0:00

The intention was

0:00

really to take those

0:02

conversations that we were

0:02

having in the store over the

0:05

calendar. But we wanted to take

0:05

them deeper, right. And we

0:08

wanted to be able to actually

0:08

give them skill right to begin

0:11

to develop a sense of

0:11

understanding of a craft of

0:14

cooking. We also wanted them to

0:14

actually begin to face to face

0:18

eye to eye, meet the people that

0:18

were responsible for feeding

0:21

them. So we would bring ranchers

0:21

in and they would, you know,

0:24

talk about their land management

0:24

practices, their livestock care,

0:28

and then we would cook together

0:28

and then eat together as a

0:32

community around one large table

0:32

basically build a relationship

0:36

right and like the magic happens

0:36

around the dinner table.

0:43

Something that

0:43

seems to fall by the wayside

0:45

when we're really busy, is we

0:45

don't always take time to cook

0:49

something nourishing something

0:49

delicious, something that brings

0:53

us together at the dinner table,

0:53

and I realized I'm making a

0:56

generalization here. But for me

0:56

personally, when I make

1:00

something delicious, with good

1:00

ingredients, I feel not only

1:04

energized physically, but

1:04

emotionally, almost as if in

1:08

preparing, cooking, and eating

1:08

my own creations. It has a

1:13

spiritual effect not only on me,

1:13

but on the people who share that

1:17

meal with me. Today's guest is

1:17

the poster child for bringing

1:22

communities together through

1:22

food. Sam Magana, some of the by

1:27

right family of businesses has

1:27

devoted his life's passion to

1:31

food to good food, teaching

1:31

people how to cook with food by

1:36

creating a community around

1:36

food. A we all need food to

1:41

live, Sam's approach to food is

1:41

central to everything that

1:45

matters in life. We'll get into

1:45

that during our interview coming

1:49

right up on tools for nomads. On

1:49

Thom Pollard tools for nomads is

1:57

brought to you by top drawer.

1:57

We'd love to know where you're

2:01

listening from today. So take a

2:01

moment to let us know we want to

2:05

learn about you in this growing

2:05

community of like minded

2:08

individuals. Sam Mecanim is the

2:08

second generation owner of buy

2:14

right market in San Francisco

2:14

and founder of the pie right

2:18

family of businesses, which

2:18

Forbes named one of the best

2:22

small companies in the United

2:22

States. He's the author of by

2:26

right markets, eat good food, a

2:26

grocers guide to shopping,

2:30

cooking and creating community

2:30

through food. Growing up, Sam

2:34

spent years learning the

2:34

restaurant business and various

2:37

jobs. And at 23. Yes, 23 he

2:37

opened his own restaurant in San

2:42

Francisco, Sam and his brother

2:42

Rafi took over the family owned

2:47

by right market with a small

2:47

staff of six they revamped it

2:51

and it quickly became a

2:51

destination for curated

2:54

specialty foods. Now the buy

2:54

right family of businesses

2:58

includes bi rite Creamery 18

2:58

reasons the cooking school where

3:02

they teach over 7000 students

3:02

the art of cooking each year for

3:06

free, mind you, and they also

3:06

have a farm. Their mission is

3:10

creating community through food

3:10

keywords to be on the lookout

3:15

for today. Purpose, community,

3:15

delicious passion. Here's my

3:22

conversation with Sam Aghanim

3:22

from his home in San Francisco,

3:26

California. The idea of what buy

3:26

right stands for, you know, the

3:33

core values and the mission. And

3:33

it's very inspiring. Because in

3:40

today's world, I think what

3:40

people are doing it, you know,

3:45

at least it appears this way

3:45

that people are in business to

3:48

make money. And yes, you need to

3:48

stay in business. And you do

3:52

that by making money. But it's

3:52

not about making money, you have

3:56

a different purpose in what

3:56

you're doing at buy. Right. And

4:01

if I could just have you hit

4:01

upon that a little bit and

4:03

explain that those passions and

4:03

values that you have.

4:07

Yeah, totally. And

4:07

I and I agree with you. I mean,

4:11

I think I think businesses who

4:11

have a purpose have a have a

4:16

magnetism to them that that

4:16

compel like minded, you know, or

4:21

curious people to gravitate

4:21

towards them. And I think what

4:25

makes by right special is that

4:25

we're really focused on our

4:29

mission of creating community

4:29

through food. And in the

4:32

simplest way that I can, I can

4:32

explain what that means is that

4:37

we're here to building

4:37

relationships with people, real

4:39

people. You know, we're into

4:39

building relationships with the

4:43

people that we employ, get it

4:43

really getting to know them and

4:46

under an understanding what

4:46

passions that they have and

4:49

creating space for them to

4:49

express those passions. We're

4:52

really interested in getting to

4:52

know the people that grow make,

4:56

raise the food that we that we

4:56

sell And I'm really interested

5:02

in getting to know, our guests,

5:02

the people who come in who

5:05

support our businesses, who want

5:05

to be fed by us, right at the

5:10

end of the day, we're building a

5:10

very intimate relationship with

5:16

each of these stakeholders where

5:16

we're given this tremendous

5:22

responsibility of curating and

5:22

selecting food that is getting

5:27

being put into somebody else's

5:27

body, and it's going to nourish

5:29

them. And it's, and it's a

5:29

powerful relationship, and we

5:32

take it seriously. And I,

5:32

whether people recognize it or

5:37

not, they feel it. And then

5:37

eventually, they want more of

5:40

it. And, and our hope is that,

5:40

once they felt the that magic of

5:47

being fed in with

5:47

intentionality, with with care,

5:53

with love, you know, our first

5:53

core value is to lead with love,

5:59

that they then begin to demand

5:59

that of others. And our hope is

6:03

that, as they demand, greater

6:03

responsibility, intentionality

6:09

from others, that we see change

6:09

happening in ours, in our, in

6:15

our world, right now greater

6:15

responsibility to the planet, a

6:18

greater responsibility to our

6:18

communities, and a sense of

6:25

collective ownership of, you

6:25

know, where we, where we live

6:29

and engage with.

6:32

That's, that's

6:32

beautiful, Sam. So I had a

6:34

conversation with a gentleman

6:34

who is the manager of one of our

6:38

stores out in the west, and in

6:38

Valencia. He said that when he

6:44

was looking for a place to live,

6:44

he didn't really care where he

6:48

lived, he just wanted to be darn

6:48

sure it was in walking distance

6:52

of a buy, right? And, and I

6:52

said, why? So tell me why. And

6:58

he went on to tell me about the

6:58

community and the sense of

7:01

belonging and purpose. And right

7:01

in when you were talking, you

7:06

didn't even say customer about

7:06

the people who walk in the door,

7:09

you said the word guests. That

7:09

means we're all one. And so what

7:15

is that atmosphere that you're

7:15

creating for these people that

7:19

would make a guy say, I want to

7:19

be within walking distance of a

7:23

buyer, right?

7:23

I mean, maybe

7:23

first and foremost, it's, it's

7:26

delicious. And I don't know

7:26

anybody in the world who doesn't

7:31

want delicious, you know, and we

7:31

all we all deserve delicious in

7:35

our lives. And and, and so I

7:35

think, I think it starts there.

7:41

It's also it's also sensual and

7:41

sensory provoking. I mean, it

7:49

looks, it looks beautiful, it

7:49

smells vibrant. There's energy,

7:57

you know, there, there's staff

7:57

that are knowledgeable about

8:01

what they're selling and excited

8:01

about the food that they're

8:04

selling. And wanting to share

8:04

their passion and their

8:08

excitement with those that walk

8:08

in. And in this current world

8:15

that we're in, in this world

8:15

that's been evolving over the

8:17

last few decades. We're, we're

8:17

getting further and further away

8:22

from that. That personal sharing

8:22

of information, right, that,

8:30

that sharing of excitement and

8:30

enthusiasm with each other,

8:35

honest, very spontaneous way. I

8:35

mean, it's like it's happening.

8:39

And yeah, somebody can walk into

8:39

the store, be in the produce

8:42

department, you know, connect

8:42

with somebody who's like, you

8:44

know, stocking, you know, the

8:44

fruit. And without even being

8:49

asked a question, say, Hey, have

8:49

you tried this and they'll feel

8:52

they'll peel a pixie tangerine

8:52

and or, or kind of peach or

8:57

whatever, and let let the guests

8:57

taste it or, you know, if the

9:00

guest is asking, you know, which

9:00

of the peaches is better, you

9:03

know, the staff member will go

9:03

and cut for different peaches

9:05

let the guests taste for

9:05

different peaches. So they can

9:08

decide which piece that which

9:08

peach, they like best, right?

9:12

And then that doesn't happen

9:12

that often. And that, that if we

9:14

want engagement, then it might

9:14

be standing at the cheese

9:17

counter and somebody's gonna go

9:17

give them a tasty cheese or, or

9:20

go to the prepared foods counter

9:20

and get a taste of one of our

9:22

lockers. I mean, it's just like,

9:22

we, you know, our, our, our

9:28

souls, you know, my, our staff,

9:28

you know, our team, we're fed by

9:32

feeding people, you know, it

9:32

feeds us. And I think that,

9:36

that, that that energy, it's

9:36

hard not to want to be around

9:40

it, you know, because we're,

9:40

we're losing opportunities to

9:46

have that as part of our day to

9:46

day lives every day. As things

9:54

become more anonymous and more

9:54

technical, technologically

9:57

based, or artificially

9:57

intelligence based, you know,

10:02

it's, it's, there's something

10:02

magical about just that human to

10:05

human connection in the Yeah, in

10:05

my mind, you know, I mean, I

10:09

just like, that's just, that's

10:09

what makes, that's what makes me

10:11

tick. And for others, you know,

10:11

they'd rather not they'd rather

10:14

just get on the app and place an

10:14

order or do whatever. But I

10:19

don't know, there's something

10:19

there's something special, a

10:23

grill, I don't, I don't want to

10:23

envision a world where we lose

10:26

that.

10:27

Yeah, Sam, you

10:27

also talk a lot about, it's the

10:30

people who are working in your

10:30

store that you all and we all do

10:36

as people who really care about

10:36

the work that we do that that

10:39

idea of right livelihood, that

10:39

we're doing something that is

10:43

we're fostering a future for our

10:43

next generation, if you will.

10:48

And so I heard you say these

10:48

words that we have a

10:52

responsibility to learn as much

10:52

as we possibly can, and then

10:57

educate those around us. And I

10:57

would imagine that would start

11:00

with the people who are working

11:00

in your stores, and then that

11:04

filters down to your guests,

11:04

because we have, you know, the

11:09

planet, it's not doing too well.

11:09

And more and more people need to

11:14

be out there about it, instead

11:14

of saying, Wow, the social media

11:18

is so negative and so toxic, I'm

11:18

going to just turn it off and

11:22

not engage, we've got to get on

11:22

our feet, we have an opportunity

11:28

here to speak. And so you talk

11:28

about that passion and say that

11:32

you don't care what their

11:32

passion is, I mean, just as long

11:35

as they have a passion bring to

11:35

the work.

11:39

Yeah, I think I mean, I think it's important to recognize the passion in you,

11:41

too, you know, and you I mean, I

11:44

see, I see, maybe a bass behind

11:44

you, you know, I suspect that

11:48

you, you're passionate about

11:48

music. And you know, that's one

11:53

of the passions that like helps

11:53

you be expressive about the

11:56

passions that you have, and

11:56

other in other aspects of how

11:59

we, you know, how humans engage,

11:59

you know, and I look for the

12:03

same thing I love. We love

12:03

musicians, we love artists, we

12:05

love people who are really

12:05

focused and committed to

12:08

something, you know, and are

12:08

excited about talking about it.

12:11

Because once they learn to talk

12:11

about something else, once they

12:15

learn about something else, they can be excited about talking about that too, you know, and

12:17

food foods, it's part of our day

12:20

to day, you know, and when we

12:20

taste something just blows our

12:22

fucking mind, you can help. How

12:22

can we not like, you know, get

12:27

up there and shout out like,

12:27

hey, and this was grown, and oh,

12:31

hey, Rick, actually regenerating

12:31

the soil. Right? That's like,

12:36

not impacting the, the wildlife

12:36

that's surrounding the fields,

12:43

you know, and in so it's like,

12:43

you know, you start with

12:48

something that's delicious. And

12:48

then you you bend your roll in

12:52

with the environmental impact,

12:52

or the social impact, or all of

12:57

it, you know, when we can, when

12:57

we can hit all of those points,

13:00

which is what we really try to

13:00

look for, because it's not just

13:03

about the environmental impact,

13:03

we also have to be really

13:06

concerned about the social

13:06

impact, or the other workers

13:09

that are working in the fields

13:09

being treated, treated well. Are

13:12

they you know, or in an abusive

13:12

and environment? Are they being

13:16

exposed to chemicals and, you

13:16

know, also struggling with their

13:20

own health and we can't, we

13:20

can't just ignore what's

13:23

happening, you know, outside of

13:23

our walls, you know, we've got

13:28

to, we've got to, we've got to

13:28

just understand that every

13:31

decision that we make, has an

13:31

impact on a wide array of

13:38

members of our community. And we

13:38

have to recognize that they are

13:41

members of our community,

13:41

whether we see them know them or

13:44

not, they are members of our

13:44

community.

13:48

You're listening

13:48

to my April 2023 interview with

13:51

Sam Aghanim. from his home in

13:51

San Francisco, California. Tools

13:56

for nomads is brought to you by

13:56

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14:49

Now back to my conversation with

14:49

Sam Magana. Sam, the thing that

14:55

we've been talking and

14:55

ruminating about a lot is that

14:58

idea of lost skills as we move

14:58

into this modern age, and not to

15:04

say that, that being able to

15:04

communicate on a phone or change

15:10

the time of a meeting or

15:10

something, but that idea that

15:13

we're, we're losing touch with,

15:13

with skills that were important

15:18

that we had to have 100 years

15:18

ago, and so in, at by right in

15:24

your community, you're teaching

15:24

people how to cook, you know,

15:29

like some people, they don't

15:29

even know how to cook spaghetti,

15:33

right. So you're giving people

15:33

the tools and the knowledge and

15:38

empowering them. So can you just

15:38

tell me a little bit about the

15:42

cooking school? That is just

15:42

such a brilliant and beautiful

15:46

idea?

15:47

Yeah, when we

15:47

started 18 reasons, and we were

15:49

celebrating our 50th anniversary

15:49

this year. Wow. The, the

15:54

intention was really to take

15:54

those conversations that we were

15:58

having, in the store, over the

15:58

counter, talking to people

16:03

about, you know, how to cook

16:03

pasta, or you know, how to make

16:07

a bolognese sauce, or whatever,

16:07

whatever it was, right. I mean,

16:11

and, and, in those opportunities

16:11

that we had to talk about, our

16:16

farmer or rancher, and to, in

16:16

those conversations, you know,

16:24

would be a minute, two minutes,

16:24

maybe five minutes, right,

16:26

depending on how long somebody wanted to engage in the conversation, or how long there

16:28

we can hold their interest. But

16:32

we wanted to take them deeper,

16:32

right, and we wanted to, we

16:35

wanted to be able to actually

16:35

give them skill, right, to begin

16:38

to develop a sense of

16:38

understanding of a craft of

16:41

cooking, we also wanted them to

16:41

actually begin to face to face

16:46

Eye to Eye meet the people that

16:46

were responsible for feeding

16:49

them. So we would bring ranchers

16:49

in, and they would, you know,

16:54

talk about their, their, their

16:54

their land management practices,

16:58

their livestock care. And, and,

16:58

and then we would cook together,

17:03

and then eat together as a

17:03

community around one large

17:07

table, and basically build a

17:07

relationship right, and like,

17:11

the magic happens around the

17:11

dinner table. And so that's how,

17:16

that's how it started. So we

17:16

would, we would have these

17:20

combination, electric cooking

17:20

kind of experiences, then we

17:23

started doing actual, just basic

17:23

cooking experiences. Still, the

17:27

most popular class that we teach

17:27

is basic knife skills. Every

17:31

time we we put the basic knife

17:31

skills class out, we teach it

17:35

three, usually three, four times

17:35

a month, it's the one of the

17:39

first classes that sells out,

17:39

because people want to develop

17:42

the skill set, right. And the

17:42

magic of that class as well is

17:45

that all the students are like

17:45

learning how to cut cut

17:48

vegetables, the different cuts,

17:48

they're learning how to like cut

17:52

up, cut up a chicken, and then

17:52

and then they cook together. And

17:56

then they eat all of the food

17:56

that they prepped together as a

17:59

family around the table, right,

17:59

and there's strangers who didn't

18:02

even know each other, and the

18:02

relationship is built at that

18:05

point, you know, and they're

18:05

getting to meet their neighbors.

18:07

And so, there's so much more

18:07

that happens when those

18:10

opportunities are created than

18:10

just learning a craft. And I

18:13

think learning a skill I think

18:13

is really critical. I think

18:18

people definitely feel capable

18:18

and powered by love that you use

18:22

that word because that's that

18:22

that is you know, our mission is

18:26

to empower our community with

18:26

the knowledge and and, and

18:30

creativity they need in order to

18:30

be able to take care of

18:32

themselves and to be more

18:32

engaged in in the world. It just

18:37

builds their confidence and it

18:37

makes for a help. I think it

18:39

just makes for a health

18:39

healthier society.

18:41

Sam, I have just a

18:41

couple more minutes with you. So

18:44

you know not even about running

18:44

a business or creating

18:49

community. You obviously love

18:49

what you do. You just you're

18:54

just there's a glow around you.

18:54

You wake up early, I don't know

19:00

if you go to bed early so you

19:00

can wake up with the sunshine.

19:03

But there probably not enough

19:03

hours in the day to reach people

19:07

I saw people bumping in during

19:07

the interview that you did with

19:10

Doc like a guy hugging you and

19:10

whispering something funny in

19:13

your ear. And then you walked

19:13

into the cooking school and

19:16

people going, Oh, you it's good.

19:16

You're doing what you were put

19:21

on this planet to do. It seems

19:23

I feel that I feel

19:23

like I feel I feel really lucky

19:27

to to be able to do that time.

19:27

You know, it's it's, yeah, I

19:33

don't know. I've been I've been

19:33

given lots of opportunity to

19:35

make choices in my life and I

19:35

I've chosen to pursue what makes

19:40

me happy. And I feel like it's a

19:40

privilege to have been able to

19:45

do that and I don't take it for

19:45

granted. And you know that that

19:51

others have not been able to do

19:51

that for whatever their

19:55

circumstances are and so it's

19:55

something that I I have a great

19:59

deep Wish,

20:01

if I could just

20:01

ask you one last question. So

20:04

imagining that somebody might be

20:04

listening or watching this not

20:08

really sure what the career path

20:08

is or what they're on this

20:13

planet to do finding their

20:13

calling, opening their arms to

20:17

the universe and saying, arrive

20:17

like, I'm ready. What any advice

20:24

or thoughts for those people any

20:24

age either

20:28

I don't know, I'm

20:28

right now. You know, it's just

20:31

how how rapidly technology is

20:31

advancing, especially artificial

20:35

intelligence. I think I think

20:35

the most important thing is that

20:39

we believe in each other, that

20:39

we believe in humanity, that

20:43

that, that we pursue deeper

20:43

relationships with each other

20:49

and not rely on technology to

20:49

bring us together and not rely

20:53

on technology for all the

20:53

information that we have access

20:56

to. But to, you know, on

20:56

leverage storytelling, to

21:02

leverage generational

21:02

storytelling, I think there's

21:05

just so much to learn from, you

21:05

know, generations that are

21:10

older, and, and generations that

21:10

are younger, you know, I spend

21:14

as much time being curious with

21:14

young people as I do with older

21:17

people, because they see the

21:17

world in very different ways.

21:21

And it just helps me see the

21:21

world in a way that I can be a

21:27

better participant in it. And

21:27

and I just encourage, I'd like

21:32

to encourage more people to be

21:32

intentional about how they can

21:36

be better participants in the

21:36

world, you know, in relation to

21:39

each other.

21:41

That's beautiful.

21:41

Thank you so much for your time

21:45

and and for what you do, I

21:45

cannot wait to step foot inside

21:51

one of your stores and maybe go

21:51

see your farm someday and

21:55

observe its beauty and maybe

21:55

document it a little bit more as

21:59

well. Right. At the heart of the

21:59

buy right family of businesses

22:04

is the McGahn and family's

22:04

legacy of sharing and teaching

22:07

others about food it permeates

22:07

throughout all the businesses

22:12

and is equally felt by the

22:12

producers, guests and neighbors

22:15

that comprise the by right

22:15

community, you too can be part

22:19

of the by right community simply

22:19

by visiting them in person at

22:22

one of their San Francisco

22:22

locations are online. By right

22:26

market.com That's b i r i t e

22:26

market.com. Thanks for visiting

22:34

tools for nomads, an intimate

22:34

look into the lives and habits

22:38

of passionate and creatively

22:38

prolific people like Sam again,

22:43

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22:43

watching, I hope you'll

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23:37

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23:37

We'll see you next time on tools

23:42

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