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Sherman County Business Spotlight
Welcome to the Sherman County Business Spotlight!
We'll feature stories about local entrepreneurs, highlight unique products and services, and showcase the diverse and dynamic business community that calls Sherman County home.
Follow along to discover hidden gems, support local businesses, and stay connected to what's happening in our community. This will be sent out on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of each month.
It’s a frequent topic of conversation in Goodland. Groceries. People appreciate having a Walmart, and also would like to have more options. The owner of Terra Bona Bakery Café had the same thought, and was ready to build on her success.
“It would be nice having a little market in town,” Suzie Conner said. “And I thought, I have a building, and I have the know-how, so why don't we do this fresh market?”
A NATURAL OFFSHOOT
For Suzie, Terra Bona Fresh Market & Pantry was the natural way to branch out. She was already buying ingredients in bulk for the café.
“I wasn't going through produce fast enough, without having some waste,” Suzie explained.
With her new market just two doors down, Suzie can sell high-quality produce directly to customers – and also offer popular items from the café’s menu to grab and go.
“I wanted to have a place where you could come get something fresh, where you could come and pick up dinner for the night,” Suzie said.
MEALS MADE EASY
The market offers fresh produce from family farms, hand-cut steaks, pizzas made to order, heat-and-eat family dishes, and ready-to-eat options like salads and dips.
“At the café, we do a jalapeno popper dip, which is very fabulous. We always have people ask for a side of that,” Suzie said. “People can come [to the market] and get that, and you can put it on a sandwich, or dip your chips in it, whatever you like.”
The café’s popular buffalo chicken dip is also ready to grab and go, along with a new recipe that Suzie suggests trying.
“I found a recipe a couple of weeks ago called Million Dollar Dip, and it is pretty fabulous,” Suzie said.
The selection of freshly prepared items includes pork green chile, chicken salad with Mexican street corn, and an “anti-pasta pasta salad” with salami, pepperoni and ham.
A BACKGROUND IN THE BUSINESS
Suzie inherited her gift for cooking from her parents, and it’s something she has come to appreciate even more since their passing. For her, starting a restaurant involves going back to her roots.
“I started working when I was 12 at our family restaurant, and my parents always taught hard work,” she said.
Suzie admits she wasn’t interested in learning to cook back then, but says she loved spending time with her mother in the kitchen.
“I remember my mom asking me, ‘What are you going do when you get married?’” Suzie laughed. “I enjoyed being in the kitchen with her when she cooked, and talking to her, but I just didn't really want to partake.”
Now, Suzie says she finds herself cooking more like her mom. One of her signature dishes is a seafood salad her parents used to serve.
“We carry our seafood salad, which I started making years and years ago at our family restaurant,” she explained. “The recipe is from there.”
Her chicken and grape salad is another nostalgic favorite.
“My mom's best friend, she introduced me to chicken and grape salad years ago,” Suzie said. “It's really nice, especially for a spring and summery lunch.”
FINDING HER OWN FLAVOR
Trying to remember the way her mother prepared certain meals is a challenge, but Suzie says she definitely learned to improvise.
“My mom didn't do anything from recipes,” Suzie said. “So, I'm not a recipe girl… I like to wing stuff.”
Being able to improvise can certainly pay off in the restaurant business, where so much can go wrong. Say, for instance, the pasta is on the stove just a little too long.
“My cook, down at the cafe, cooked rotini for our pasta salad and it needs to be al dente,” Suzie explained. “It was still good, just not for that. I was like, ‘Well, you know what? I'll make a ziti bake for dinner.’ And they sold out.”
Suzie says she hopes her father would have been proud of the quality of her work, and the way she runs her businesses.
“I wanted to do something that would make him proud of what I had done, because he was such a smart businessman,” she shared. “I wanted to be true to his hard work.”
DINNER ON DEMAND
Suzie’s goal is to make it easy to serve a meal that will be enjoyed by everyone at the table. She prepares family meals that are ready for busy parents to heat and eat.
“Everything is put together for you, and all you have to do is pop it in the oven,” Suzie said.
“Today we'll have chicken enchiladas, but we have different things. Lasagna. Things like that,” she said. “Last week, I had a couple of thick pot roasts, and so I decided to put them in a pan and put all the veggies in it. People bought them and went home and put it in the crock pot or the oven.”
“I think people are liking the idea,” she added.
Customers can call in their dinner order and Suzie will have their meal ready for pick up.
“We're open until 5:30 p.m. and most people that want to stop by after work are off by then, so they can stop in.”
Suzie is also able to cater holiday dinners, and willing to cater to customers with special requests.
“If I don't have it, I can get it,” she said. “I had somebody asked me about nitrate-free bacon, and I had it on the truck the next day. I want to try to meet the needs of people.”
FOOD AND FRIENDSHIPS
Good meals are known for bringing people together, and Suzie says the best part about opening the market has been meeting more people.
“The market has really brought a lot of people in. Just in one week, I've met a lot of new faces that I hadn't seen in the café,” she said. “It makes you feel good about what to do.”
THE NEXT COURSE
Suzie is already working on a plan to bring more people in, by creating a new space for outdoor dining in Goodland.
“We're opening a courtyard out back. It's going to be a fabulous beer garden feel,” Suzie said. “We'll be open out back on Friday and Saturday nights throughout the summer and into the fall… it's going to be a really nice space.”
Terra Bona Fresh Market & Pantry
114 W. 11th St.
Goodland, KS 67735
(785) 772-1211
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61572210745377
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