This week, John Doherty, chef-owner of Blackbarn, an award-winning restaurant in Manhattan, had 1,250 meals delivered to the food pantry at St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in the Bronx. On Saturday, Doherty will donate the same number of meals to Church of the Ascension in Manhattan.         

The first delivery occurred the morning of Tuesday, November 14, when hundreds of needy and low-income families picked up food thanks to Doherty’s generosity and that of others who have contributed food and money to the Tolentine pantry.                   

“We really do hope that we can make an impact on the lives of those less fortunate by restoring a little dignity and nourishment, especially for children,” Doherty, who is Catholic, told The Good Newsroom in a recent email. He is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America (based in Hyde Park) – and of Holy Family Diocesan High School in South Huntington, Long Island (now St. Anthony’s High School). Blackbarn, which opened in 2015, is on East 26th Street in Manhattan.  

Onsite Tuesday morning with the special delivery was Doherty’s business partner, Mark Friedman, CEO of Hope Kitchen, who said Doherty has made similar large food donations in recent years to several other parish pantries within the Archdiocese of New York.   

“Hope Kitchen is the brand of the (donated) meals, designed to help various (charitable) organizations that are in need,” Friedman told The Good Newsroom while preparing to help with the weekly food distribution at Tolentine. “Our (donated) meals are made by a third-party manufacturer in Wisconsin, but eventually our goal is to make meals in New York as well…He (Doherty) had a desire to give back, having had a successful career as the head chef at the Waldorf Astoria…So he created both a business and a foundation; the business helps donate a percent of the revenues to the foundation.” 

He said Hope Kitchen, founded by Doherty, is a for-profit business but donated the meals on Tuesday. It primarily sells meals to government entities, hospitals, schools, YMCAs, and other organizations. It donates a small percentage of its revenues to the Heavenly HARVST Foundation, which Doherty founded and is providing meals to food banks and shelters. 

Juan De La Rosa, director of the Tolentine food pantry, said the parish is thankful for the Hope Kitchen food donations. 

“We are always grateful to people who donate food for our community – for the poor people of the community,”  De La Rosa said onsite Tuesday morning, noting that the need increased in recent years because of the Covid crisis. 

“Prayer, for us, is very important; as volunteers, we do not work without prayer. God guides us,”  he said. He then gathered volunteers and led them in prayer before the food distribution started – before recipients lined up on the Fordham Road sidewalk began to walk down to the parish hall.   

Maria Pichardo, 60, was among the food recipients. The mother of three has been a Tolentine parishioner for 32 years. “I am very grateful for all the help they have been giving us, for the community,” Pichardo said shortly before receiving meals for her family. “It helps a great deal, the food that we receive here.” 

Also on the pantry line was Rosa Maria Rodriguez, 48, who recently became a Tolentine parishioner. The mother of four said, “Very thankful. I am very thankful for all of this. Many people do not have enough to eat. This is a blessing from God.” 

One of the volunteers, Katherin Morales Avila, said, “This is very important for the community because of food insecurity; it puts food on their tables.” Morales is a staffer with Catholic Charities of New York but was at Tolentine on Tuesday as a volunteer.