28 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {punchline} understand why it is so important to have a great wine with whatever we were eating,” Richard relays. Frank lived by the mantra, “It’s very easy to cook great food—use great ingredients.” Considering the size of those weekly dinner parties, he may have been his own best customer. “He worked until the day he died, when he was 86 years old. He loved being in the business,” Richard says. Pride in this family tradition carries on today, as six of Frank’s 10 children work for the company and serve on the board. “We are more or less on the same page. We do get along pretty well, as a result of growing up in the business together.” Richard, who oversees merchandising, forecasting, payroll and staffing, spends his days in Draeger’s administrative offices in South San Francisco, where he’s also in charge of the expansive kitchens where baked goods and deli counter offerings are prepared for all the stores. The rest of the responsibilities are divvied up among his other siblings. John heads up human business. In 1955, Frank bought out his older brother and built the Menlo Park store. In the years that followed, the business grew to include stores in San Mateo, Los Altos and across the Bay in Danville. Richard and his nine brothers and sisters all grew up in the family enterprise. “From the age of 12, we worked on stocking shelves, carrying groceries to cars, checking out groceries, cooking—we literally did all of the aspects of the business throughout our high school and college years,” Richard says. Every Sunday night was family night. His parents, both amazing cooks, would spend hours preparing and serving a meal for about 20 people, including grandparents, aunts and uncles. As for the kids, “we’d be the labor crew,” Richard recalls. “We did all the dishes, chopped all the produce.” Frank always made sure to bring great French wines to the table, both for drinking and for use in sauces. “He wanted us to
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