Introducing Platform by the James Beard Foundation

This spring, in partnership with Google and Jamestown, we're launching a groundbreaking, mission-driven culinary project at Pier 57 in New York City's Hudson River Park.

Found in the brand-new Market 57 food hall, Platform by the James Beard Foundation, a state-of-the-art show kitchen, event space, and educational hub for outstanding culinary arts programming, and Good To Go by JBF, a retail incubator for fast casual concepts featuring rotating menus from established operators who embody JBF’s mission and values, will be the physical manifestation of our Good Food for Good® mission.

Located at 25 11th Avenue at 15th Street, just a few yards from Little Island and steps from the Whitney Museum, Platform and Good To Go will welcome thousands of visitors from New York City and beyond.

Built out with the support of Google, the new space will be our central venue of public-facing culinary activity. The James Beard House will remain an integral part of our mission, activity, and history—including for select events that support fundraising for JBF programs, as well as other industry and donor engagement opportunities.

Platform by the James Beard Foundation will be fully open to the public six to seven days a week, welcoming visitors to experience the best of American food culture and the people behind it. From a weekly chef-in-residence program, to intimate dining events, exceptional beverage-focused programming, exciting cooking demos, hands-on culinary classes, interactive exhibits, book signings, industry convenings, and more—there will be something for everyone to indulge their love of food and beverage, and to celebrate the people, cultures, traditions, and innovations shaping America's food culture today.

The Foundation is excited to launch the inaugural lineup of Platform events, with the first three months of programming curated along the following themes:

• April—Empire State of Mind: honoring New York State’s culinary history and culture, featuring incredible food and beverage talent that lives within our state and city’s borders
• May—Road to the Red Carpet: presented by Capital One, May programming will kick off the Chef-In-Residence program with a series of 2022 James Beard Award Winners in the run-up to this year’s James Beard Awards ceremonies in June.
• June—Celebrating Pride: spotlighting the delicious food and achievements of LGBTQ+ members and allies in our industry

April at a Glance: Empire State of Mind

• Restaurants That Changed New York (Friday, April 7)—a panel discussion and reception highlighting establishments that significantly impacted New York City’s dining landscape with moderator Paul Freedman and panelists: Drew Nieporent, Alexander Smalls, and Tren'ness Woods-Black, granddaughter of Sylvia Woods.
• The Amazing Oyster with Ben ‘Moody’ Harney (Saturday, April 8)—a hands-on class that will shed light on how the humble oyster is advancing the sustainability of our water and the lesser-known history of the Black influence on the oyster industry.
• Century Club: A Tribute to New York’s Oldest Restaurants (Monday, April 10)—a collaborative dinner showcasing New York’s iconic, long-standing institutions that still operate today, featuring Fraunces Tavern, Grand Central Oyster Bar, Russ & Daughters, and Gage & Tollner.  
• Restaurants Shaping New York: Unapologetic Foods (Monday, April 17) —a dinner series focused on the chefs and restaurateurs projecting their point of view through their cuisine, featuring Unapologetic Foods, a restaurant group led by James Beard Award winners Roni Mazumdar and Chintan Pandya that includes the celebrated Dhamaka, Masalawala & Sons, Rowdy Rooster, and Semma.
• Holiday Feasting; Librae Bakery’s Eid Al Fitr Celebration (Saturday, April 22)— a springtime, celebratory feast marking the end of Ramadan with the East Village’s Librae Bakery, brainchild of Bahrain-born owner, Dona Murad.
• Hip Hop to Hospitality: Ladies First (Saturday, April 28)—a panel and reception moderated by Kysha Harris, this conversation will cover the intersection of hip-hop and food culture and what it takes to be a multi-hyphenate entrepreneur across two male-dominated industries.
• Market 57 Tasting Tour (Saturday, April 29)—Ticketholders will be treated to a guided tasting tour of Market 57 stopping at a select group of kiosks and at Good To Go, ending with a cooking demonstration inside PLATFORM led by Wilson Tang, second-generation owner of Nom Wah.

Good To Go by JBF will function as a 6-month rotating incubator for fast-casual concepts. The kiosk will be a place where delicious innovation from exciting talent meets sustainable, ethically sourced, delicious food. Through an application process, we'll select innovative business concepts and provide culinary professionals with critical resources to bring their vision to life, with the first "incubated" concept launching in fall 2023. As proof of concept, special menu items will only be found at Good To Go during each business's residency. The program will feature a selection of first-time brick-and-mortar outposts from beloved pop-up concepts, or seasoned operators looking to grow and evolve their businesses within a financially de-risked setting, with the support of the James Beard Foundation. Incubator concepts will collect a percentage of topline sales while in residence. The kiosk will initially launch with select menu items that were created as part of the Foundation's James Beard House Fellows program and featured nationally as part of their beloved Beard Box. In partnership with JBF, Pepsi Dig In will select a Black chef or restaurateur for an upcoming concept.

Applications for Good To Go by JBF, including criteria, timeline, and details, will be available on our website beginning April 1, 2023.

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Buy tickets and be the first to know about new events and news for Platform by JBF and Good To Go by JBF at platformbyjbf.org.

Follow @platformbyjbf on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Read the full press release.

Founding Kitchen Partners: BentoBox, Blodgett, Clover, Ecolab, Jade Range, Manitowoc, Middleby, Perfect Fry, True Refrigeration and TurboChef.

Platform Purveyors: Anchor Hocking Company, FOH®, Gourmet Settings, Great Performances, HexClad, Lavazza Coffees, Lyre’s Non-Alcoholic, McCormick for Chefs, OXO, S.Pellegrino® Sparkling Mineral Water, Skuna Bay Salmon, Sysco, Tilit, Tuxton Cookware, and VerTerra.

James Beard Foundation Official Partners: American Airlines, Capital One, and Windstar Cruises