The grilling season: Chico business legend starts an organic restaurant for everybody

Devanie Angel, Chico News & Review
December 5, 2002

Fred Marken has a gorilla hopping around his restaurant on Second Street in downtown Chico.

It's a play on words: The restaurant is called "Grilla Bites," but the gorilla is confused and thinks there's food for him there. Get it? Grilla. Gorilla. Yeah.
It's the latest creative move for Marken, a 1969 Chico State University history graduate who has had a series of businesses in Chico and beyond, most of them successful. In the 1970 and '80s he owned the Metamorphosis clothing store and the Drop-In bar downtown, the Elegant Spud at the North Valley Plaza mall and the Sandpiper on Cohasset Road. He converted the Drop-in to LaSalles, creating it as Chico's first bistro-style community bar, one with art on the walls and a garden in back.

When designing his latest venture, Marken looked to 17 principles outlined by slow-food guru Wendell Berry, who urges people to consider what's best for their communities, from supporting local farms to making sure money circulates in town as long as possible. "We're trying to be what we think is responsible," Marken said.

But at the same time, he said, "I'm not trying to sell a philosophy here. I'm just trying to serve good food served in a timely manner." It's fast food done healthfully.

"This is what we call cross-marketing. You have a choice," Marken said. "It's kind of fun finding a niche that people aren't filling," he added.

"For the most part, you're not going to convince the average consumer to buy organic, because organic is a philosophy."

Marken will be buying much of his goods from Tin Roof Bakery, a new, family-owned business on Highway 32, and from Matt Martin, an organic farmer who sells broccoli, beets, carrots, squash and other commodities at the Saturday Farmers' Market.