God’s Love We Deliver Announces New Culinary Council of Diverse Food World Leaders

A New Committee of Thought Leaders from Across the Food World Spectrum will Help Guide and Support the Culinary Direction of One of NYC’s Premiere Food Non-Profits

New York, NY  (February 11, 2021) – God’s Love We Deliver, the NYC metropolitan area’s leading provider of delicious, medically tailored meals to individuals living with severe and chronic illness, is assembling a team of food and culinary experts across professions, such as chefs, food writers, farmers, food activists, and food entrepreneurs committed to nourishing New Yorkers living with severe and chronic illness. Culinary Council members will include Zoe Adjonyoh, Liz Alpern, Michael Anthony, Marika Bender, Linda Goode Bryant, David Burtka, Jake Cohen, Samah Dada, Amanda Freitag, Daniel Metzger, Natasha Pickowicz, Mavis-Jay Sanders, Sicily Sierra, Julia Turshen, and Irene Wong.

“God’s Love We Deliver has always been lucky to count some of New York City’s most talented chefs and food world notables as friends,” said David Ludwigson, Vice President and Chief Development Officer. “We’re thrilled to be bringing these voices together on our Culinary Council and look forward to the delicious ideas and innovations that will spring from this group.”

Learn more about the Culinary Council members at glwd.org/culinarycouncil

• Zoe Adjonyoh is a chef, writer and activist from South-East London on a mission to bring African food to the masses. She has been named one of “London’s hottest chefs” by Time Out and was listed as one of the “44 Best Female Chefs in the World” by Hachette Cuisine France. She won the “Iconoclast award from The James Beard Foundation.
• Liz Alpern is the creator of Queer Soup Night, a global event series highlighting the talent of queer chefs and raising funds for locally-based social justice organizations. She is co-author ofThe Gefilte Manifesto: New Recipes for Old World Jewish Foodsand co-owner of The Gefilteria, a food venture that’s been reimagining Old World Jewish Foods since 2012. She was also co-executive producer of 2020’s Great Big Jewish Food Fest. Her passion for food extends to the world of food systems, and she serves a consultant for national non-profit organization, Fair Food Network. Liz has been featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 List and was selected for The Cherry Bombe 100 in 2018.
• Michael Anthony is the Executive Chef of Gramercy Tavern, where he has been since 2006. Under his leadership, the restaurant has earned a three-star New York Times review (2007) and James Beard Awards for “Outstanding Restaurant” (2008) and “Best Chef: New York City” (2012). In 2015, Mike won the James Beard Award for “Outstanding Chef,” a national recognition. His book, V is for Vegetables, won the 2015 James Beard Award for Best Vegetable-Focused Cookbook.
• Marika Bender is the General Manager for William Gottlieb Management Co., LLC where she has been since 1999. The company manages and develops more than 100 family-owned properties in New York City and the Hudson River Valley. Among the family’s properties are several farms in the Hudson River Valley, including Heermance Farm in Tivoli, New York. Under Marika’s guidance, the farms are devoted to adopting renewable energy solutions and expanding access to top-quality, farm-fresh produce for New York City’s residents. Marika also created Heermance Art/Gastronomy magazine as a platform to introduce the farms’ products to chefs and restaurants throughout the world.
• Linda Goode Bryant is the Founder and President of Project EATS, a neighborhood-based project that uses art, urban agriculture, partnerships, and social enterprise to sustainably produce and equitably distribute essential resources within and between our communities; especially those where people live on working-class and low-incomes. Originally from Columbus, OH, Linda is a Guggenheim Fellow and a Peabody Award recipient. She was Founder and Director of Just Above Midtown, Inc. (JAM), a New York City non-profit artist space. Linda has a Masters of Business Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in painting from Spelman College.
• David Burtka is a chef, caterer, and award-winning actor who released his first cookbook, Life is a Party, in April 2019. He earned a BFA from the University of Michigan and studied at the William Esper Studios in New York. The talented Le Cordon Bleu chef gained valuable experience training under incredible chefs including Gina De Palma, Cat Cora, and Thomas Keller. He has been seen in cooking segments on “Barefoot Contessa,” “E! News,” “Home Made Simple,” “Rachael Ray,” “The Kitchen,” “Celebrity Dish,” “The Fablife,” and “The Chew.”
• Jake Cohen is a recipe developer and nice Jewish boy from New York. A former food staffer at Saveur, then food editor of Tasting Table and Time Out New York, and most recently the editorial and test kitchen director of the Feedfeed. When he isn’t writing about food, he’s posting challah-braiding videos and recipes on his Instagram and TikTok (@jakecohen). His first book, Jew-ish comes out March 9, 2021.
• Samah Dada is a cookbook author and founder of her blog, DADAEATS. She has worked full-time in broadcast television at the TODAY Show where she was both the lead production associate, and an on-air food contributor. She is currently the host of her own digital cooking show, a TODAY Show original series called #COOKING with @DADAEATS. She started @DADAEATS with the goal of sharing her culinary endeavors, food adventures, and passion for creating indulgent yet healthy eats with her audience.  Her highly anticipated first cookbook, DADA Eats, comes out in June.
• Amanda Frietag, through her work in professional restaurant kitchens, as a food television personality and now author, Chef Freitag has become more than a chef, she is The Chef Next Door. While the moniker is derived from the title of Amanda’s first cookbook, The Chef Next Door: A Pro Chef’s Recipes for Fun, Fearless Home Cooking (Houghton Mifflin; 2015), it also aptly conveys both her professionalism and warm, accessible personality. These traits have served her well as a judge on Food Network’s hit series, Chopped, and as the co-host of Food Network’s American Diner Revival with Ty Pennington.
• Daniel Metzger, as the Executive Chef at God’s Love We Deliver, Chef Daniel runs one of the largest commercial kitchens in New York City. He oversees the 2.5 million meals God’s Love cooks and delivers each year with the help of hundreds of volunteers who join the kitchen team every week. Prior to becoming Executive Chef, Daniel served as an assistant, sous chef, and senior sous chef in the God’s Love kitchen. Daniel had extensive culinary experience before joining God’s Love, having worked in restaurants, catering companies, and yacht clubs. Daniel takes great pride in providing delicious, nutritious meals to the clients of God’s Love We Deliver, saying, “Food is medicine, but it doesn’t have to taste like medicine!”
• Natasha Pickowicz is a James Beard award-nominated pastry chef, writer, and activist based in NYC. Most recently, she ran the pastry programs at NYC restaurants Altro Paradiso, Flora Bar, and Flora Coffee. Much of her pastry work explores the relationship with baking and social justice, including ongoing collaborations with seminal NYC institutions like Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, God’s Love We Deliver, and Planned Parenthood of Greater New York. Since summer of 2020, Natasha has created her own pastry pop-up called Never Ending Taste, which celebrates the relationship between local farming, social justice, and community bake sales.
• Mavis-Jay Sanders has cooked at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, Blue Hill, and Untitled in New York later becoming part owner of the award-winning food truck Pico House in Los Angeles. Chef Sanders returned to New York as the Director of Operations at The Brownsville Community Culinary Center and in 2019, she was honored as one of Star Chefs’ New York Rising Star Chef. She is a James Beard Chef’s Boot Camp alum, a Chef’s Collaborative scholar, and is frequently a featured chef of the New York’s Queer Soup Night. She is now a co-founder of Food Plus People, an organization celebrating black culture and community through food.
• Sicily Sierra became a successful actress on a primetime family comedy, One on One. After graduating from Le Cordon Bleu, she started an internship at the Los Angeles Times’ test kitchen after which she and her mother co-founded Pinky & Red’s as part of La Cocina’s incubator program. Chef Sicily wants to create a food space that fosters a space for the black community to come together to enjoy one another’s company over dishes that are an ode to her ancestry, an edible piece of culture deeply tied to place and family. Chef Mavis-Jay Sanders and Chef Sicily Sierra together started Food Plus People.
• Julia Turshen is a bestselling cookbook author. Her latest book, Simply Julia, will be out in March 2021. She has written for multiple publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vogue, and more. She is the founder of Equity At The Table (EATT), an inclusive digital directory of women/non-binary individuals in food, and the host of the podcast Keep Calm and Cook On. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her wife and their dogs.
• Irene Wong is the magic ingredient that big names in food media rely on. Her food television career began in 1999 at the Food Network where she created and produced highly-rated shows. Six years later she launched IW Productions LLC and produced food, cooking and travels shows for PBS, Style Network, Hallmark Channel, Cooking Channel, Travel Channel and of course, Food Network. Irene’s food is inspired by her Chinese-American family, her culinary travels around the world, and her collection of 500+ cookbooks. Her infectious enthusiasm combined with her calming, casual, cooking style instantly makes guests feel right at home.

  Keep an eye out in the coming months for events benefiting God’s Love, hosted by the Culinary Council! 

###

About God’s Love We Deliver

God’s Love We Deliver cooks and home-delivers nutritious, medically tailored meals for people too sick to shop or cook for themselves. Founded in 1985 as a response to the AIDS pandemic, we now serve people living with more than 200 different diagnoses. To support the health and well-being of our clients, we provide ongoing nutrition assessment, education, and counseling, and advocate for food and nutrition support. God’s Love is a non-sectarian organization serving individuals living with illness, and their children and caregivers. With a community of more than 17,000 volunteers, we deliver 2.5 million meals annually. All services are free to clients and full of love. For more information, visit godslovewedeliver.org.