At our heart, the Birchwood Cafe is about fostering community, revealing connections, and inspiring gratitude. We do this through serving food, and so much more. Read on to meet some of our closest friends, allies and collaborators.
CSA Pick-up
Featherstone Farm
Rushford, MN — delivering WEDNESDAY
Pearson Organics
Oronoco, MN — delivering TUESDAY
Women's Environmental Institute
North Branch, MN — delivering FRIDAY
Riverbend Farm Crop Mobs
From May–September, the Birchwood invites folks of all ages to participate in a monthly, hands-on farming day at Riverbend Farm in Delano, MN (also an organic vegetable producer for the Cafe!). It's fun to meet the farmers, learn where our food comes from, and enjoy a Good Real Meal at the end of the work day.
Birchwood Bike Team
The Birchwood Bike Team is a Twin Cities metro area cycling club and racing team dedicated to spreading the positive power of bike riding. The club provides opportunities for riders of all levels to participate in the fun and camaraderie of the cycling and racing scene. All levels and abilities welcome, helmets a must!
Food + Our Community
True Food Chef Council
Birchwood is a member of the Minneapolis Public Schools True Food Chef Council, a collaboration of restaurants, chefs + caterers working to promote the health of our youth, encourage the consumption of wholesome food, embrace cultural diversity, and promote good eating habits.
The Aliveness Project
The Aliveness Project is a community center located in South Minneapolis that provides services and programs to the HIV & AIDS community. The Birchwood takes part in the project's annual "Dining Out for Life" program.
Perennial Grains
We are honored and excited to be a part of the development and research of perennial grains.
Currently, the cafe is using the eco-friendly grain Kernza, a perennial wheatgrass developed by the
Kernza, developed by the Land Institute, is a perennial and grows year after year without replanting. It has high nutrient levels and a relatively low gluten content. Kernza plants establish extensive root systems that control soil erosion + reduce water runoff. Kernza grows in harmony with its surrounding ecosystem and encourages other native plant growth.
Come try Kernza in the cafe in our Kernza bread, Kernza Karamelita bars and Kernza crackers.
Its earthy, nutty taste is a lot to love, and it tastes even better when you know that it brings us one step closer to changing the food system, one Kernza Karamelita bar at a time!
Our Building
Wood from the Hood
The walls and counters in the cafe are made with reclaimed wood from Wood from the Hood – they reclaim discarded trees from urban neighborhoods to create beautiful, high-quality wood products.
Recycled Glass Countertops
The bright green countertops that make our cafe so unique were made from recycled glass by Rust Brothers. They also built our tables from honey-colored Douglas fir that was salvaged from a California lemon warehouse.
Sustainable Building Practices
We are so grateful to Locus Architecture for helping us with the rebuild of Birchwood, where we incorporated eco-friendly design into our cafe. We're excited to win the EcoBlend Badge for both best commercial project and best sustainable project in 2017!
Solar Roof
We worked with Novel Energy Solutions to install our solar array on the roof in late summer 2014. It is rated at 8.200kW. Renewable energy is one of our principles of sustainability, and we were fortunate to utilize the Made in Minnesota Incentive plan to make it possible.
Communicating Our Story
Kevin J. Miyazaki/PLATE
Our catering photos were taken by Kevin J. Miyazaki/PLATE photography. His keen eye for lighting, contrast, color along with his light-hearted attitude and love of Good Real Food made for the most beautiful photos and a wonderful partnership.
Keelie Ritter Photography
The story of the Birchwood Cafe has been captured over the years by Keelie Ritter. Keelie is a true visual storyteller, armed with a camera and a smile, her work is honest and stunning.
MettePIX
Do our cookbook food photos make you hungry? We hope Mette Nielsen's creative eye and keen use of the lens get you in the mood for Good Real Food!
Gee Teez
Our T-shirts, aprons, glassware + more are screenprinted by the folks at Gee Teez, our one-stop shop for screenprinting, embroidery, and promotional products.
Field Guide
Field Guide is a communications and marketing consultancy focused on working with forward-thinking businesses. They excel at strategic planning, creative project management and media outreach. In a nutshell, they're field guides.
Kickstarter
The Birchwood Cafe completed its Kickstarter campaign with huge success! 980 wonderful backers are helped bring our expansion and remodeling plans to fruition. We ♥ our community!
Learn More