Couple bring food and comfort back to Camas Valley
Story and photos by Craig Reed
A longtime gathering place in Camas Valley left vacant is open again.
The building that housed Camas Mountain Chalet restaurant and then Bravo Café and Bakery was unoccupied for about 18 months. After renovation by Tim and Tresta Payne, the building reopened as Chalet Deli + Market in January 2022.
The business sits next to Highway 42 in the middle of the small community of Camas Valley. Select grocery items and a small menu of deli-style hot and cold food are available throughout the day.
There are tables and chairs up front for those who want to eat in. A space in the back welcomes up to 20 visitors with a few couches, tables, chairs and a TV.
“This was a community hub,” Tim says. “It was hard on the community to have this building empty.”
Tresta says they want to offer a third place—after home and work—for people to gather.
“It’s important to us to provide this space for the community,” she says. “The response has been great, very favorable. It’s such an honor to me to have people here. We wouldn’t make it without the community’s support.”
Tim and Tresta are longtime members of the Camas Valley community. Tim is a 1985 graduate of Camas Valley High School. Tresta grew up in the nearby Tenmile area and is a 1994 Douglas High School graduate.
The couple own TNT Payne Construction. Tim is a contractor. Tresta homeschooled their five children for many years, but has now taken on the challenge of managing the new business.
Renovating and opening the deli and market didn’t come without a lot of thought and discussion. Tim and Tresta had seen up close the commitment needed to run such a business.
Tim’s parents, Leo and Sharri, owned and operated a restaurant in Myrtle Creek before moving in 1982 to Camas Valley, where they leased and then bought Camas Mountain Chalet.
Tim remembers washing dishes at the restaurant and discovering early that he
didn’t want to turn it into a career.
When Leo and Sharri retired, their son Troy leased the building and opened Bravo Café and Bakery. Troy closed the business in November 2020, largely due to restrictive regulations brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“When my brother had to quit, people were disappointed,” Tim says. “A lot of older people came here for breakfast, lunch or dinner. We were concerned about the school kids, the churches and where those people could go on a Sunday for a meal.
“We prayed about this for three months and then started meeting with people—all of our kids, our families—to discuss the opportunity. We said, ‘Stop us if we’ve lost our minds.’ They give us some great counsel, pretty much all positive.”
Tim and Tresta admit they didn’t know anything about operating a store and deli. But they did their research, talking to others who had been successful with store and deli businesses. They also leaned heavily on Leo for advice and ideas.
When the couple finally decided to go forward with the project, Tresta had 2 requests. She wanted to create a “pleasing place,” and she wanted an espresso machine.
“I got my way,” she says with a smile. “I didn’t want a cluttered-up space. I wanted it to be appealing.”
The renovation took nine months. Tim and Tresta did much of the work, but got help from Leo and their grown kids: Derek and his wife, Mercedes, Bailey, Jacob, Shelby and Ethan.
The building was gutted and several layers of flooring removed. Subcontractors did the electrical and plumbing work. The couple put in many 16-hour days, seven days a week, to get the work done.
“The valley was excited about what we were doing,” Tim says. “People stopped by to check on our progress.”
When the Chalet Deli + Market opened, Leo and Sharri helped for a few months, sharing recipes and helping Tim and Tresta and their 10 employees get acclimated to the routine.
“It’s very, very important to the community,” Leo says. “It was almost a disaster not to have it open. They’re doing better than I thought they might. They’ve received a lot of compliments. Different groups have met there. I’m very pleased with what they have there, and I’m happy for them.”
Tresta described the effort to get the business up and running as “an exhausting kind of good.”
“This has been a huge change for me,” she says. “But I enjoy hospitality, having people over to my house. This is an extension to my home. It’s been a family adventure.”
Chalet Deli + Market is at 18377 Highway 42, Camas Valley. It is open daily from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.