Thanksgiving At Bi-Rite: A Closer Look

Thanksgiving At Bi-Rite: A Closer LookPhoto:Nader Khouri
Stephen Jackson
Published on November 25, 2014
It’s finally starting to get chilly out, and the sun is down by 5pm. These indicators of late November can only mean one thing: somehow, it’s almost Thanksgiving.
 
For Bi-Rite Market, however, it means it’s the busiest time of year. We caught up with Divisadero manager Patrick Mills and Marketing Director Jessie Rogers to learn a little more about what goes into the store's offerings for the turkey-laden holiday. Unsurprisingly, it’s really quite the production.


(Photo: Nader Khouri)
 
Let’s start with some numbers. Between the store's 18th Street and Divisadero locations, Bi-Rite will sell an estimated 1,250 uncooked turkeys. As for prepared sides such as gravy, mashed potatoes, and butternut squash soup, it projects to sell 6,000 units, which breaks down to roughly 24,000 servings. All told, the Bi-Rite team predicts it will serve enough food to feed about 10,000 people.
 
Other menu highlights from their prepared sides include a kale and roasted winter squash salad, with currants, pumpkin seeds, sage and maple cider vinaigrette ($8.99/pint), and a jalapeño cornbread and house-made chorizo stuffing ($9.99/quart). Also, their cranberry-tangerine and honey relish ($6.99/pint), is sourced from Vincent Family Cranberries and driven directly to the market from the farm. In fact, this cranberry juice is the only brand left on the market made by the cranberry farmers themselves.
 
“I think when you shop here, you have a relationship with the farm,” Mills told us. “Whenever possible, we prefer farm-direct produce and meat and poultry from small family farms.”
 
Of course the main event at any Thanksgiving feed-a-thon is the turkey, and Bi-Rite has several options of organic and free-range birds, ranging from $3 to $4.50 per pound. If you're in the market for some real show-stopping poultry, you can also choose to spring for BN Ranch Heritage Turkey ($7.50/pound). Free range and with a diet free of GMOs, antibiotics, and hormones, “it’s the closest thing to what a pilgrim would have been eating at their table,” Rogers told us.
 

(Photo: Jessie Rogers)
 
In addition to its farm-to-table stock, the Bi-Rite team also does several charitable activities around the Thanksgiving holiday. Last weekend, they supported The Western Addition Beacon Center in their 11th Annual “Giving Voice to the Season Thanksgiving Luncheon” by donating organic Thanksgiving-friendly groceries and turkeys to 35 local low-income families. On Thanksgiving Day, all of their extra holiday food will go to the 3rd Annual “Gobble Gobble Give” at 111 Minna Gallery in order to feed the chronically homeless in the SoMa area. After Thanksgiving, any excess food will go to The Village Center at St. Cyprians Church and The Child Abuse Prevention Center to help feed needy residents in the neighborhood.
 
Bi-Rite staff will also be volunteering on Thanksgiving morning at Glide Memorial to prep and carve a Thanksgiving meal and serve TCHO chocolate brownies made by Bi-Rite Creamery. Other employees will be volunteering with Tenderloin Tessie at First Unitarian Church, serving a hot lunch, gift bags, and coffee to low-income individuals.
 
“We want to walk the walk,” said Rogers. “We believe that fresh, farm-direct food is the best thing for your health and well-being. We want to make sure that the folks who receive the food get the same benefits as the folks who shop here.”


(Photo: Stephen Jackson / Hoodline)
 
The preorder deadline for Thanksgiving items is tonight at 5pm, and the store will be closed on November 27th. If you’d like to see a menu, which features many other items including Gravenstein Apple brandy and lots of desserts, you can access it here and place orders online here . Bi-Rite has also developed a handy “Holiday Field Guide” with cooking tips and recipes, available here

Happy almost Thanksgiving, Divisadero!