20 - BUSINESS FOCUS Jackson Hole News&Guide, Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Western Range Catering
307-248-2483 info@westernrangecatering.com –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Ashley Wilkerson
Now offering more than pet products, Rally’s Pet Garage owners CJ Burt and Gloria Courser were happy to hop into the pet shop business by helping critters like Penny the guinea pig, Jessica Rabbit, Little Bunny Foo Foo, and Merlin the lovebird find homes.
Rally’s Pet Garage
520 S. Hwy. 89 (Kmart Plaza) 733-7704 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Danna In the Kmart Plaza 200-6088 –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
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t a restaurant called Danna, owner and chef Danna Ates hopes people will find a couple of things on the menu they like: something to eat that sounds good but is a bit different than anything they’ve had before and at a price that’s lower than they expected. A lifelong cook, Danna, as everyone knows him, opened the first place he could call his own last December. From the time he knew the space was available until he opened — with “a lot of help from a lot of good friends” — Danna had about nine days. He calls his place “an eclectic, evolutionary eatery. ... My menu consistently changes.” He describes the fare as “simple food with a little bit of an edge, common food with unusual twists. ... It’s all stuff I picked up along the way.” Danna’s lunch offerings include a variety of grillers, quesadillas and wraps “with unique ingredients” for only $7. One of his unusual quesadillas is the Face Plant, with spinach, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese. There’s also a wrap called the Prince of Thai, with sauteed peanut chicken, spinach, ginger, slaw, cucumbers and red onion. Danna has more than a dozen specialty burgers (and near-burgers) priced from $8 to $10. Among them: the Fowl Fireball — spicy blackened grilled chicken with poblano, onion and jalapeno — and the Hogg & Heifer, a burger that’s joined forces of pulled pork and bacon, topped with barbecue sauce. For dinner, a few things you can choose from are taco de huevos, grilled pork tenderloin, fresh herbed grilled chicken, seared salmon and, steaks espresso-rubbed and served with green chile pesto. Figure on $15 for dinner, which includes soup and salad or is served pub-style with waffle fries. Danna features special guest sandwiches inspired by those of famous sandwich shops around the country. He also aims for a monthly theme night, with a guest chef, sometimes a pro, sometimes an amateur, “so people can come in and showcase.” There’s a salad menu with a chef ’s salad, a Far East salad, Greek salad, a Caesar and a grilled portobello salad, along with other specialty odds and ends such as sliders, giant chili dogs and a veggie omelet. Danna wants his restaurant to be a place where locals feel at home. “I have a huge commitment to the local,” Danna said. “I want to create something unique that nobody else has in town ... a decent value meal, good and a lot of food, and everything made to order.” Danna is open every day but Sunday from 10 a.m. The restaurant is open until 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Go online to www.dannajh.com for the menu and other details. — Mark Huffman
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rime rib. Pork tenderloin. Chorizo and eggs. Guacamole. Tossed green salad. Pies, cookies and cakes. Your average turn-of-the-century cowpoke never ate quite like this. But with their circa-1890s chuckwagon, Joe and Vicki Jones cook up feasts fit for brides and grooms, members of the board, honored guests and loved ones reunited. Vicki was chef at Rancho De Los Caballeros in Wickenburg, Ariz., for 25 years. Joe has been cooking for parties, fundraisers, festivals and country camps for more than 30. Two years ago, they created Western Range Catering, taking their combined experience and packing it all into a real, historic chuckwagon that goes wherever the party is. “It’s an original Western Range Catering / Courtesy Photo 1890s Peter Shut- With their circa-1890s chuckwagon, tler chuckwagon,” Joe and Vicki Jones prepare fine Joe said. “What feasts for bridal parties, members of isn’t original has the board and more. been completely restored. It’s a huge draw for people to have that on-site and all set up, to be able to look at it.” In fact, the Joneses don’t just bring the meals on their century-old wheels, they bring a fascinating history lesson for anyone interested. “We dress in period costumes,” Joe said. “People ask a million questions. They’ve seen it in the movies, but they don’t have any idea what it was really like. … It’s a lot of fun.” And completely distinctive: Their method of grilling and smoking is unique to the area, Joe said, because of the real mesquite wood they use. While the chuckwagon may be the center of attention, “we’re not limited to that.” They can prepare just about whatever style of cuisine clients wish. With or without the wagon, they can cater most any type of event. “Say somebody is doing a fancier wedding,” Jones said, “and they didn’t want the chuckwagon. Just like any other caterer, we can set up and prepare and serve a fine meal for any size group.” Still, in beautiful Jackson Hole — where Western Range Catering is a member of the chamber of commerce — a lot of folks want to hold their events outside. “If you don’t have a kitchen available, you have to be mobile.” They also host private cookouts and events at their beautiful site in Star Valley and can provide private chef services. In addition to catering, the Joneses do educational visits — with turn-of-the-century cooking demonstrations — as well as commercial and advertising photo or film sessions. “We’ll be doing a cooking demonstration at the 100th anniversary of the National Elk Refuge on Aug. 11,” he said. “We’ll be at the Miller House with our chuckwagon doing originalstyle cooking.” Western Range Catering also will be providing the feed at the Jackson Hole Historical Society’s annual Slim Lawrance Barbecue on Aug. 19. “We like doing those kinds of things,” Jones said. “With the historical society, our chuckwagon fits right in.” For more, visit www.westernrangecatering.com/info. — Richard Anderson
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ally’s Pet Garage, well known as Jackson’s only “Service Center for Your Pet,” now stocks small critters. Six years ago, Gloria Courser and her mom opened Rally’s to fill the valley’s void of a full-service pet center. In March, Courser set out to fill another void left by the closing of Valley Feed. Courser, the mother of two small children, used to take her daughter to Valley Feed to play with its stock of small animals. When that store closed several years ago, she asked herself where parents could go with their kids to interact with animals. As soon as she received approval from her landlord, Courser and her mom set out to find as many small hobby and 4-H breeders as they could. They traveled all over Idaho, collecting creatures. “We were a menagerie on wheels,” Courser said. “We had a rat, two lovebirds, a hermit crab, several rabbits and two leopard geckos.” Cresting Teton Pass, the two realized if the pet concept didn’t fly with customers, all of the animals would be theirs. Fortunately, Rally’s customers have rallied behind the idea, and the pet store now houses a chinchilla, a hermit crab, a snake, a guinea pig and lionhead rabbits that look like miniature Persian cats with bunny ears. “We were happy to fill a niche six years ago, and we are happy to fill a niche now,” Courser said. The small animals have been a huge success, particularly with a new clientele of kids. When time allows, Courser gives young visitors a tour of the pet shop. “Kids are popping in after school,” she said. “It has been a blast.” Unlike at big-box pet stores, Rally’s staff tries to handle every animal every day, contact that helps facilitate a smoother transition into a new home. Hamsters have proven immensely popular. “They are a fantastic first pet for kids,” Courser said. She settled on one breed — Russian dwarfs — which are docile and easy to hand tame, she said. Customers can order specific animals, and while Rally’s is not yet equipped to house aquariums, people can place fish orders. Courser grew up in a household bustling with creatures. “We had everything — hamsters, birds, snails, rabbits, a pig. And of course we had dogs and cats,” she said. So while the mom-and-daughter team at Rally’s originally tapped their dog experience, the pet store is helping them to hone their small-pet skills, too. Rally’s still offers full- and self-service grooming as well as doggie day care and boarding. Beyond the critters themselves, the store also stocks pet supplies. Visit www.rallyspetgarage for details. — Katy Niner
Ashley Wilkerson
Danna Ates calls his restaurant, Danna, an “eclectic, evolutionary eatery.” He serves “simple food with a little bit of an edge, common food with unusual twists.”
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