reap the rewards of successful harvests. And in some years, agricultural perils are painfully apparent. Drought that curtailed irrigation water around the region last summer prompted Beebe Farms in Central Point to pause its CSA for three weeks. Citing a worker shortage in 2021 for weeding, picking and staffing Beebe’s farm stand, farmer Octavio Poscidonio shortened the 2022 CSA season and allocated half of its shares — at a reduced price — to families who volunteered their labor. Work is inherent to CSA membership, which can challenge some participants to cook more vegetables than they ordinarily would, as well as unfamiliar items. Bumper crops for weeks on end may pressure already busy families to preserve the bounty. Just as farmers can’t guarantee each shareholder’s favorite, they usually won’t exclude vegetables based on participants’ personal tastes. Evolving through customer feedback to its mix-and-match format, Rogue Produce requires orders by 10 p.m. each Monday to guarantee Friday delivery. The $12 delivery surcharge is waived for members who pay a $9.99 monthly fee, which also affords access to the week’s sales. “Some people literally only order the meat,” says Holtey. “Some people order the same bundle every week.” “Bundles” preserve Rogue Produce’s origins as a “mini CSA,” albeit virtual, says Holtey. Priced at $55, the “veggie bundle” typically contains a dozen items from lettuces and microgreens to potatoes and mushrooms. For the same price, the “omnivore bundle” cuts the produce by half but adds portions of meat, cheese and locally baked bread. And from Holtey’s leftovers, he assembles “economy bundles” — first come, first served — that contain $30 to $35 of produce for $25. Rogue Produce, Holtey admits, is more expensive than mainstream food at major retailers. But since collecting local households’ kitchen scraps and transferring them to farmers’ fields, he says he’s observed the region’s food economy “expand so many different sectors.” “The mission has always stayed the same.” See rogueproduce.com. Find local CSA products and contact information in the annual “Rogue Flavor Guide,” published by Rogue Valley Food System Network. See rvfoodsystem.org/rogueflavor. Local farmers markets also provide routes to CSA signups.

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CANNABIS COOKING

HERBS & SPICES

These days, not all pot-infused foods are sweet treats By Sarah Lemon for the Mail Tribune

odern cannabis edibles may be light-years from 1960s pot brownies and puffed-rice treats. But the chef-owner of Ashland’s new Cosmic Muffin School of Cookery can’t endorse taking “medicine” in “junk food.” “I would try to get people away from candies and sweets,” says Deborah Costella. “We go far beyond that.” Costella emphasizes not only cannabis, but herbs and spices, as vital to the natural pharmacopoeia. Her recipes and hands-on classes demonstrate how to prepare foods — from soups and sandwiches to her namesake muffins — with plant essences for healing Chef Deborah and wellness. Costella knew in “You have a plethora of medicine in your pantry — 2012 “things were in your spice cupboard,” different” from says Costella. Certified in culinary the days when arts, Costella worked for stoners stirred more than a decade as a cooking instructor and “weed” seeds personal chef in Las Vegas and stems into before her concept for cannabis-infused cuisine brownie batter. emerged. Caring and cooking for her brother through his long battle with cancer, Costella realized only after his death that her home-cooked meals could have administered his medical marijuana. The chef knew in 2012 “things were different” from the days when stoners stirred “weed” seeds and stems into brownie batter.

ANDY ATKINSON PHOTOS / MAIL TRIBUNE

Deborah Costella sprinkles sugar on Cosmic Muffins in her Ashland home. In photos at left, she makes cannabis-infused butter (top), and crushes pot to make green butter.

Costella started researching online videos about cannabis cooking and sent her son to procure the key ingredient. Work sessions with a fellow chef, who she characterizes as “Bill Nye the Science Guy of food,” helped to hone her methods. “I don’t go and buy tincture and drop it in,” says Costella. “(Cannabis) is fat-soluble, so I need a fat. “I teach people how to create their oils and butters — both for THC and CBD.” The process of infusing cannabis for its complete spectrum of chemical attributes, such as terpenes, cannabinoids and flavonoids, also is endorsed by Laurie Wolf, a chef, cookbook author and co-owner of the Portland-based edibles company Laurie + MaryJane. Edibles prepared with isolates and distillates deliver only cannabis’ THC and CBD, says Wolf. By contrast, utilizing all of the plant’s compounds, including essential oils, ensures they all work together, each magnifying the therapeutic benefits of the others, which has been termed “the entourage effect.”

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CANNABIS COOKING Clients’ desired effects guide both Wolf’s and Costella’s choice of cannabis strains, each touting specific terpene and flavor profiles. For sweet dishes, Costella says she chooses King’s Kush, or a similar strain with citrusy undertones. Great White Shark, she says, exudes more delicate floral notes while Big Bang is “peachy, plummy or appley” on the palate. For savory recipes, Costella favors the evergreen and peppery undertones of White Widow or Super Lemon Haze. Neville’s Haze, El Nino and Cheese, she adds, accent salty and garlicky dishes, particularly with beans. One of Costella’s signature dishes — and a client favorite — is homemade, cannabis-infused pasta tossed in infused brown butter. “We can infuse anything,” she says. For cannabis epicures — or clients craving a heavy dose — multicourse meals with cannabis included in every dish is within Costella’s purview. These feasts are private, in-home events only, where diners provide the cannabis, she says. Any of Costella’s classes featuring cannabis also take place at private residences. In-person instruction at Cosmic Muffin’s downtown Ashland storefront is likely to commence in April. Although Costella secured a space on East Main Street in the same block as Bloomsbury Books in summer 2021, the coronavirus pandemic delayed remodeling at the site and licensing with the city. To accommodate distancing

COURTESY PHOTO

Laurie Wolf, founder of the cannabis edibles company Laurie+MaryJane, makes a batch of CBD granola.

among participants, Costella says she plans to start with hands-on classes for eight people. For demonstrations, she can host up to 12. Depending on the class type and cost of ingredients, prices range from $50 to $100 but usually include enough food samples to constitute a full meal, says Costella. Catering to everyone from soccer moms to newly single men, Costella’s classes run the gamut from “girls’ night out” and “date night” to “secrets of the kitchen” and such basics as knife skills. The chef of Italian and Puerto Rican descent also leans toward Mediterranean and Caribbean themes, as well as classical French techniques and specialties of Indian cuisine.

A former preschool and kindergarten teacher with certification in early childhood education, Costella has conducted numerous kids’ cooking classes over the past few decades. “Perfect for all types of learners,” cooking is a hands-on way to teach math, art and science, she says. Raising awareness of diet’s role in chronic health conditions is another focus for Costella. Seasoning recipes with the right herbs and spices, she says, can optimize brain function, promote a restful night’s sleep, reduce anxiety and inflammation, remove heavy metals from the body and lend all manner of energetic properties. A grandson who experiences autism challenges Costella to ease his mealtimes with texturally appealing foods. His favorite crunchy mac-n-cheese bites become “fireballs” for adults with cannabis-infused Sriracha aioli, a recipe available on Cosmic Muffin’s website. As “things have opened up” with recreational cannabis legal in nearly 20 U.S. states, Costella says she doesn’t fear negative perceptions of her business. And while regulated, commercially made edibles are available across the West, she still sees plenty of appetite for building a culinary repertoire with cannabis. See Costella’s free instructional videos and recipes and sign up for online classes at cosmicmuffinschoolofcookery.com. Reach freelance writer Sarah Lemon at thewholedish@gmail.com.

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ORGANIC PIONEERS

CLEAN FOOD JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Fry Family Farm store outside Medford.

Fry Family Farm and Whistling Duck were among the first to go all in on organic farming locally By Damian Mann for the Mail Tribune

n the early 1980s, organic farming wasn’t on most people’s radar. At the time, Steve Fry and his wife, Suzi, had a restaurant in Santa Cruz, California, and a few friends were interested in farming without pesticides. “The organic industry was being born, it was in its infancy,” Fry said. They sold the restaurant and decided to farm near Horse Creek in Siskiyou County near Yreka, California. “I was selling what I was growing in Horse Creek in Ashland,” he recalled. “In Yreka you’re a hippie, but here you’re a hippie but they love you.”

That love affair turned Medford-based Fry Family Farm into a local organic institution. Fry and another farm, Whistling Duck, are among the pioneers who set the stage for a wave of organic farming locally. When they started, others joined the food revolution, but the farming life is a hard one, Fry said. “The people my age invented the business, and we get pushed out,” Fry said. Even so, two of his five daughters want to follow in their parents’ footsteps and are pitching in to help run the farm. The Fry family moved to Talent after a few years in Horse Creek. “At the time, we were selling at the (Ashland) co-op with some others from the Applegate,” he remembers. “A produce woman at the store

told me we wouldn’t make it.” Hardly anyone was producing organic food at the time, even though there was a huge demand for it, Fry said. But the produce — and learning to deal with the bugs without resorting to pesticides — was difficult to grow. “It wasn’t the prettiest stuff you’ve ever seen,” Fry said. “That meant I had to learn fast.” Other growers had created Oregon Tilth, a nonprofit advocating for organic farming, in 1974, which helped set the standards. Fry said he still does a lot of business in Eugene and Portland, and also sells his products at local stores as well as the Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market. Fry Family Farm now has up to 90 acres under cultivation, and it’s a 100% organic farm.

“I was selling what I was growing in Horse Creek in Ashland. In Yreka you’re a hippie, but here you’re a hippie but they love you.” Steve Fry, Fry Family Farm, on his early days of organic farming 62

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ORGANIC PIONEERS “My biggest concern is, ‘Where’s the money going to fermented products such as krauts and kimchee. “We’re getting ready to launch our fermented salad come from to keep this going?’” Fry said. As a result, he’s diversified, with a farm store at 2184 dressings into local stores,” Alionis said. She said it’s hard to make a living on organic farming Ross Lane, just outside Medford, along with a warein this valley. Local consumers are particularly price house where people can rent out space. sensitive. In Washington, growers can get twice the He’s also got a kitchen with a pizza oven, but mainprice compared to the Rogue Valley, Alionis said. taining an organic food preparation facility keeps him “We have some of the highest land prices in the on his toes. country and lowest food prices,” she said. “It’ just a record-keeping nightmare,” he said. The local marijuana industry has also had a huge In the future, the Frys plan to expand their offerings impact on the farmers in the valley. and become an attraction for organic farm enthusiAlionis said her farm grew hemp asts and those who want to sample for CBD and related oils for a couple organic food. of years. She said the oil will be put Fry said it would be a tough business into various food items for sale. to break into nowadays, pointing out Whistling Duck sells organic that many large corporations are now seeds, including for garlic and corn. in the organic farm business. Alionis said her son and daughter “The farming model is brutal,” he also help out at the farm. said. Local organic farms can be samPassionate about organic farmpled at the Rogue Valley Growers ing, Fry said he still can eat just COURTESY PHOTO and Crafters Market, which is held about anything, but he says he can Whistling Duck Farm, one of the earliest Tuesdays and Saturdays in Ashland taste the difference when he bites organic operations in the area, has a Farm and Thursdays in Medford. into something that has been mass Store, located in the Big Red Barn on the The market features produce and produced. farm, at 12800 Williams Highway (Hwy. 238). other foods and crafts from the “The more industrial the region. farms become, the deader the food “This will be our 35th season this year,” said Jaimie becomes,” he said. Griffin, executive director of the market. Whistling Duck’s Mary Alionis and her husband, The pandemic has taken its toll on the number of Vince, moved from Dallas to Berkley, California, and vendors, as have several particularly difficult smoky began looking around for land in Ukiah and Willits, in Northern California, as part of a grant-funded farming periods. Before the pandemic the market featured up to 160 vendors but is now at 115 or slightly fewer. project. Griffin said Fry Family Farm and Whistling Duck Then the Loma Prieta earthquake struck in 1989, and are definitely pioneers in the local organic farming the grant funding dried up. community. After some searching they found a little farm near “The amount of organic farmers has increased over Shady Cove, and they started to grow garlic in 1991, the years,” she added. eventually moving to another property around Trail. She said there has been more of a shift toward They started selling at a farmer’s market in Phoenix. organic practices among farmers, noting that the “We sold to tons of restaurants in Ashland in the certification process to become an organic farmer is a 1990s,” Alionis said. costly undertaking. Eventually they bought 22.7 acres in 2003 at 12800 “We even see a shift with our processed food venWilliams Highway, Grants Pass, where they have a dors, who are using more organics,” she said. store and a certified organic kitchen, where they make

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BISON JUNCTION

BISON IN THE TREES

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Bison roam the property at the Wild Oasis Bison Ranch near Butte Falls.

Lori and Joe Moore raise bison near Butte Falls for their Shady Cove store By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune

ffering up quality cuts of the same protein that sustained early settlers, Bison Junction in Shady Cove garnered an immediate following when the store opened its doors in July 2020. Taking a leap of faith, owners Lori and Joe Moore opened their retail shop just as pandemic restrictions were being put into place and mere weeks before a summer of devastating wildfires would force loss of

business by way of evacuations and thick lingering smoke. With firefighters even staging from the couple’s Wild Oasis Bison Ranch in Eagle Point, it was community support and an eager customer base for bison meat that sustained them for their first two years in business. Previously in the corporate world of financial services, Lori Moore said the couple were ready for a change of pace when they made their way west and decided to raise bison. Growing up in Colorado, Moore said bison ranches were fairly common around her home state.

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Joe Moore feeds bison at the Wild Oasis Bison Ranch. 64

“We had actually quite a few bison ranches where I grew up, but very few on the road where you could see the animals,” she said. “There was just one that, when I would drive to Denver, you could always see them, always hanging out near a “One time, when pond. One time, when my husband and my husband I were driving and I were from Durango to driving from Denver about 9 Durango to Denver years ago, I said, about 9 ‘We should start a years ago, bison ranch.’ And I said, ‘We he goes, ‘Yeah, should start a bison right. You know ranch.’ And those things can he goes, kill you, right?’” ‘Yeah, right. You know Lori Moore those things can kill you, right?’” Moore recalled with a laugh. “A while after that, I found a sign somewhere that said, ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Except for bison. Bison will kill you.’ I was kind of joking at the time but then eventually we did some research and visited a few bison ranches. And it all kind of just morphed.”

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BISON JUNCTION

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

“We try to go nose-to-tail and use every part of the animal we possibly can,” says Bison Junction owner Lori Moore.

farmers’ markets or offer tours. The site of the woolly giants grazing on green hillsides, Moore admits, is a pretty cool sight to behold. “After they come down to eat, they just go up into the hills, and you can’t even really see them. It’s like gorillas in the mist, but ‘bison in the trees.’ They all kind of move up, slowly, one by one, and disappear into the trees,” she said.

“They’re really an amazing animal.” Bison Junction is located at 20300 Crater Lake Highway in Shady Cove. For details, call 541-841-8842, or learn more online at facebook.com/ bisonjunction, bisonjunction.com and wildoasisbisonranch.com. Reach freelance writer Buffy Pollock at buffyp76@yahoo.com.

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Starting their own ranch happened in conjunction with moving from Colorado and finding property in Southern Oregon that was suitable for the task of containing the up to one-ton-sized animals. “My husband worked here already, and we found some property and spent eight months building a gnarly fence up top on our property. It just, somehow, suddenly all came together,” Moore said. Moore said locals already familiar with bison meat simply want places to buy it, while newcomers to “American’s original red meat” are eager to get their first taste. With a richer, slightly gamier flavor than beef, bison is lower in saturated fat than beef and chock full of nutrients. Bison Ranch animals are never grain fed and live out their days grazing in the foothills near Eagle Point. “It’s the amount of protein you get in bison meat, without the saturated fat of cow’s meat, that makes it so good for you,” notes Moore. As nutrient-dense as red meat, bison is similar to white meat in terms of calorie and fat content. “I’ll ask people if they’ve ever had it, and more often than not they haven’t. That’s the main reason we started selling sliders during the spring and summer, to get people introduced to it. We keep things really simple, so they can taste the bison flavor. I’m really not trying to be in the restaurant business, just trying to give people a chance to try it.” Moore said the family’s ranch would continue to focus on a quality, sustainable product as well as minimal product waste and a fun variety of bison-themed items for their Shady Cove store. “We try to go nose-to-tail and use every part of the animal we possibly can. We have customers who use bones for stock, and you can even grill the marrow bones. We make pet food, too,” added Moore. “We send the hides to Montana to get tanned.” Long term, Moore said, the ranch could have a presence at regional

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LOCAL FOOD HISTORY

FAMILIAR FLAVORS

For over half a century, Medford has been ground zero for new chain restaurants By Nick Morgan Mail Tribune

n April of last year, a prankster duped hundreds of Southern Oregonians with a misspelled name and a single Facebook post. “Hope you’re hungry,” said an April 4, 2021, post using a corporate green-and-beige color scheme on a page titled “Panara Bread Medford.” It listed an opening date of May 21, 2021. That opening date was far too good to be true — it was months before crews had even broken ground on the new Panera Bakery Cafe coming to the corner of Highway 99 and Garfield Street. Wishful thinking, however, couldn’t stop the hoax post from being shared by locals 266 times. According to KOGAP Enterprises CEO Brent Hackwell, construction on the building is expected to be completed by the end of 2022. The fast-casual bakery cafe is the latest dalliance in local diners’ love affair with chain restaurants, but it’s hardly Southern Oregon’s first love. Over the past decade, grand openings for Oregon’s first In-N-Out Burger location and

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Orders are taken at In-N-Out Burger in Medford which, on opening day in 2015 saw three-hour wait lines at its drive-thru window.

Medford’s first Chick-fil-A have drive-ins up and down the road, drawn blockbuster crowds eager According to Medford’s June for the familiar tastes they’d sam- 1962 Bell Telephone book. pled in other metropolitan areas. Jack’s Hamburgers at 911 N. On Sept. 15, 2015, the exciteRiverside Ave., was one hamment was palpable at 1970 Crater burger option that also gave Lake Highway in Medford. CBS diners choices of “pizza pie to News crews were on deck to go,” fried chicken or “Mexican watch as fans of In-N-Out’s tacos and burritos.” Cubby’s famed Double Double camped Drive-in at 1275 S. Riverovernight for the ribbon-cutting. side Ave., was another option Others braved drive thrufor hamburgers, as well as lines in excess of three hours on “Broasted” chicken “prepared in opening day, according to Mail scientific new equipment.” Tribune reports at the time. By the latter half of the decade, From hamburgers to sandwiches Medford’s fast-food choices to everything in between, Medford started ramping up. A listing for has long been the place for South- Kentucky Fried Chicken, at 603 ern Oregonians to get their first S. Riverside Ave., first appeared local taste of some of the country’s in 1967, Taco Bell in 1968 and most popular restaurants, but that Southern Oregon’s first McDonwasn’t always the case. ald’s, at 245 E. Barnett Road, Six decades ago, those looking opened in 1972. for a hamburger might have considered the A&W at 333 N. A rendering of Medford’s Panera Bread Riverside Ave., but there were location under construction at the corner of plenty of other locally owned Highway 99 and Garfield Street in Medford

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LOCAL FOOD HISTORY The 1973 phone book ad for Medford’s new McDonald’s highlighted now nationally known menu items such as the Big Mac, the Filet-O-Fish and the Quarter Pounder, but in the early 1970s it was novel enough that the restaurant encouraged those stopping by to ask the manager about store tours in the same place it listed “children’s birthday parties” and “free use of portable orange bowl.” The McDonald’s location was open until September 2020, when the restaurant was shuttered to make way for an all-new location adjacent to it in the WinCo Plaza. Medford’s fast-food choices expanded dramatically by the mid 1980s. Medford diners hungry for a quick bite had their pick of an Arbys, two Domino’s pizzerias, a Pizza Hut, two Taco Bells and two Wendys. In the mid 1990s, chicken was big business in the franchise world, but Mail Tribune archives show that the success would be shortlived. Kenny Rogers Roasters — known for its gold records from the country superstar’s singing career and its oversized wood rotisserie — called it quits in 1997 after less than two years at 61 E. Stewart Ave. According to Mail Tribune archives, that was the same week that similar chicken-carving franchise Boston Market closed its franchise at 1250 Biddle Road. It lasted only a year and four months. At the time, Kenny Rogers Roasters franchisee Mike Cotton told the Mail Tribune that businesses such as Applebees and the nearby HomeTown Buffet carved into

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Cars line up at Chick-fil-A in Medford.

his business, saying, “Medford is just over-restauranted.” The late ‘90s is when we briefly saw Chevy’s Fresh Mex. Although the chain is long gone, a distressed billboard for the chain restaurant and its “freshest chips in town” has been part of the landscape along the 600 block of North Riverside Avenue since the summer of 2019. The building that housed Chevy’s on Crater Lake Highway sat vacant for about two years at the turn of the new millennium until Olive Garden took it over in 2002. In the last decade, Medford’s newest chain restaurant entries are largely of the “fast casual” variety. Medford’s saw its first Chipotle franchise in November 2012, its first MOD Pizza franchise in February 2017, its first Five Guys Burgers and Fries in November 2018, and Jersey Mike’s Subs came to town in 2020.

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4/23/2022 12:52:15 PM

CHEESEMAKERS

MORE CHEESE, PLEASE! A world champion and a winery that makes cheese illustrate variety of local cheesemakers

By Kevin Opsahl Mail Tribune

hen the Mail Tribune caught up with cheesemaker Phil Dequine, he was just a month into the job at Rogue Creamery. His employer is more than just the most prominent cheese manufacturer in Southern Oregon. For him, it’s a symbol of home. He still has memories of touring the Creamery when he was a student at Mae Richardson Elementary. “I was born and raised here in the valley, and it’s just kind of cool that I get to work for a place that shows that even the small guys can go big,” Dequine said. He was referring to Rogue Creamery’s ascension to World Champion at the 2019-2020 World Cheese Awards in Bergamo, Italy, for its signature product, Rogue River Blue. Rogue Creamery, founded by Gaetano “Tom” Vella and Celso Viviani, was the first American cheesemaker to ever win the prestigious award. Dequine, wearing a lab coat, hair net and mask, looked like he had just completed a workout after using long sticks to squeeze the moisture out of tons of cheddar cheese. “When you see the end product, and it’s going out there with all the quality and the personality that people put into it … nobody even thinks about slacking — that’s not even an option,” said Dequine, who spent years in Wisconsin, often thought of as America’s dairy capital. Immanuel Rodriguez, operations manager for Rogue Creamery, applauded his employees for the way they make cheese.

JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

Blue cheese ages at Rogue Creamery in Central Point.

“A lot of these guys, you walk in there, it’s a beautiful mix of artisanship, science and experience,” he said. While Rogue Creamery isn’t slowing down in making cheese, other establishments in the valley aren’t either — and some are trying it for the first time.

Rogue cheese-making Rodriguez talked about how the company stands apart from mass cheesemakers. “It’s different from these massive producers, who have these operators who are highly skilled and trained to operate the machines that make the cheese,” Rodriguez said. “Over here, though, everything is handmade. So the skill and the experience all are (from) people who make the cheese. Rogue Creamery makes two kinds of cheese: cheddar and blue, with several varieties of each. The company provided a tour of its facilities, at 311 N. Front St., in Central Point, which include separate buildings for the production of blue and cheddar. The distinction between the two is that the blue cheese-making facility has blue mold in the air to help age

the cheese. As a rule, employees who visit the blue cheese plant don’t go into the cheddar shop the same day, so as not to risk inoculating it with blue mold. Tom Van Voorhees, retail manager for the company, explained how Rogue Creamery makes its famous cheeses, and he started by talking about milk. While a lot of big cheese production companies use “standardized milk,” Rogue Creamery’s contains varying protein-to-fat ratios. Those differing ratios are the result of pasture-raised cows that supply the milk being fed different diets depending on the season. This approach is important to Rogue Creamery, because “we’re really trying to get the expression of the milk of this valley right through to the finished product,” he said.

Blue cheese, the Rogue Creamery way Rogue Creamery ages blue cheese “the traditional way,” said Van Voorhees, in a “cave-like environment.” The cheese is made by introducing — not injecting — mold into the cheese when the milk is inoculated with blue mold spores.

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CHEESEMAKERS “During the cheese-making process — about once a week (when) wheels are strong enough to support themselves — they perforate them with a machine that just pokes straight lines through them, like little chimneys,” he wrote in an email. “That’s how oxygen gets into the center of the cheese. Once the oxygen is available, the blue mold starts to reproduce. It works its way into those little caves and finds little spots between the curds where there might be air available.” Rogue Creamery’s blue cheese process takes a minimum of three months, though Rogue River Blue takes 11 months. “The flavor is constantly changing. As it matures, and the blue does its work, the mold keeps basically eating cheese,” Van Voorhees said.

high quality, and really interested in something that goes beyond plain nourishment,” Van Voorhees said.

“I was born and raised here in the valley, and it’s just kind of cool that I get to work for a place that shows that even the small guys can go big,”

is coated with ash made from Wooldridge Creek’s grape vines. Another, called Manzanita, contains pink peppercorns pressed A cheese-infused into the rind. experiment “Basically, what you’re doing is, you’re Aiyah Rebecca Geier trying to make the is the manager and wine taste good,” head cheesemaker of Phil Dequine, Geier said. “OftenCrushpad Creamery cheesemaker, times, the cheese kind at Wooldridge Creek Rogue Creamery of retains its flavor, Winery in Grants Pass. The winery has been open for four but the wine might taste different depending on what cheese you’re decades, and the creamery started eating.” in 2015. The operation gets its name from the fact that it started on the In 2021, Crushpad Creamery same piece of equipment the winery debuted its cheese club. The group uses to crush grapes for wine. has not held a lot of events due In 2020, Crushpad Creamery to the pandemic, but despite the moved out of that facility and got economic impacts of COVID-19, its own space — a barn on the winbusiness has been steady. Cheddar cheese making ery’s property that includes a retail “People are buying cheese here and and a tasty store space for its cheeses. coming out, and I think that’s part of “We are the first, and I think, still, the success of the cheese club, too,” Steps away from its facility for the only winery-creamery combinashe said. “It’s a good excuse to get cheddar-making, which involves extracting moisture from the curds, tion,” Geier said. “It is a destination.” out and get your cheese.” The creamery’s job, she said, is to Geier hopes Crushpad Creamery adding salt and pressing, is an provide cheeses that can be paired becomes an essential part of the on-site store. with its wine. Rogue Valley cheese scene. That’s where all Rogue Creamery “Cheese and wine are pretty “Right now, we’re just focusing goods are sold. Products include tubs much a perfect pairing,” she said. on continuing to do what we’re of the company’s smokey blue and The creamery focuses on five doing and doing it well,” Geier pimento cheese spreads (specialty kinds of cheese: fromage blanc, crackers are available for dipping). said. “It is fun. It’s cooking, and it’s bloomy rind, washed rind, feta and science, and something delicious to When you stop in, don’t forget to an assortment of aged cheeses. ask for an order of the grilled cheese eat all rolled in one.” Each of those categories of cheeses sandwich, which includes Rogue Over at Rogue Creamery, Van Creamery cheese between two pieces contain a number of different ingre- Voorhees is equally enthused with dients, depending on the type. A of bread toasted on a panini press. the profession. bloomy rind called Midnight Valley “We’re a small production, very Centuries ago, Italians paid Roman soldiers with cheese, Van Voorhees said. Given cheese’s rich history, it could have been thought of as “the original power bar,” he added. “It was a very primitive yet super ingenious discovery that milk would curdle, and that wouldn’t necessarily be bad,” Van Voorhees said. “It became one more chore on the farm.” The way Van Voorhees sees it, there are plenty of reasons to be proud to be a cheesemaker. “It comes from the reaction someone gives you when they taste what you made,” he said. “Just like the pride of someone who bakes really good bread. ... It’s the gratification JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE of doing something well and being Gene Martin and Phil Dequine work to make cheddar cheese at Rogue Creamery. appreciated for it.” Our Valley |

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4/23/2022 12:52:28 PM

PIZZAS WITH PIZZAZZ

THAT’S AMORE Three local pizzeria owners talk about what secrets make their pies special

By Kevin Opsahl Mail Tribune

izza is clearly one of the world’s most popular foods. Jeffrey Miller, a professor in hospitality management at Colorado State University, says most Americans eat it at least once a week, and estimates 350 slices are consumed every second in the U.S. alone. In the Rogue Valley, pizza runs the gamut from traditional to gourmet and everything in between, served up by small

David Kostuchowski makes a pizza at Kaleidoscope Pizzeria & Pub in Medford. JAMIE LUSCH / MAIL TRIBUNE

local establishments and giant national chains. But according to Kristi Haavig, co-owner of Kaleidoscope Pizzeria and Pub, Medford wasn’t always a pizza paradise. Haavig, her husband, Jake Allmaras, and his son, Ben, worked in the pizza business in Alaska for years before setting up shop in Medford 18 years ago. They toured Bend and Portland before choosing the Rogue Valley as their home. They cited the area’s weather and friendly people as reasons to stay, but after trying all of the pizza places around town, they decided Medford could use their skills. “Medford was a pizza desert,” Haavig said. The key ingredients are made fresh daily, Ben said. That includes the handtossed dough baked in a stone oven, along with sauces made from scratch. “And you’ve got to get darn good people to put it together,” Ben said. His father added that Kaleidoscope wants to be known for offering pizza you won’t find on any other menu. The menu is extensive, with toppings such as teriyaki-glazed pork, chorizo, artichoke hearts, feta, pepperoncini, blackened chicken, bacon, Tillamook cheddar, smoked ham and lots more, served in a dizzying array of combinations. And there are more specialty pizzas to come, Ben said, including one with Brussels sprouts, bacon and alfredo sauce. He is also looking forward to the debut of a pie with pears, gorgonzola cheese, onions, candied walnuts and balsamic vinegar. The vision for Kaleidoscope from the beginning was to have a full-service restaurant specializing in gourmet pizza and salads. “We don’t try to be all things to all people, but we like to say ‘yes’ to our customers as much as we can,” Jake said. “We really do try to set ourselves apart from not only other pizza restaurants, but all the restaurants in Medford.” Inside, Kaleidoscope offers arcade games, several big-screen televisions, and local art on the walls, including blown glass from Grants Pass. The light fixtures above each table are handmade, as well.

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4/23/2022 12:52:31 PM

PIZZAS WITH PIZZAZZ The Grotto Pizzeria in A little more than 20 Talent is another shop years ago, Tim Stone with its own identity. was tossing pizza Anthony Mouyios dough in Seattle and bought the restaurant dreaming of opening nearly five years ago. his own place. He had managed The That opportunity Grotto for a previous came in 2002, after his owner and helped to dad, Tom Stone, moved create the first menu. to Medford. Tom found “My hands have a spot on West Main been in this place since Street that used to be a it opened 20 years Little Caesars. ago,” Mouyios said. “We had decided One of the things that was it. Let’s do our ANDY ATKINSON / MAIL TRIBUNE own thing,” Tim said. that sets its pies apart Customers enjoy a pizza dinner at Jackson Creek Pizza in Medford. is a sourdough starter “It was going to be a from Naples, Italy, that lot cheaper to open a is used in its crusts. restaurant here than it would be in Seattle.” “In my opinion, Naples has some of the best pizza The junior Stone transformed that “tiny” location around, so I’ve been absolutely stoked with it ever into Jackson Creek Pizza. since,” Mouyios said. “This (starter) has been the best “Our customers came right away,” Stone said. “It’s one I’ve ever seen. It’s lasted for 20 years, it’s got excel- one thing when your mom, dad and cousin frequent lent flavor, and that’s the whole basis of all of our dough your business, but that doesn’t mean it’s any good.” here.” Jackson Creek Pizza initially had a huge menu but has since whittled it down, he said. The old menu is now It’s a big part of what makes The Grotto unique. the “secret menu,” with selections that include The “You can’t open a book and find our recipe,” Mouyios Buffalo Girl, with grilled chicken and wing sauce. said. “When you bite into it, you get a nice, dense, seaThe current menu includes the Greek-themed salty flavor. You don’t see a lot of crust left on the plate.” Athens Delight, the Mexican-inspired Taco Pie and the The Grotto’s pizza menu includes the classic marsouthwestern Texas Twister. gherita, which includes tomato, mozzarella and fresh “(Customers can expect) a hand-tossed crust — not basil. And for more all-American flavor palates there’s too thin, not too thick. Just a perfect blend,” Stone The Widow Maker — topped with several meats, bell said. “I don’t know how to explain it, exactly. The taste pepper, onion, black olives and jalapenos. speaks for itself.” “They’re the number ones,” Mouyios said, describJackson Creek offers sandwiches and salads, too. ing margherita as “fantastic” and Widow as “jazzed On Jan. 1, Jackson Creek moved from the Albertsons up” compared to other pies. The Grotto’s menu includes fresh soups, salads, Shopping Center in west Medford to a new location on pastas and sandwiches. Biddle Road. The business also occupies a smaller spot “Our menu has probably doubled,” Mouyios said. “If off of Delta Waters Road. somebody doesn’t like sourdough crust, for instance, I “We just try to make you feel like you’re at your want them to still be able to come to my restaurant. … friend’s house,” Stone said. But you’re not going to find hamburgers here.” Overall, he is happy about the brand he has built with Another popular spot is Jackson Creek Pizza in Jackson Creek Pizza. Medford. “No one else has pizza like ours anywhere,” Stone said.

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4/23/2022 12:57:12 PM

THE HUNGRY HUSTLE

GOOD FOOD, GOOD TIMES Passion for sharing meals turns into a local tour business By Buffy Pollock for the Mail Tribune

n unbridled passion for well-made, delicious food and fun gatherings has set the tone for much of Melynda Cordes’s 54 years’ worth of dinners, brunches and backyard barbecues. Passionate about all things food and drink — from farmers markets and food trucks to international cuisine from the tiniest cafes — the “We have so Bay Area many wonderful native grew restaurants that up knowing the imporso many people tance of a haven’t even great meal enjoyed in heard of yet. They’re like the the best of company. unsung wonders “My favorof downtown ite childhood memories Medford.” have to do Melynda Cordes, with food. I The Hungry Hustle love food,” Walking Food Tour said Cordes, who organizes local food adventures through her business The Hungry Hustle Walking Food Tour. “I grew up in a household culture that really enjoyed family meals and gathering around the table and sharing a meal. I really missed that when we came here 20 years ago, to Medford.” Cordes has worked in various industries around the valley, but she said she knew she would 72

ANDY ATKINSON / MAIL TRIBUNE

The Hungry Hustle Walking Food Tour led by Melynda Cordes stopped recently at Bricktowne Brewing Company in downtown Medford to sample some beers and food.

eventually find a way to join the growing restaurant culture in Southern Oregon. After checking out a Portland food tour a few years ago, Cordes’s husband, Eric, gave her a nudge. “Hungry Hustle was my husband’s idea. We both really love to find new and wonderful places to eat — and I love to hear myself talk,” she teased. “We did one of the tours in Portland and it was awesome. I was like, ‘Alright, we can do this. We have to do this.” The gist of the Hungry Hustle is that Cordes meets with a group of fun-seeking foodies for a tour of local food offerings. Some tour concepts are simplistic, such as an afternoon of visiting downtown eateries and chatting about farmer’s market offerings. Others are specifically themed for holidays or types of cuisine. Think “Tacos and Tequilas,” “Breweries and Brothels” or even a historical approach packed with haunted tales. Ideas and themes are inspired by Cordes’ love of fun, and the local

ANDY ATKINSON / MAIL TRIBUNE

Seth Cordes and Lanessa Pierce bite into desserts at Caba Empanadas in Medford.

food scene seems eager to provide a steady supply of places to visit. Social distancing and COVID-19 restrictions put a slight damper on Cordes’s plans after she launched Hungry Hustle, but with more locals stuck working from home, and local restaurants clambering for support, her tours have been popular — and packed — since day one. “More and more food trucks were showing up. People were quitting their jobs and starting up food trucks, and people were sick of being home, so they were ordering takeout or dining outside,” Cordes said.

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Dinner is Served

THE HUNGRY HUSTLE “We were still able to do our tours as would become as much a part of the long as they were outside or the groups downtown fabric as the array of eateries all knew each other. It was just a really she’s working to share with visitors and fun thing to do. People wanted good food locals alike. and some normal.” “Medford has a lot of cool history Recent tour-goers Linda and Tony and some fun stuff to do, and we have Kilcollins, who live in Jacksonville, so many wonderful restaurants that tagged along for a weekday afternoon so many people haven’t even heard of with Bricktowne Brewing’s nachos and yet. They’re like the unsung wonders of beer flights followed by empanadas at downtown Medford,” she said. downtown Medford’s Caba and fresh“You’ve got spring rolls and homechurned ice cream from Sweet Cream. made peanut sauce at Noonie’s that’ll Repeat visitors on knock your socks Cordes’ tours, their off, Rogue Organic out-of-town family Café has the most discovered Cordes delicious Gypsy before they did. soup, and Sweet “My parents from Cream is a mustWisconsin found try with their her online and lemon lavender. thought it would If we’re feeling be a fun thing to do adventurous, we when they came to get a ripper (deep visit,” Linda Kilcolfried hot dog) from lins said. Burger Spot.” On their first trip She started with with Cordes, the tours in Grants group ventured to Pass and Medford, Gtanos in Grants and other tours Pass, followed by have ventured to Cultured Palate, Ashland. Twisted Cork and Tour activities the Horny Goat. range from brew“Gtanos makes ery and farmers tableside guacaANDY ATKINSON / MAIL TRIBUNE market samplings mole,” offered to historic tales and A supremo sandwich and empanadas from Caba Cordes. “It is so themed evening Empanadas were part of a recent food tour in good.” events. downtown Medford. Kilcollins said “Nothing brings Cordes is a natural for sharing local people together like food. I mean, alcohol gems. does, too, but gathering to share food “The fact you get to go to so many and drink together really loosens people places to check them out is just really up,” said Cordes. fun,” Kilcollins said. “She finds the best “When we get a group together, places to go, and she makes it so enjoyeveryone tells stories about their favorite able. It’s different every time.” meals, or we’ll eat something and it will Bricktowne co-owner Dennis Clark remind them of the way their gramma said Cordes’ tours are a fun way to used to make the same thing. showcase the local food scene. “We have great creators here, and “It’s hard to even imagine, but just in there’s a lot of flavor in downtown this downtown corridor there are at least Medford. … If you don’t go looking for it, 20 unique places to go, and you wouldn’t you’re really gonna be missing out.” realize it unless you were looking for Find out more most of them,” said Clark. For more details about The Hungry “The downtown has created a really Hustle Walking Food Tour, see hustlesolid core, and it’s only going to get southernoregon.com or www.facebook. better.” com/HungryHustlewalksMedford Cordes said she was hopeful her tours

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4/23/2022 12:57:17 PM

PACIFIC ISLANDS

‘IT TAKES A VILLAGE’ SOU class focuses on Oceania and Moana peoples, and food at their cultures’ center By Allayana Darrow for the Mail Tribune

new course at Southern Oregon University this spring offers students the chance to learn about and from the Oceania and Moana peoples, including the food at the heart of each culture’s traditions. The course covers the origins and migration theories of Pacific Island peoples, the Pasifika hip-hop/island reggae movement, Polynesian sports representation, kava drinking ceremonies and more, among the largest populations in the U.S.: Tongan, Samoan, Hawaiian JAMIE LUSCH PHOTOS / MAIL TRIBUNE and Maori. George Mulitalo, with the Samoa Club, grills chicken at Garfield “Food is a natural part of gathering,” said Pacific Park in Ashland. Islander Studies course instructor Kris Haina Galago, a native Hawaiian scholar and “Many of them are farmers, Pacific Islander advocate. fishermen, hunters, and so they In all cultures featured in the will have slaughtered cattle, course, food is “the catalyst that or harvested all of their crops brings people together,” Galago to be able to actually feed all of said. Any gathering, family reunion these guests,” Galago said. “You or celebration centers around food, might have a whole village of including funerals, which can people come visit you for this become elaborate feasts. funeral.” Galago, a native Hawaiian, As a University of Oregon married a Samoan 30 years ago, instructor in student athat which point she rectified a “Food is a natural part of gathering,” said Pacific lete-academics, Galago said false impression she held like Islander Studies course instructor Kris Haina Galago. she once advocated for a Pacific many others — that “Pacific Islander” has one definition. Islander student who nearly “It was as if I had married an Irishman, somebody faced disciplinary action for missing two weeks of class from China, it’s a completely different culture,” she and failing to respond to communications. said, adding that the course focuses on some similar Lacking understanding of the relevant customs aspects of Pacific Islander traditions. and traditions, the student’s adviser asked Galago for advice, relaying that they knew only that the student Death ceremony left town for a funeral. In a Samoan funeral, the body of the deceased person “Typically a funeral in a Western American society is lies in wait at home for nine days, Galago explained. a day or two, a weekend, something like that,” Galago During that time, the family prepares and receives visisaid. “It’s actually nine days, [and] this student had to tors for up to 24 hours a day. Guests bring gifts such fly back to Samoa.” as songs, chants or dances for the family, to honor the In Samoan culture, depending upon one’s posideceased. tion in the family, certain rituals are expected to be As a thank you, the family is expected to feed the performed. visitors who pay their respects, and the preparations can deplete all of a family’s resources. 74

SEE ‘VILLAGE’, PAGE 76

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MailTribune.com Our Valley

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PACIFIC ISLANDS From VILLAGE, Page 74

As the eldest grandchild of a grandmother who died, the student bore a significant responsibility “to show up for the family,” she said. “They’re completely engulfed in protocol right now,” Galago explained. “This is a family obligation, and that will come before academia.” She supported the allowance of the period of absence, while imparting that the student hadn’t abandoned their academic responsibilities, she said. The student’s family lived in a rural village, and had purchased a cow and a lamb for the funeral. The meat is prepared in an underground oven — a Samoan “umu.” Prepared food is placed in a hole in the ground, hot lava rocks are spread over leaves covering the food, and the meal cooks for about 24 hours before it’s unearthed. Food might include breadfruit (ulu), coconuts, green bananas, lamb, beef, pig and chicken. “They would be cooking large amounts of protein and large amounts of starches all together in the underground oven,” Galago said. “It’s quite a large operation.” Men dig the 6-by-6-foot underground oven, and heat and place the lava rocks. Women prepare the food with seasoning or gut fish, for example, and wrap the food in leaves. Men unearth the rocks and women portion out food for the guests. “It’s not a festival where there’s dancing and those kinds of things, it’s more somber because you’re celebrating the life of someone,” Galago said. Cooking a meal to feed hundreds can drain the family’s resources, and other families may pitch in to help. The tradition is collectively accepted because “there might come a time when it will be your family member and then you would reciprocate,” she said. “It’s just understood that this is the way we do it, and whether it’s your family or your neighbor, you’re going to help them in the preparation,” she said. “That saying of ‘it takes a village’ really holds true, because the village will come together and help you do this.” The family might receive money, gifts, meat, canned goods, clothing, fabric or fruit from guests. Galago said the funeral tradition in Samoan culture is similar in Hawaiian and Tongan cultures, with a few notable differences as far as the length and time of the ceremony. The core, she said, is a celebration of life surrounding food.” 76

Roots of luau Pre-commercialized luau originates from a period in native Hawaiian culture when men and women were not allowed to eat together. The “kapu” system was in effect until 1819, when King Kamehameha II overturned the rule. The decision was viewed as so “earth shattering” that people didn’t know how to react, but they soon “broke out in elation” and the event took on a joviality celebrating the change, Galago said. When Hawaii encountered European contact, the native Hawaiian population was devastated by disease and illness, including the monarchy, and the infant mortality rate rose significantly. “The monarchs started trying to celebrate every time that they had a child,” Galago said. “It was believed at that time that if your child lived to the age of 1 year old, that they had a good chance of making it to adulthood, because they would have passed the most risky time in their life to be susceptible to those diseases.” A baby luau might bring together hundreds of people, the underground cooking of several pigs and traditional foods, and money from the guests given for the child’s good wishes, typically put toward a college fund today. Planning begins from the time of birth, said Galago, who held baby luaus for both of her children in Hawaii. “At 1, there would be a huge celebration, this child has made it, more than likely it’s going to be a successor in the kingdom, and a huge luau was thrown,” Galago said. “That tradition has grown and carries on to today — you might be invited to attend a baby luau that is larger than most weddings you’ve ever been to.” Galago said that as a natural part of her culture and the course, students will be encouraged to bring food to class. “It just invites in that welcoming atmosphere and people are more open to discuss, talk about the issues, share their lived experiences, because it’s what we know,” Galago said. “The food, to me, levels the playing field for everyone.” Galago said whether students come from the Pacific Islander community, she will encourage the sharing of information about different peoples, traditions and cultures. “I want to show people: We’re more alike than we are different,” Galago said. “The bottom line comes down to relationships and family bonds … it’s a course about self discovery, but also through the lens of our Pacific Islander people.”

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HOME CHEFS

DINE OUT ... WHILE DINING IN

Have you ever considered hiring a private chef? By Jim Flint for the Mail Tribune

hen it comes to a special event, a celebratory meal, or a dinner party with friends, generally only two options come to mind: cook and prepare the feast yourself or dine out. A third option is to hire a private chef. Hiring a private chef allows diners to enjoy a custom-tailored menu, superior levels of quality and service, and a personalization of meals that avoids ingredients that PHOTO BY APRIL ROSE MORE might stir up allergies. Alexandra D. Hannah owns Ashland GourWhen a personal chef is in charge, met Catering, serving private, corporate clients have more time to spend on and wedding clients. themselves and their guests. Both have restaurant backgrounds Private chef services range from and started cooking at an early age. catering and meal prep to dinners cooked and plated at clients’ homes. Food With Pride There are several Wertheiser was traditional catering Hiring a private exposed to the businesses in the chef allows diners culinary arts in his Rogue Valley. Two to enjoy a custom- family’s kitchens. local private chefs “My parents owned also serve growing tailored menu, and ran a small lists of clients for superior levels restaurant on the more personalized of quality and Oregon Coast,” Wertofferings from their service, and a heiser said. “I also Ashland-based learned so many recikitchens. personalization pes and skills from my Noah Wertheiser, of meals that grandmother. All that 26, operates Food avoids ingredients had a big influence on With Pride, a gourmet that might stir up my decision to pursue meal prep business a culinary career.” with a zeal for susallergies. He received his tainability, organics formal culinary training at Johnson and specialty menus. and Wales University in Providence, Alexandra D. Hannah, 64, owns Rhode Island. Ashland Gourmet Catering, a It was while working in company that offers a wide range of restaurants, in the kitchen and services to corporate, private and wedding clients. front-of-house, that he came to

COURTESY PHOTO

Noah Wertheiser, chef/owner of Food With Pride, focuses on meal prep, providing clients with ready-to-heat and serve gourmet dishes.

appreciate the value of the ingredient and recognize the importance of having a passion for food. “I think I was most drawn to the path of a private chef because of the creativity,” he said. “I liked working in restaurants, but there are inherent limitations when working with a fixed menu.” Wertheiser likes variety and experimenting with new ingredients as a private chef, and enjoys the personal connections with clients. Very occasionally, he does private events where he cooks in people’s homes. He also does large-event catering. But the main thrust of his business these days is a meal prep service he operates out of his commercial kitchen in downtown Ashland. Each week he offers a unique menu with five dishes available, one for each weekday. SEE HOME CHEFS, PAGE 78

Our Valley

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HOME CHEFS From HOME CHEFS, Page 77

Ashland Gourmet Catering

“Each dish is prepared fresh on the indicated day, and Hannah has been cooking since she was 4 years old, we offer free delivery to Ashland, Talent, Phoenix and creating her first batch of cornbread from scratch. Medford,” he said. “All of the shopping and chopping Both her parents cooked, and the whole family was is taken care of by us, and customers receive a simple involved in the kitchen arts. instruction card for how to heat and finish the meal.” Her approach to food is not complicated. Wertheiser delivers meals in reusable containers “Fresh is best,” she said. “My plating style is clean which are collected on the next delivery, eliminating and simple, with just the right embellishing garnish.” takeout waste. He says most of his customers order That said, there is no denying her creative culinary weekly. Some order a single meal and others order five chops when you sample her popular Salata Alexanmeals per week. dra, a mix of organic spring greens, grape tomatoes, “We also offer holiday specials when we can,” he Rogue Creamery blue cheese, candied pecans, dried said. “For New Year’s, we featured a cranberries, fresh raspberries and special ‘fancy’ menu, and for Valenblackberries, apple, pear and Chamtine’s Day we offered a chocolate cake pagne raspberry vinaigrette. add-on for dinner orders.” “All my ingredients are hand-seHe tries to cater to special diets as well. lected, locally sourced and farm raised,” The weekly menu usually features two to she said, “organic if possible.” three options that are gluten-free, dairyWhile Hannah customizes every free, vegetarian or low-sodium. menu to the client’s needs or desires, He cooks in many styles within many she offers a tantalizing array of specuisines. cialties to choose from. “But I am particularly passionate “Some of our clients’ favorite dishes, about making pasta,” he said. “All of my besides the Salata Alexandra, include pasta dishes are made fresh, in house.” our melitzano and our tenderloin of beef Typically, the same dish won’t repeat served rare with pomegranate steak more frequently than every two to three sauce and crispy leek ribbons,” she said. months, and menus reflect the season. Melitzano is a hummus-style spread Clients have their favorites, so they she makes with smoky, roasted eggappear on the menu more often. plant, garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, aged “Some of our most popular dishes Parmesan cheese, white pepper, salt PHOTO BY APRIL ROSE MORE and cream cheese. She blends it until are beef Wellington, Julia Child’s boeuf bourguignon, roasted lemon herb salmon, A favorite among Ashland Gourmet smooth, then tops it with balsamic Catering’s clients is chef/owner manicotti, and chicken and waffles.” molasses and a drizzle of olive oil. Whenever possible, he chooses local Alexandra D. Hannah’s Salata AlexHannah’s clients range from local andra, a mix of fresh greens, berries, couples celebrating a special occasion and organic options. “I believe in supporting local suppli- Rogue Creamery blue cheese, canor throwing a dinner party, to regular ers whenever I can, and always look for died pecans and more, dressed in a weekly customers and big-name corthe highest quality products available.” Champagne raspberry vinaigrette. porate clients. Sustainability is a priority with She has worked with the Oregon ShakeWertheiser. speare Festival, the Oregon Wine Experience and the “We deliver our meals in sanitized, reusable, dishAsante Foundation; and in California, the Los Angeles washer-friendly containers and bakeable dishes,” he Urban League, USC, UCLA, Cornerstone Animation, said. “And we strive to source our ingredients without Disney Imagineering, celebrities and entertainers. heavy waste.” “Our private dining experiences that are plated and Two guidelines summarize his approach to food and coursed are for a minimum of 10 guests,” she said. cooking: “Keep the ego out of the kitchen and the soul Hannah launched her business after working in the in the food.” restaurant industry for many years. He says when it comes to food, there is always more She also was the executive chef at Morrison’s Lodge to learn. in Merlin, worked at River’s Edge in Grants Pass, and The pandemic did not harm his business. at Ashland’s Pie and Vine, Sesame Asian Kitchen and “With so many people staying home to eat, the meal Belle Fiore Winery. prep program has actually really taken off,” he said. The pandemic was a challenge. Clients have told him they like having options that “We barely stayed alive,” Hannah said. “Most of our break up the mundane routine of preparing daily meals events are on a large scale, and no such events were at home. held in 2020 and 2021.” “You never know what the future will bring, but I Her outlook for the future? “To continue to grow, know my love for food will never fade.” expand, teach and mentor.” For more information, see foodwithpride.com. For more information, see ashlandgourmetcatering.com. 78

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Our Valley | 2022

Articles inside

Good food, good times

Bison in the trees

That’s amore

Herbs and spices

More cheese, please

Familiar flavors

Clean food

‘The healthiest food you can get’

Living flavors

Front yard food

Dining in the vines

Shop and learn

Kefir, kraut, kombucha

A cut above

Food adventure

Less waste, happier dirt

Natural isn’t niche anymore

The elements of romance

Green bags are back

Feeding our future

The pro-fresh-ionals

Bread & Raised

Food on the street

Gardening together

Flavor faves