Turns out Jordan Rosas, our extraordinary lead chef, who has deftly navigated Barndiva through Covid and the wildfires, is a passionate traditionalist. He loves Thanksgiving. Ditto his second in command, our imaginative pastry chef Neidy Venegas. Both grew up in large families and love big old-fashioned menus cooked from the heart. When we floated the idea of offering a feast for guests old and new this year, one they could enjoy at home, it didn’t take long for them to come up with a gorgeous menu of ready to warm dishes with a house-brined pasture-raised turkey you just pop in the oven, the better to get those roasting aromas going. It’s a menu that hits all the best Thanksgiving notes - with some delightful surprises.
We’ve never been opened on Thanksgiving before, in order to give our staff time with their families, but if there was ever was a year we break with that tradition this would be it. Travel will be difficult, gathering in large groups not advisable, and even sourcing the myriad of ingredients you love to include in this once-a-year meal may prove a challenge. All the more reason we’re looking forward to cooking every dish on this menu, which will be sourced entirely in Sonoma and Mendocino. It’s the best way we know to support the incredible food shed surrounding Healdsburg, and all who work within it. Yes, business is always about the bottom line; we choose not to draw ours in the sand, but in the soil.
Cook at Home Thanksgiving Feast can be booked online by going to our website, Barndiva.com. It will be available for pick up at Studio Barndiva on Wednesday, November 25, from 12-6 and on Thanksgiving day until noon.
Chef Jordan Rosas and Pastry Chef Neidy Venegas. The beautiful squash, pumpkins, and flours Neidy will use to bake her biscuits, pound cakes and pies were all grown at Preston Family Farm in Dry Creek Valley. Filberts, most chestnuts and all apple products are from Barndiva Farm in Philo.
