Chefs Deliver More Than A Meal

New York City boasts a massive $33.6 billion restaurant industry that feeds millions of New Yorkers daily, according to 2013 statistics released by the National Restaurant Association. However, the city’s senior population often misses out on enjoying the vast cuisines New York offers.

Citymeals-on-Wheels is changing that.

Through its “Chefs Deliver for Citymeals” program, Citymeals offers New York’s finest chefs the opportunity to cook and deliver delicious meals that seniors can enjoy.

“Chefs Deliver gives our meal recipients a chance to enjoy restaurant-quality meals, which is a luxury that so many of them do not have,” said Beth Shapiro, Executive Director of Citymeals-on-Wheels.

On Tuesday, New York City chefs Ben Pollinger of Oceana and Alex Reyes of Fifth Dining at Saks Fifth Avenue volunteered with Citymeals to provide savory meals that included roast salmon, organic chicken with garden pea pesto, rhubarb-strawberry cobbler and more.

“While living in Washington, DC, I supported the DC Central Kitchen foundation for many years by cooking and teaching at their facilities,” said Reyes. “Now that I have become a New York City resident, I wanted to continue giving back to the community through food as I did in DC.”

The Chefs Deliver program has partnered with numerous high-profile chefs, including Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, Scott Conant, Ryan Hardy, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Markus Glocker and more.

“Hunger related causes are important to me because I have the privilege of cooking for pleasure,” said Pollinger when asked why he volunteers with Citymeals. “It is very important to me to be mindful of the fact that there’s people [we are] worried about getting any kind of decent food in their systems.”

“We are grateful to have such generous and talented chefs donate their time,” said Shapiro. “Reminding our homebound elderly neighbors that someone is thinking of them is incredibly important.”