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1 • Wednesday, May 29, 2019 - The Independent-Register
Grove Market adds to downtown area fun
22nd Avenue
Entrance Closed for Remodel
21st Ave.
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20th Avenue
If you’re looking for new local products to try, you should take a little road trip to Evansville to check out The Grove Market, a relatively new business downtown. So many beautiful country roads make their way to Evansville from our home outside Brodhead. I found it fun whenever I drove to Evansville over the years to take a different route each trip. Wauwatosa native Jen Decker Wiedel made her way to a life and business she opened last January in Evansville via more exotic and roundabout routes. “I attended St. Olaf College in Minnesota right after high school,” Jen said, in response to my pesky questions last week. “My sophomore year in college, I studied abroad in Japan and received an international phone call from my parents informing me they had just purchased a house in Evansville. “My mom grew up here, and the majority of our family lived in the area. When I graduated in 2004, I decided to make Evansville my home. In 2007, I met my husband, Ryan, a native of Evansville,” Jen said. “We moved to Edgerton for about 5 years and worked on fixing up a historic Victorian home, but then we had the opportunity to move back to Evansville and jumped on it. We live in the home my grandparents purchased in 1960. It’s also the home where my mom and her siblings spent their formative years.” The Grove Market, 24 E. Main St., has a website that tells more stories about Jen’s business interests, creativity and deep values (https://www.thegrovemarketllc. com/) . “We’re part food shop, part bistro, part event space,” Jen said, “and we’re all about local food love and the people behind the plates. When I started dreaming up the market, I wanted to highlight the incredible food growers and producers in the area. “I also wanted to create a space that allowed people to gather together around great food. The Grove Market really has been a dream come true.” The market sources ingredients from 6&12 Tea Co., Bering Bounty, Blue Farm , Bushel & Peck’s, Carr Valley Cheese, Fizzeology, Hazzard Free Grains, Hook’s Cheese Company, MRO-COS, Nordic Creamery, Odyssey, Potter’s Crackers, Quince & Apple, Rishi Tea, River Valley Ranch Kitchens, Rusty Dog Coffee, Sartori Cheese, Slide Gourmet Potato Chips, Sprecher Craft Soda, and Wisco-Pop. A lot is for sale in attractive displays that meld with seating for meals. “I’m also always interested in adding to our market and can’t wait to meet additional area growers,” Jen said. Before undertaking her new enterprise, Jen blended study and learning, hard work and training with her passion for local food. She completed the Culinary Arts program at Blackhawk Technical College in 2017. She then worked as a Culinary Lab Assistant in 2018. “I love Blackhawk Technical College and would have happily stayed employed with the college if I could have figured out how to clone myself,” she said. “I didn’t realize that I loved cooking until about 5 years ago.
I’ve always loved eating, however! When I truly fell in love with cooking, it was doing meal preparation using ingredients grown or produced locally. I grew passionate about connecting with people around the food we eat.” Jen’s parents traveled a lot when she was growing up. As an only child, she went everywhere with them. “I can thank them for a solid sense of wanderlust that I have,” she said. “I’ve passed that “bug” to my husband, and we love exploring the world together. Additionally, my husband and I enjoy remodeling old spaces, and I enjoy interior design almost as much as I love cooking.” The Grove’s décor has a warm, artistic feel from the diligent love Jen and her husband have. They’ve remodeled a fine building in Evansville’s downtown and shared the walls with fine art for sale, too. Promoting local food on the menu came easy, thanks to family members. “My mother-in-law and fatherin-law own and operate Sugar River Farm in Belleville. Their farm is truly a slice of heaven, located on the river. They naturally raise grass-fed and finished beef, chickens and until recently, pastured pork,” she said. “We sell some of their products in our market freezer, and I love sourcing ingredients from them that I can add to our bistro menu or in our market meals. I’ve also developed a wonderful relationship with Lauren and Kyle Rudersdorf TONY ENDS PHOTO Brodhead Independent-Register of Raleigh’s Hillside Farm (north- Grove Market owner Jen Decker Wiedel welcomes customers with a smile to her new enterprise in east of Brodhead). Evansville. “They’ve been incredibly supportive of the market, and I have enjoyed using their produce over the last couple of years for caterings, meal preparation and recipe development. I co-lead a workshop with Lauren Rudersdorf last summer for the “In Her Boots” event. Jen has found customers and the Evansville community very supportive of her business in its first year. The Grove Market filled a void left when a previous coffee shop on Main Street that was known as a great community gathering space closed its doors. “I remember watching people stop in to the shop to grab a quick cup of coffee and unintentionally running into somebody that they knew,” Jen said. 4th Street “That quick cup of coffee became an hour or more of friends connecting with each other. “The coffee shop also served beautiful food, offered occasional live music, and held ticketed dinners. I hoped that The Grove Market could fill that void.” Construction Permanent In addition to offering a daily Zone Hospital bistro menu, The Grove Market ofHospital Main Business fers “market meals” (ready-to-heat Entrance Services Center Clinic meals), and local food retail prodLocation to (BSC) ucts. The market also hosts monthbe Announce Construction Zone d ly music on the first Friday of the Soon! month. Clinic Main Entrance The second Saturday boasts Prix 5th Street 5th Street Fixe dinner events, featuring inhouse culinary talent or highlightConstruction Zone ing a guest chef. St. Clare Center Starting yesterday of this week, Tuesday, May 28, The Grove Market is adding breakfast hours to its schedule. New hours of operation will be Tuesday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays, 8 a.m. St. Camillus Center to 3 p.m. Are you in the car yet to make your way to The Grove Market? 347282 Stop and get me along the way. I’m 6th Street hungry for local food. 4 1/2th Street
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18th Avenue/Hwy 69
By Tony Ends