The Drifters Experience
When we were dreaming about the concept for Drifters, we knew that we wanted to not only be part of the local community, but that we also wanted to support the local community. We hoped that by intertwining ourselves as part of the South Dakota food ecosystem, we could have a positive impact on farmers growing vegetables and grains, ranchers raising livestock, and artisans creating unique and delicious concoctions.
This wasn’t necessarily an easy task. Unlike many regions across the US and around the world, we don’t have large vegetable production nearby, we can’t walk out our back door and buy local cheese. We knew this would take commitment. It would mean we’d need to make connections across the state to, hopefully, find some of what we needed for the restaurant.
One of the first areas we targeted was local beer. The beer distributors we contacted were offering some local brews, but inventory wasn’t consistent and we knew more was available. So, we started making phone calls. We figured out ways to transport kegs across the state. And, before long, we had an amazing selection of local beer. Because of the enthusiasm, we started a Hoppy Earth Day event every April to bring all of the small, local breweries together under one roof to share and celebrate their delicious and creative beers.
Two of the easier items to find locally were beef and bison. If you’ve never had a South Dakota steak, stop reading this post and get yourself on a plane to Drifters, so we can show you what you’ve been missing. When I say “easy,” I don’t want you to think it was a cinch. We still had to go through the correct channels to secure the beef and bison. There are just a couple sources for bison in South Dakota, so we tackled that quickly. For the beef, we work with a State-approved butcher about 3 hours away from our restaurant. That means, whenever we need a restock, someone is taking a long drive. We consider the transportation a small price to pay in order to offer local, amazing, South Dakota beef in our restaurant.
Vegetables are a beast of their own. Our biggest obstacle is that we live in a climate with a short growing season. In a good year, spring arrives in April and our first frost isn’t until October. But, in other years, spring doesn’t arrive until mid to late May and a first frost could arrive in early September. Considering some crops like winter squash and Brussels sprouts are grown over a 3 to 4-month period, we’re always hustling! And, because our winters get so cold, we can’t over-winter many vegetables. We work with a couple of small, organic, local growers and try to focus on seasonality as much as possible. We also teamed up with our community garden and have our own garden plot! So, some of the items on your plate may have been grown by us!
We also offer special dessert features from Pure Bliss, a local bakery. Working with another local business allows us to focus on our savory eats while supporting a local artisan and offering delicious sweets as well. Plus, it provides Pure Bliss some additional advertising. It’s a win-win for both of us!
Our desire to support local producers is a constant labor or love. The easy path would be to order all of our food through a distributor, but that wouldn’t support our goal. We yearn to be intricately woven into the local foodscape in South Dakota and we’ll continue to do so as long as we can. We hope to see you soon at Drifters!