Copyright The Oregonian
La Fuente Market, a retail food hub, butchery and heritage carnicería in southern Oregon’s city of Phoenix, has opened for business. Serious food business. La Fuente means “the source” in Spanish. And founder and farmer Krista Vegter wants to accomplish nothing less than to provide a one-stop place for people to grocery shop knowing exactly how their food was raised and for hungry Interstate 5 travelers to stop at the deli counter for a hearty, homemade dish. Menu items, all priced at $10, include: Brahman beef burger with heirloom tomato jam, kale, candied red onions and smoked cheddar on a buttery brioche. Chef Andrea Garcia Resendiz’s pozole, slow simmered with organic hominy and morel-finished heritage pork shoulder and spine, topped with watermelon radish, red onion and cabbage, and garnished with corn salsa infused with chile de arbol. Ensalada with kale, mixed greens, caramelized freshly cracked walnuts, sweet red onion, heirloom tomato chili and cider vinaigrette. “We’re going back 100 years,” said Vegter, to make seasonal, nutrient-rich foods without fillers or genetically modified ingredients. Vegter’s beef bone broth soup ($8 a bowl) has celery, red onion, garlic, shallots and carrots simmered with beef knuckle, spine, neck and rib bones. She teaches workshops in her commercial kitchen on making crispy, fried chicharrones from pork rinds, skin or belly, and other traditional Mexican dishes. Rogue Valley ranchers can use La Fuente’s whole-carcass butchery setup and inspected cut and wrap services, and small-scale food producers rent the store space they need, rather than pay a percentage of sales to the market. Refrigerated cases have packaged free-range Cow Creek Chicken raised without corn and soy and Arpeggio Vineyard + Sunflower Farm lamb. There are also nose-to-tail sausages, offal, lard, specialty herbs and vegetables, varied cheeses and dairy products. Store shelves are stocked with Wild Bee Honey Farm’s clover honey, Rogue Tallow’s skincare products, and other artisan-made products. The 3,000-square-foot shop is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily and accepts SNAP Oregon Trail Cards to “ensure accessibility for everyone,” said Vegter. Will Volpert of the Phoenix Oregon Chamber of Commerce, who attended La Fuente’s ribbon-cutting event Oct. 31, said, “Small businesses like this are the heartbeat of our community and play a huge role in the continued redevelopment and revitalization of our downtown.” At her oak meadow farm outside Ashland, Vegter raises pigs that feast on acorns, apples and morel mushrooms as well as fermented seeds, whole peas and other local crops. She sells pork sausages under her brand name Uproot Meats at La Fuente Market. “We are what our eats eat and if you eat meat that means what the animal ate is what you are taking in,” Vegter said, making the connection between animal diet and human nutrition. “All of our feed is fermented, and the health benefits for animals are the same as human consumption.” She said fermenting the pigs’ feed contributes to the animals’ healthier gut, more amino acids and lactic acids that protect them from harmful bacteria. The added nutrients in their diet also improve protein quality. She has been selling tangy chorizo sausages in brioche buns and other to-go dishes at her Pistola’s food cart, now parked outside La Fuente Market. Vegter tops her links with mustard she makes from locally grown mustard seeds, Moxie Brew Kombucha Taphouse’s cider vinegar and ancient salts
