Top caterers Callie and Maeme Rasberry focus on cooking, eating sustainably
Emily Jones, Idaho Mountain Express
June 23, 2021
It’s the end of slack season, a Thursday morning in late May, but there’s no sense of slacking off at Rasberrys Catering & Bistro in Ketchum.
Restaurant staff hurry in and out of the 411 Building on Fifth Street with large paper bags. In the building’s lower level, Callie Rasberry is busy fixing display jars of cookies and brownies behind the deli case; her sister, Maeme, is in the kitchen, checking on the delivery status of locally grown cucumbers, radishes and eggs.
“I haven’t been in here since you guys redid your space. It looks amazing,” one customer remarks.
Now in their 16th year of operation, the Rasberry sisters continue to chart new culinary territory while maintaining their signature Tex-Mex sandwiches, salads and soups.
“We’re always experimenting. There are just so many fun ideas to work with and new things to try in addition to our staples,” Maeme said.
Those staples include enchiladas, chile rellenos, street tacos made with homemade corn tortillas and spicy chicken posole, a traditional green-chile Mexican soup. Most sought after, though, is Rasberrys’ “Ol’ El Paso” sandwich with shredded pork, house-made pepper jack cheese and guacamole on a homemade ciabatta roll.
The sandwich recalls the sisters’ roots in the border city of El Paso, where they grew up tending to vegetables on the family farm and attending Montessori school just across the border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
“We like to say we’re from El Paso, Mexico,” Maeme joked. “We grew up speaking English and Spanish, eating Mexican cuisine.”
“And we still do every day,” Callie added.
The chefs—perhaps the valley’s best-known identical twins—have never been far apart. Both worked in restaurants in San Antonio in college, received business degrees at the University of Texas-San Antonio and moved to the Wood River Valley around 1999. The original plan was to help out their aunt, Annette Frehling, at her clothing store—Sisters in downtown Ketchum—for one month, Maeme recalled, but that month quickly turned into a year. In 2005, after various stints working at restaurants in the valley, she and Callie opened Rasberrys in its present location.
Walking into the restaurant’s basement dining room for the first time is a bit like stumbling down the rabbit hole into an Alice in Wonderland movie set. Black-and-white square tiles and a mirrored wall evoke a retro ’50s-diner feel, while wooden antiques and fresh-cut flowers add country-farmhouse vibes. Vintage chandeliers, French bistro tables and bright cerulean-and-coral accents further conjure up a distant, Mediterranean feel.
The Rasberrys began renovating their dining area last spring, adding counter space and more seating to meet increased lunchtime demand.
On many days, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes like cauliflower tabbouleh and eggplant moussaka fill their ever-changing display case. (Today, vegetarian gyros served with green tomato chutney are front and center.) The sisters also lean on Asian influences, churning out Indian-style samosas, Vietnamese bánh mì ramen bowls and black sesame mochi cakes. Twists on American classics, like Maeme’s ready-to-go barbecue chicken pot pie, are another common sight.
“We wanted the new space to allow people to come in and grab drinks and desserts, small prepared items to take to symphony concerts this summer,” Maeme said.
Both chefs attribute their success as “best” caterer for the fifth year in a row to their innate understanding of the farm-to-table path. To ensure peak flavor, they purchase the same ingredients from a broad selection of local vendors. Daily specials depend on what produce is coming in and what’s in season—“Basically, it’s whatever farmers bring in,” Maeme says.
Few things are more important to the Rasberry sisters than cooking and eating sustainably, and it follows that nearly everything on their menu can be traced back to nearby farms. The meat used in today’s pork tenderloin kabobs and Italian-sausage lasagna specials? From Agrarian Harvest in Buhl and Double Springs Ranch near Challis. Salad greens, tomatoes, and beans? From Bellevue’s Squash Blossom Farm and Lookout Farm, Itty Bitty Farms in Carey and Kasota Hydroponics in Hazelton.
The list goes on. Dairy comes in from Picabo Desert Farms and Old Almo Creamery in Almo; eggs from Harmony Hens near Twin Falls; flour from Hillside Grain in Bellevue; fruits and berries from Deer Creek Berry Farm or Kings Crown Organics in Elmore County; honey from Five Bee Hives in Hailey; and fresh herbs from the Rasberrys’ own gardens.
The goal, Maeme says, is to get the biggest nutritional bang for the buck.
“We like to do a lot of veggie-forward items so people can get more whole foods in their diet while still feeling like they’re getting meat—lots of whole lentils, oats, rice, carrots and herbs, so you’re not just concentrating on starchy fillers,” she said.
This summer, Callie, Maeme and their extended families will go to Deer Creek Berry Farm in Pine, Idaho—as always—to pick over 30 pounds of blueberries. You might just find that blueberry juice in Rasberrys’ homemade sodas or Maeme’s small-batch ice cream.
In 2020, the business lost over 90% of its catering events due to COVID-19, Callie noted.
“I remember going through the calendar with a red marker and X-ing out each date,” she said. “Like, ‘OK, this one got corona-ed. And that one, too.’”
With the pandemic nearing its end, though, the Rasberrys are now looking at a busy summer lineup of weddings and private dinner parties.
“We customize each menu specifically for each client, for their individual needs and wants. We don’t have set menus where you say, ‘I want No. 1,’” Maeme said. “It’s whatever catches your eye.”