WASHINGTON — A D.C. Thanksgiving tradition continued on Thursday. Medium Rare hosted its annual turkey fry on Thanksgiving morning. It's an event that's been happening in the District for more than a decade.
Anyone who has a raw turkey in need of cooking can bring it to Medium Rare on Connecticut Avenue Northwest to get it deep fried. Owner Mark Bucher has been doing it for 17 years. The festivities got underway at 8 a.m. Thursday.
"We've been doing this since 2007, really so people wouldn't hurt themselves," Bucher said. "The first turkey fry we ever did, when I left that day I had a note on my car from a woman who was in a shelter that said, 'Thank you for doing my turkey. We received a free one but had no way to cook it.'"
Over the years, Medium Rare has fried over 5,000 turkeys. For many, this has become an annual addition to their holiday celebration.
The cooking service is always free, but those who would like to give back can do so by making a donation to Feed the Fridge.
Founded in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, Bucher created Feed the Fridge to combat hunger in the metro region while helping pandemic-battered restaurants stay in business. Through the program, Bucher installs refrigerators at recreation centers and schools in the region’s food deserts and pays local restaurants to stock them with up to 100 freshly prepared meals every day. Those meals are available to anyone who’s hungry – no questions asked.
While they always try to get to everyone, the service is provided on a first-come, first-served basis until 4 p.m.