Three Magnets Brewing Co. owners adapt food, delivery and mission to new reality

At Three Magnets Brewing Co., the chefs have been busy cooking up new dishes.

Monday, the curbside special was barbecued chicken sliders with red onions and house-smoked carrots, served with fries and chimichurri aioli. Suggested beer pairing: Carrot Cake Nectar White Imperial Stout.

“It used to be maybe 10 percent of our orders were the specials, and now it’s over 50 percent,” said Sara Reilly, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Nate Reilly. “People are just really excited about getting something new, so we’re mixing it up and having fun.”

Behind the scenes, the Reillys have been cooking up something new, too: a ready-to-heat meal delivery service that also will allow customers to order such items as coffee beans, eggs, housemade condiments and, of course, Three Magnets beers along with other alcoholic beverages.

Called Garden Movement, the new service is set to launch next week, with meals available as early as Monday.

The meals, which will be delivered cold and ready for customers to reheat and in some cases assemble, will initially be offered three times a week, Sara Reilly said.

The couple plans to start with offering themed menus three days a week — Meatless Mondays, Wholesome Wednesdays and Fun Fridays.

Meals and other items will be available by subscription and a la carte, and hot food will continue to be available for curbside pickup, with brewery employees leaving the items on tables positioned 6 feet from the curb and then waiting at a safe distance while customers pick them up.

The Reillys see the new model as a way to survive what could be a long period under a stay-at-home order while also supporting other local businesses, farmers and food producers.

“What most of the experts are saying is that this isn’t going away anytime soon for everyone,” Nate said. “Parts of society are going to open eventually, but it sounds like until there’s a vaccine, people who are susceptible are going to have to socially distance.

“This is going to be a long-term thing,” he said. “We have a really big space that we have to pay for, and if we can’t fill it up with bodies, we have to figure out how to utilize it.”

The couple is also offering customers a way to support some of Olympia’s most vulnerable people. The web order page allows customers to order meals for unhoused people, with delivery to shelters and people living on the street coordinated by Interfaith Works. The meals — needed not because there’s a shortage of food but because many of those who volunteer to prepare it are older people who are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus — cost $10 each.

“We’ve sold about 400 in just over three weeks,” Sarah Reilly said.

The system, launched after St. John’s Episcopal Church hired the restaurant to make 80 meals normally prepared by volunteers, is a convenient way to help, Nate Reilly said.

“Some people are logging on and buying 30 meals,” he said, “but so many others are just ordering food for the family and adding on one or two meals. It’s really easy for them to do that.”

Three Magnets Brewing Co.

• Where: 600 Franklin St. SE, Suite 105, Olympia
• Current hours: Noon-8 p.m. daily
• Want some? Order and pay online for curbside no-contact pickup. Delivery of ready-to-heat meals and other items is set to start next week.
• More information: 360-972-2481, http://gardenmovement.com

This story was originally published April 17, 2020 at 5:45 AM.