"The multicourse tasting menu, cooked by a highly credentialled chef, would be elegant and refined, made with heirloom produce from local farms. Experienced servers might pour meticulously curated natural wines, ask the obligatory "Have you dined with us before?," and swiftly fold the rumpled napkin of anyone who got up to use the rest room. What would set Community Kitchen apart from the dozens of restaurants like it across Manhattan and Brooklyn was the way patrons would pay:"
"Bittman, who turned seventy-five this year, is tall, bald, and bespectacled, with a face that is often contorted into the expression of someone who doesn't suffer fools; if he ran for office, "Nutrition is health care, stupid" might be his campaign motto. For many years, he was best known for his recipes: his iconic, enormous cookbook "How to Cook Everything" has been reprinted three times since 1998,"
Community Kitchen operated as a not-for-profit fine-dining pop-up in a Lower East Side rec center, serving a multicourse tasting menu prepared by a credentialed chef using heirloom produce from local farms. Service followed fine-dining rituals: meticulous wine pairings, attentive servers, and polished table service, with identical experiences for every guest. Patrons purchased tickets on a three-tier sliding scale—$15, $45, or $125—choosing based on ability to pay. Mark Bittman conceived and organized the project. Bittman is a long-established cookbook author and former Times columnist known for accessible recipes and a minimalist cooking approach.
Read at The New Yorker
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