“Every year is like a victory. But I think this year feels a little different,” Lori Witthoft said. “[With the Pandemic] kind of subsided, I feel like [I’m] getting a little bit more rooted here, and that feels good.”

Witthoft owns Best of Iowa, a downtown Kalona shop that provides a wide swath of products from Iowa’s best independent makers.  The shop will celebrate its four-year anniversary on Saturday, April 1 with a special event, providing patrons with free coffee and popcorn and lots of samples, including homemade breads and potentially some freezer meals, in addition to sales throughout the store. 

Best of Iowa is a unique shop. Opened in April of 2019, Witthoft had to compete with the COVID-19 pandemic less than a year after opening, and through strife, prevailed. 

The experience of opening a new shop, then immediately being thrown into the pandemic was a difficult one.

“I definitely did kind of figure out what I was doing here and then the pandemic [started]. That was just a whole different game changer,” Witthoft said. “It was kind of survival mode. The staff was pretty much just down to me during the [pandemic] and then I was slowly able to get people back.”

Best of Iowa is a maker’s market, meaning they source products from all over Iowa, giving the shop some extra flare. There are over 30 different Iowa makers featured. 

“Before I opened the store, I used to go to a lot of vintage markets.  I met a lot of people along the way throughout the Midwest that were makers [selling anything] from candles to towels,” Witthoft said. “I continue to have new makers.”

Best of Iowa also has a bakery and makes homemade freezer meals. The freezer meal menu can be found online, changes each month, and uses family recipes. 

“[The freezer meals and bakery] make us have something unique,” Witthoft said. “We make everything here from scratch. For the most part, it’s just recipes that I’ve grown up liking. We keep trying to incorporate some different ones.”

The freezer meals are an aspect that help Best of Iowa further standout from the rest. Homemade in the kitchen, frozen at the store, sold with instructions, they always provide people with tasty food. Their most popular item is probably the BBQ pulled pork with mac and cheese, according to Witthoft.

Witthoft wants to make the homemade freezer meals even better. This summer, she is starting a garden at home and plans on using the produce from her garden in the freezer meals. This would make things more efficient and create a deeper connection with the community since each ingredient is local and fresh. 

“With that garden, I’m just really excited to make food better,” Witthoft said. “[Organic food] is a privileged lifestyle, so, how do we make that type of good food available for everybody?  I’m really excited to hopefully be able to have a new avenue for that.”

Witthoft would like to sell the produce from her garden in stands outside of Best of Iowa, adding yet another layer to the intricate shop. She would also like to take the produce to farmers markets, potentially drawing in new customers who might’ve not made their way to Kalona or Best of Iowa.

“We have plans to expand and grow, and that’s really exciting. I always love a challenge,” Witthoft said. “It’s exciting to look forward to see what that can be. Just like continually developing and improving what we have.”

The things Witthoft is most excited to grow are tomatoes, peppers, onions, and lots of seasonings since they use a ton of seasonings for the freezer meals. 

Make sure to check out Best of Iowa in the heart of downtown Kalona, either on their big day of celebration on April 1 or any Wednesday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.