A16
BUSINESS
Wallowa County Chieftain
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
BREAKFAST, LUNCH WAGON OPENS DOWNTOWN
Bill Bradshaw
Jeff Brookshire, of Joseph, serves a just-made reuben sandwich Sept. 26 to Johna Alford, of Enterprise, at his new Brookshire Catering Services trailer that opened Sept. 24 on Second Street
just off West North Street in Enterprise.
Menu varies,
expects to expand
By Bill Bradshaw
Wallowa County Chieftain
Jeff Brookshire has
opened what he consid-
ers an excellent business
venture — a mobile cater-
ing unit located on the Sec-
ond Street side of the Main
Street Motors block in
Enterprise.
“We built this trailer this
spring and put it together
and here we are,” he said,
emphasizing that he likes
the combination of running
an eatery and the mobility.
“I’ve been cooking my
whole life. I had one fi xed
operation before, but I like
the mobile,” he said. “I can
go where I want to be. It
gives me the freedom and
the luxury that, if I want to
go to La Grande for a week,
I can go to La Grande.”
Open Monday through
Friday, for now he’s open
from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. He
expects to expand to offer-
ing dinners, at which time
he’ll extend his hours to
6 p.m.
After opening Sept. 24,
he planned to help with the
following weekend’s Alpine
breakfast at Wallowa Lake
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during Alpenfest. With
Alpenfest’s move from the
old Edelweiss Inn to the
marina at the lake, there
was a need for the facilities
he could provide.
“He has a self-contained
catering unit so he can pro-
vide power as necessary,”
said Alpenfest Alpenmeis-
ter Chuck Anderson. “He’s
helping the Wallowa Lake
Tourism Association put
on the Alpenfest breakfast,
but most of our vendors are
going to bring their own
generators.”
Brookshire’s familiarity
with Enterprise made locat-
ing his trailer on the Main
Street Motors lot practical,
since he once worked for
the owners of a previous car
lot located there, Mick and
Sharon Courtney, who ran
a Ford dealership in Enter-
prise for many years.
“I know there’s water
and sewer and power here,”
he said. “I’m good on water,
but having sewer makes it
nice because I don’t have
to worry about my holding
tanks freezing.”
He said the situa-
tion works out well for all
concerned.
“The Stangels (the own-
ers of the property) were
great,” he said. “They
agreed to rent the space I’m
on for the winter and hope-
fully it’ll work out good for
both of us.”
And the people at Main
Street Motors have proven
to be reliable clientele.
“They sure can eat,” he
said.
Customers have found
the menu appealing, Brook-
shire said. Most of the sand-
wiches come with fries
and a drink for $10. This
includes burgers, reubens,
Phillies and patty melts. For
vegetarians, he also has the
Beyond Burger and is plan-
ning a Beyond Brat, a veg-
etarian bratwurst that will
be sweet or spicy Italian fl a-
vored. He’s also planning
meatball sub sandwiches.
‘I’VE BEEN COOKING
MY WHOLE LIFE.’
Jeff Brookshire
“Our menu here will vary
weekly,” Brookshire said.
“My goal is to come up with,
as I call it, a 10-buck lunch,
where you get a full lunch,
with a drink, for 10 bucks.
It’ll vary and we’ll change
it every day. I’m trying to
keep my prices down so the
normal working person can
afford to eat here in town.
They can call in orders, they
can text in orders, too. We
will have it when they get
here and it’s done.”
The exception is one of
his specialties, a chicken
cordon bleu sandwich
he sells for $11, given
the higher cost of the
ingredients.
For breakfast, Brook-
shire offers a croissant sand-
wich with coffee for $5 or a
breakfast burrito with cof-
fee for $7.
“We do breakfast and
lunch right now,” he said.
“We’ll be working into
to-go dinners. People will
be able to order the night
before. We’ll have a differ-
ent item every night of the
week, You can order a meal
for your family and stop by
and take it home.”
He urges customers to
call him at 541-505-6682 to
order ahead.
“I prefer a text. That way,
if I don’t hear the phone
ring, I’ll at least see the
text.”
Plans are to remain at the
Enterprise location during
the week for the winter.
He’s often gone weekends
to cater weddings or other
events, which he has been
doing for years.
“We’ll be here all win-
ter and then we’ll move
to the lake in the spring,”
Brookshire said. “As soon
as the weather starts cool-
ing a little more, we’ll start
doing homemade soups and
homemade chili. We’ll have
a different soup every day.”
Brookshire likes to have
a diverse, homemade menu.
“I’ll vary the menu from
week to week,” he said.
“Like, I’m going to run out
of corned beef. I didn’t plan
on the reubens being as pop-
ular this week. I bake off
my own corned beef; I don’t
buy the premade.”
He also breads fi sh and
chicken strips by hand, and
cuts his own french fries
from potatoes grown in the
La Grande area. None are
frozen.
“We’re going to be doing
Mahi fi sh and chips,” he
said.
He’s also willing to cus-
tomize his menu.
“If somebody has some-
thing they like or want, if
they let us know, I’ll try to
accommodate them,” he
said.
As hours and menu
expand, he may have to hire
another person.
“On the cooking side,
I’m pretty picky. I don’t let
hardly anybody around it
but me.”
Brookshire is apprecia-
tive of the business he’s got-
ten so far in Enterprise.
“It’s been great,” he said.
“We’ve got a great fi rst cou-
ple or three days down here.
It’s getting better every
day.”
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Contact Jennifer Cooney at jcooney@wallowa.com • 541-805-9630
call 541-426-4524
or 1-877-MY-LIMIT (24 hour helpline)
wallowa valley
center for wellness
wvcenterforwellness.org
209 NW First St., Enterprise • 541-426-4567