Celebrity chef Daniel Boulud rolled up his sleeves to launch a new food delivery service for front line workers.
The world renowned cuisinier cooked up the Food1st non-profit foundation with the help of SL Green Realty, which kicked in a $1 million down-payment to help the organization get up and running.
Boulud, who will open a new restaurant at SL Green’s One Vanderbilt later this year, launched the effort from his downtown prep kitchen to initially provide 1,600 meals per day to frontline medical workers. A second phase, scheduled for next week, will include additional SL Green tenants and partners to reach New York’s most food insecure populations.
In turn, this will re-activate the kitchens of some of SL Green’s food and beverage tenants, with the goal of preparing and delivering more than 150,000 meals funded by SL Green’s initial grant.
“The vision for Food1st is to partner with our tenants — beginning with the great, Chef Daniel Boulud — to provide meals to those who need them, safely bring food workers a paycheck and restore vitality and energy to the City we love,” said Marc Holliday, SL Green Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
“By establishing and seeding the Food1st non-profit, we hope others will join us in the fight to alleviate the food shortage in New York City caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”