“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you,” Brandon Lindsly says jokingly of the recipe for Calvin’s Bocage Market’s famous chicken salad.
Brandon manages the Jefferson Highway grocery, owned and operated by his family since 1996. It’s known locally for its house-made products—its chicken salad a top seller.
And earlier this year, it earned worldwide fame after Real Housewives of New York City star Bethenny Frankel reviewed it on TikTok.
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“That’s good stuff,” the self-proclaimed chicken salad influencer declared.
The video racked up about 1.3 million views and tripled sales for the already locally loved chicken dish in the month Frankel posted.
Brandon remembers the chicken salad first becoming popular in 1998. His dad, Calvin Lindsly, the co-owner of the market, developed the secret recipe for more than two years before cracking the code to his signature salad that flies off the shelves today.
Since going viral, Calvin has been arriving at the store an hour earlier than in years past, as early as 3:30 a.m., to prep. While sales have started to level out, the extra time helps the team get a headstart on the meticulous process. He, Brandon and one or two staff members boil the chicken for two hours, grind the meat and hand-mix in the other ingredients until it reaches a smooth, pureed texture. Some days, he cooks over 400 pounds of chicken—and when Frankel’s TikTok was at peak virality, that number was more like 1,200 pounds per day.
Brandon says even with the large influx in sales, the store hasn’t run out of chicken salad yet. Nor has its signature smoothness changed.
“The chicken salad is consistent every time,” he says. “There’s no chunks in it. Everybody knows what they’re going to get.”
And it isn’t the only fan favorite at the market. Calvin’s shoppers have been able to squeeze their own orange juice in the store’s produce section since 2013. A large shiny metal juicer slices small oranges in half, strains them and pours out fresh O.J. on demand. The store also sells pre-poured bottles for grab-and-go.
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“(People) don’t want any extra additives,” Brandon says. “When you get orange juice from the shelf and you read the ingredients, there’s a paragraph. It should just be one word. ”
Other popular foods include locally baked bread, pecans and a cream cheese frozen torte. And Kalyn’s Pimento Cheese, named for Brandon’s sister, is climbing the ranks of the store’s top sellers. Its recipe, however, isn’t kept quite as close to the chest. calvinsbocage.com
This article was originally published in the November 2024 issue of 225 Magazine.