Notes From The City: An Abundant Life

I wrote about Chef Anthony Pino in early February, and I've written about his restaurant Bin 14 before in its own post and also on a few other occasions because I was writing about people who work with him or people whose products he has in his restaurants. When I sat down to meet with him for the blog post in February I hadn't written specifically about him before and I had been wanting to do that for some time because during the time that I've known him I've been impressed not only with the delicious food he creates, but also the quality of the experiences I've had at Bin 14 and at some of the events and tastings there. I knew a bit about Anthony David's, the first restaurant that he opened in Hoboken which celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2018, but at the time of writing my blog post I had only eaten there once at their Anniversary celebration. And then a few weeks after writing the blog post about Chef Pino all of our worlds changed drastically, and I found myself one day walking through Hoboken after having heard late on a Saturday night that the restaurants were being shut down except for takeout and delivery, and then one after another other states in the tri-state area followed that model. As I wrote in my blog post about the Love & Plenty project which I started developing as an effort to help the restaurants get funding to provide meals for people in need, the reason I was walking through Hoboken that first day after hearing about the restaurant shutdown was because I was so overwhelmed with what I knew was going to be a disaster because of my experience and background in working in community and youth development and nutrition and health and food insecurity in the inner city. Because of the work that I have done for many years, I knew how drastically the food supply system would be affected and also that on a good day there is a great deal of need so on a day like this and for long after the need would be even greater. I didn't know how to address it because the problem was so enormous, and so I went on a prayer walk through Hoboken.

In part of my mind I was thinking about Chef Pino and I had been planning to stop by Bin 14 to see if he was there, but somehow or other as I walked along Washington Street, when I got to Tenth Street I felt compelled to take a left. When I did I realized I was in front of Anthony David's and I saw Chef Pino in the window. I went inside and we started talking and almost the first thing he told me was that he wanted to stay open to try to help the community and that he knew that the Shelter was in need and that there would be many more people out of work or affected in some way who would need food. He wanted to be able to help people, but he didn't have the extra funding to do it now that his restaurants had been closed so abruptly, and with only takeout and delivery he had to let go of most of his staff and was going back into his own kitchen to cook along with the Chefs who were still working with him. It was that conversation and several that we had in the weeks after as things got darker and more difficult all over the area that led to my starting the Love & Plenty project, and seeing and hearing about Chef Pino in his kitchen day after day was one of the things that kept me going.

And now we find ourselves at another crossroads, when the Governor is opening up the State of New Jersey in slow but sure steps. Laws have been passed so that temporarily restaurants can sell cocktails and drinks to go, and Bin 14 already had the ability to sell wine by the bottle. Just this past week outdoor dining was allowed and to help restaurants with capacity the outdoor spaces are being lengthened and enlarged, with different options available for restaurant owners to apply for permits, including using the parking spaces in front of their buildings to build parklets for outdoor table seating. Through all of this I have been watching Chef Pino, sometimes stopping by to take photos and sometimes seeing his posts on Instagram. It's been inspiring to see his commitment to making something work that someone else might look at and say was impossible. But if there's one thing I've gotten to know about Chef Pino during these months since I sat down to talk with him for a blog post it's that he will always do what it takes to get done what needs to be done. Whether it means going into his own kitchen to cook for the community and creating special menus that will work in a to-go only format, or starting his Chef Pino's Feed It Forward Go Fund Me campaign that was so successful that within a few days of launching it he was able to serve 75 high quality meals to the Shelter. He was featured in the National broadcast of the Jersey For Jersey concert in a video highlighting Chef Pino's Feed It Forward, and he continues to serve meals to those in need in the community. His newest innovation is creating a parklet oasis outside each of his restaurants, and with Sangria to go on a sunny day Chef Anthony Pino will make sure that the community is feeling cared for and loved and well fed. If he has to deliver high quality meals in an environment that is a challenge, he will still deliver them with love.

Chef Anthony Pino

Executive Chef And Owner

Of Anthony David's

953 Bloomfield Street

And Bin 14

1314 Washington Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

https://anthonydavids.com/

https://bin14.com/