Dozens of people lined the street corner near Medium Rare in Cleveland Park on Thursday morning, dropping off their turkeys with a team of efficient volunteers working to support the community on the Thanksgiving holiday.
Since 2008, the Northwest D.C. restaurant has offered to fry turkeys for anyone, for free, and has some on hand for those who may come by seeking one.
Co-owner Mark Bucher said he expected to fry about 600 turkeys, adding that over 80% are from people who received donated turkeys, but “don’t have the ability to cook them, or the wherewithal to cook them. An aluminum pan costs $8. It’s a lot.”
The team started the event in 2008, when Bucher described frying turkeys as the popular thing to do, and he wanted to ensure nobody burned down their home or restaurant. About 20 turkeys were fried that day, he recalled, and after that first time he was left a bit of a mess. He’d burned his arms and ruined his clothes in the process.
Heading back to his car with his daughter after a long day of lugging turkeys and hot oil, he thought he saw a parking ticket tucked under his windshield wiper.
“I’m like, ‘Man, who gave me a ticket?'” Bucher recalled.
But that’s not what it was.
“It was a note from a family that lives in a shelter across the street from the restaurant,” he said. “I had no idea the shelter was there, people live among us all, right, that thanked us for cooking their turkey because they wouldn’t be able to have Thanksgiving without it. And that was the beginning of, I can’t stop.”
It has evolved into a tradition that Bucher said became so popular during the pandemic that turkeys had to be fried at Nationals Park.
“What makes this so special is we hear thanks from so many different members of our community, from folks that are food insecure, and families that are food insecure, to neurosurgeons,” Bucher said.
While they waited for their turkeys, many people lingered inside the restaurant, speaking to strangers or reconnecting with others they may have bumped into in years past.
Every turkey received a number tag, so they’re all accounted for, and there were five fryers outside that handle two turkeys each for 20 minutes at a time. One person managed each fryer, and runners bring them back and forth to be cooked or to a table when they’re done.
Recently, the event became a fundraiser for Bucher’s nonprofit Feed the Fridge, which offers free meals to people who need them most.
Debbie said she tried to fry a turkey a few years ago, but it became complicated, because of the amount of oil required and how much time it takes. But, she said, it’s worth the wait, because it tastes much better than turkey cooked in the oven.
It’s “crispy on the outside, moist, not typical dry turkey. That’s out the window. I like dark meat, but I’ll eat the entire turkey if it’s fried,” she said.
Monica stopped by the restaurant Thursday morning upon her mom’s recommendation.
“I didn’t want to burn down the house,” she said.
Anita said she’s never had fried turkey, but noted that the smell from the sidewalk made her confident in her choice.
“It’s so inviting, and it makes you want to call your family, friends and tell them come on up here and get your turkey fried,” she said.
David Daniels, from Mobile, Alabama, said his turkey would taste better than anyone else’s, because of the way it’s seasoned.
“We use a lot of French Creole seasoning,” Daniels said. “We also have some garlic powder, onion powder, and a whole bunch of other spices, but you just blend it all in. And then we base it in a hot orange sauce. So we’re gonna get a lot of flavors, and it’s gonna be extra intense.”
