From the second you push open the well-worn wooden doors to enter Rife’s Market,
“boomers” are immediately flooded with memories of their childhood. The word anachronism is most appropriate here. If you grew up in the fifties or early sixties, you probably went with your mother to the local grocery, where she was on a first-name basis with the butcher, the produce man and the cashier. The butcher would cut any piece of meat exactly the way mom wanted it and could tell you whose farm it came from. Same goes for the produce. And that’s exactly the way Rife’s operates today.
By comparison, Rife’s makes Upper Arlington’s venerable Chef-O-Nette look like a new, start-up business. Charles and wife Mamie Rife opened the market in 1936, and there have been very few changes since that time. With a great location near where Columbus, Grandview Heights, Marble Cliff and Upper Arlington intersect, and four generations of customers, there’s no need to advertise. Customers just come for high quality at reasonable prices, with personalized service hard to be matched anywhere else. When seasonal favorites arrive, Rife’s actually phones customers when their favorite “just-so” items come in, such as white sweet corn with the tiny kernels, or just ripe peaches, or a certain variety of Ohio-grown apples.
Great-granddaughter Mary Kay Rife and husband Mike Zimmerman run the business today, but much the same way that Charles and Mamie ran it way back when. Whereas technology has revolutionized almost every aspect of our lives, it has not been able to intrude on Rife’s Market. Rife’s has no computer. Books are kept and inventory ordered all with paper, pencil and a handshake. Rife’s one concession to technology was about 15 years ago, when the market began accepting credit cards. Thank heavens refrigeration was invented by 1936!
In season, most of the produce is locally sourced and identified by farm and/or geography. There’s even an Ohio map in the store with scores of pins identifying geographically where various produce and meat comes from. Rife’s relationships with farmers span four generations, just as they do with customers.
Mary Kay’s children worked in the market in their youth, but are now either in or graduated from college and exploring other careers. Mary Kay said she did the same thing after earning her Bachelor’s and Masters’ degrees at Ohio State in social work, but eventually gravitated back to the family business. Given her long-standing relationships with customers, Mary Kay’s eyes twinkle a bit when she says she gets to use her degree every day in the store.
Given that the entire family has been immersed in foodstuffs for generations, it seems a logical extension that they not only enjoy working with food all day, but preparing and enjoying it when not at the market. Mary Kay says that most of the family recipes have just been handed down through the generations, and made for so long, that there are no recipes, “you just know how to make it.”
Asked for a recipe for our audience, Mary Kay meticulously put to paper (for the first time) her fall classic recipe of Pork Normandie, a Rife Family favorite. Mary Kay said she likes to make this when the home grown apples and Laurelville apple cider first come in – and is kind enough to share it with Tri-Village Magazine.
Rife’s Market, 1417 W, Fifth Avenue, 614-488-7151; hours are Mon-Sat 9 a.m. - 7 p.m.; Sun 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.
Mary Kay Rife’s Pork Normandie
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 one-inch thick pork loin chops (bone in has more flavor)
1 cup, apple cider
1 splash (use your judgment) white wine (optional)
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon dried thyme (or ½ teaspoon fresh)
5 oz. crimini (baby bella) mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
2-3 seasonal apples, thinly sliced
½ cup heavy whipping cream
Salt and pepper to taste
Serve over rice or noodles
Heat skillet over medium/high heat, salt and pepper chops then sauté in oil about eight-to-ten minutes, depending on thickness; remove from pan and place in low oven to keep warm. Meanwhile, spoon off any excess fat from skillet; deglaze with cider and wine, scraping up all the browned bits in the pan. Reduce heat and add shallot and garlic, sauté one minute, then add thyme, mushrooms and apples; sauté over medium-low heat until tender. Increase heat slightly and add heavy whipping cream; simmer while stirring until thickened; adjust seasonings to taste. Return chops to skillet to re-warm, and serve over rice or noodles.
* Mary Kay says this recipe can use chicken instead of pork chops – just use four chicken breasts or thighs instead; adjust sauté time accordingly.