This is the first in an occasional series highlighting local eateries and their favorite recipes.
Breakfast, as a luxury, is one of food and time.
Eggs over easy, not scrambled. Whole wheat, not rye. Hold the mushrooms on that omelet. I know I shouldn’t, but biscuits and gravy, please.
Most days we depart from the morning menu of our forefathers for grab-and-go options. The culprit: Time.
But at the Gathering Grounds, there’s plenty of the latter commodity. Time to sit and savor home-cooked food and conversation. Remember that? LOL!
Or, maybe, a third cup of joe.
“I had the Breakfast Bowl and it was really good,” said Dianne Steffen of Patagonia, who’s had morning meetings at the Patagonia eatery. Her a.m. order included country potatoes topped with onion, green chili, tomatoes, melted cheddar cheese and two eggs, the latter to her liking.
Next door to The Gathering Grounds, Barbara Harris can attest to the sense of community the restaurant promotes. From her window at Long Realty, she often sees a local gentleman stop by for lunch. Like daily. “If he doesn’t show up, I worry,” she said.
As with most restaurateurs, Audrey and Brandon Doles know that strong local patronage is important to success. During the summer— the “slow season”—75 percent of diners are area residents. “We need their support,” Brandon said.
Originally “Angelo’s,” the restaurant got its start around 1997. Owner Angelo Filigenzi later sold it to Jenna Haugaard, who changed the name to the Gathering Grounds. In 2011,
Audrey and Brandon took over. It wasn’t easy. As a young couple—fresh out of college—they could not afford to fail.
“It was scary,” Brandon remembers. After the bills were paid, the couple subsisted on several hundred dollars a month. They worked six days a week, long hours. But they knew the hospitality business, she having worked at the Gathering Grounds in high school and both having worked at Little America while attending Northern Arizona University.
Today, they’ve handed over their aprons to others. Audrey is a second-grade teacher at Patagonia Elementary School, and Brandon works a number of accounting jobs, including Borderlands Restoration Network. They have three children: Logan, 10; Leviana, 7; and Lorenzo, 5.
“It was scary,” Brandon said, reflecting on the past. But the locals came. And ate. And came back. The Doles are grateful and feel incredibly blessed.
“I think people loved that we were young and local,” Brandon said.
And those local connections keep getting stronger. That’s Mack Wood, Audrey’s brother, in the kitchen creating those sumptuous dishes like the Green Machine Bowl, Chorizo and Eggs, and, for lunch, the Quirky Turkey. By the way, that’s one of Harris’s favorites, a sandwich that includes turkey, tomato, romaine, mayo and homemade cranberry sauce.
Other Wood family contributors include sister Heather, who conjures the delectable baked goods found in a front entrance counter. And, mother Andrea (“Andy”), who manages the day-to-day operations. Also, the town mayor.
“Everything we’ve done, we’ve done together,” Brandon said.
And, happily, they plan to do it for a long time.
Gathering Grounds, 319 McKeown Ave., Patagonia. Open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Sunday. No reservations.
Gathering Grounds Pecan Bars
Crust
3 cups brown rice flour*
3/4 teaspoon Xanthan*
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar
¼ cup butter
Filling
¾ cup butter
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
6 teaspoons vanilla
¾ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 lb. toasted chopped pecans
For the crust: Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix all the crust ingredients together and press into a 15 X 11” pan. Bake at 350 F. until the edges brown.
For the filling: Mix together all the filling ingredients except the pecans. Pour over the baked crust and sprinkle toasted chopped pecans on top. Bake at 350 F. until firm, 35-45 minutes.
*Brown Rice flour is a must.
*Xanthan is a food additive commonly added to food as a thickener or stabilizer. It can be purchased at Walmart.