New deli offer more than food

Danielle Switalski

One way to pass the long winter days is to grab a book or your laptop and sit in a café enjoying a hot cup of coffee and a traditional deli lunch.  This is the atmosphere offered by the newly opened Desta’s Deli in Thompson Falls on Main Street.

The deli, which is in the same building as River Java, offers customers much more than simply deli food.  It has a quaint, relaxing feel to it and provides customers with free wireless Internet, a play area for kids and books for sale or to read by Helen Johnson, while sitting inside the welcoming café area, enjoying a meal. 

“There’s a kids area for the kids to play so if parents want to focus on other things they can, so it’s a great place for people to have group meetings and stuff like that and people have been utilizing that a lot, it’s really great, it’s a great little place,” said Desta Rummel, owner of the deli.

Rummel grew up in Thompson Falls and after an eight-year stint of living in California, “God told her it was time to come back to Montana.”  Rummel returned to her roots in March of 2009.  Shortly after returning, she sat down with her mother, Cheryl Chamblin, and the idea to open a deli began to grow from there. 

“I was going to move to Missoula because that’s where I went to college and I just did not like it, it’s just another city and I fell in love with Thompson all over again and I was really shocked I wanted to live here again, but I just really love it and I’m really happy here,” said Rummel.

Chamblin had the idea to go around to different businesses and deliver sandwiches.  The idea grew and Rummel and her mother decided to open a deli, offering free delivery service to businesses throughout the Thompson Falls area. 

The menu offers traditional, homemade deli food including soup, sandwiches and salads at a fairly reasonable price.  Rummel said that a good chunk of the menu, the salads in particular, is based off of recipes her mother used for many years when she had lime disease. 

“She (Chamblin) had a whole bunch of recipes to help with her blood and just be healthy, but they were really good and I liked them so we just kind of took those recipes and put those as our salads and I came up with the sandwiches myself,” said Rummel.

Desta’s Deli opened up back in November.  Rummel said they were going to give it a three month trial period to see how steady business was going to be.  Rummel was slightly concerned with opening a new business in the middle of winter as she had heard businesses suffer in Thompson Falls during the winter months, when tourism is slower.  However, they have had steady business for the past three months and have no intention of going anywhere soon.  Although they have not seen many tourists come through their door, they have had steady business from the local community and are very hopeful that things will pick up even more once the summer begins. 

“It was kind of scary starting up a business in the wintertime, but the community has been really happy for us and supportive,” said Rummel.

As far as future plans go for the deli, Rummel said once the summer months begin they are going to start planning events at the deli, including extending hours into the early evening and planning functions such as a candlelight evening with music by Raymond Evans, who already comes into the deli to play once a month on a built-in stage.  Rummel and Chamblin are also in talks to eventually have a kids’ night where teenagers can come in and play board games, while offering free hot cocoa. 

“I want people to know that it’s open to everybody and it’s very kid friendly and they have an area to just go and play,” said Rummel. 

The deli is located at 807 Main Street.