Fireweed is a cafe and mercantile in Rico, CO. We serve specialty coffees, smoothies, baked goods, salads and soups, and rotating deli items. We also offer housemade items to bring home to your kitchen- things like frozen soups, dips, salads, snacks, and dog treats! We support other local businesses as much as we can by providing a mercantile with local produce, meat, dairy, bulk, dry goods, as well as art and gifts! We are so excited to bring yummy, healthy food AND a grocery option to our area.

our roots

Founders Chelsey Rajavuori and Matt Guertin have been dreaming about creating a space for community gathering since 2015. They were living in Melbourne, Australia at the time and had gone on an impromptu trip to a little coastal surf town. After camping on the beach, they wandered into town and found the sweetest coffee/food truck. They sat, enjoyed coffee and several treats, looked around the cozy yard, and thought, “we could do this”. The whole drive home was a planning and dreaming session, whipping up recipe ideas, giggling at how fun life would be, and fantasizing about the idea of bringing people together in an intentional way. They had traveled for years, and had thought they would settle down in Alaska, where they both fell in love with the rugged life and land. But they were nearing a place in their lives where they ached for deep human connection, and to surround themselves with loved ones and friends who felt like family. So soon after this cafe idea was deamt up, they decided to migrate to the San Juans of southwest Colorado, where they instantly felt at home, and have felt that way every day since. They lived in Telluride for a while, and then the tiny town of Ophir for a few years, and finally settled down in the perfect small town of Rico, CO, where they soon realized their dream could finally come true! As great as the town already was, they saw two things lacking- a cafe and grocery store. With nothing in either direction for 45 minutes, Rico residents and visitors alike must stock up and spend more, or go without. In the midst of COVID craziness, it seemed like the right time. It seemed like what not only they needed, but what the people of their community needed too. Rico is a beautiful town nestled in the mountains just off of highway 145, with a population of about 300, and tourist attractions such as camping, mountain biking, backcountry and cross country skiing, trail running, fly fishing, and rafting. They put an offer in on an old main street building, one that had its quirks, but had even more potential. A month later, they were building owners and they hit the ground running with projects! Their mission has been to be sustainable and intentional throughout the entire process. They gathered used appliances, reclaimed wood from an old mountain miner’s cabin, loved furniture, help from friends, and advice from other local business owners. They contacted local artists, farmers, and ranchers in order to support the local economy as best they could. They put countless hours (and blood sweat and tears) into making their vision a reality- building out the space, planning the menu, contacting vendors for the mercantile, and everything in between. They couldn’t be more excited to bring this space to the Rico community and all the travelers coming through. Fireweed is a place for good quality, organic, local, and sustainable food, for real people to come together or find a cozy quiet place to work, and for facilitating education about how to live in deeper communion with the beautiful land we call home.

fireweed

We first fell in love with the plant fireweed in Alaska- where everything is a bit untamed. Fireweed grows wildly there and its vibrant hot pink & purple flowers are impossible to ignore. When we moved to southwest Colorado it was one of the first familiar plant friends we noticed when wildflower season hit. This connection alone makes us smile. As Chelsey pursued an education in herbalism, and we both learned more about the fungal and plant worlds all around us, we were excited to learn about the deeper truth of the beautiful plant. Fireweed is one if the first blooms after a forest fire. A plant that flourishes in scorched earth, fireweed fixes essential nutrients in the soil, readying the ground for new life to thrive. Fireweed also helps us track phenological change and cycles (aka nature’s calendar)- she draws up information from the soil, collects air temps, and precipitation data, and blooms in accordance. This is basically telling us directly the area’s climate change impact! Many indigenous tribes kept track of the fireweed’s bloom to help predict the area’s first snow fall and when to begin preparing for winter- they bloom form top to bottom and it’s believed that the last to bloom on the top indicates the first snow. A beautiful reminder to return to the Earth- our greatest teacher and guide. If ever there was a time to bloom anew, 2020 felt like that time. We want to bring that regenerative vibe to our community.