Bronx Food Revival Is Rewriting The Playbook On Gentrification
It's a prime example of "gentefication," economic revival led by people with roots in the community. The cultural mix is a culinary celebration: African, Albanian, Caribbean, Italian, Latino and more.
When Malcolm Livingston II, the pastry chef at Denmark's Noma, a four-time winner as the world's best restaurant, decided to move on to new things last year, he returned to his native Bronx, N.Y., and the Ghetto Gastro collective, a self-described "black power kitchen." And he is not alone.
Tim Washington, a chef nicknamed "The Cake Pusher" because he weighs his ingredients on digital scales used by drug dealers, bakes his sumptuous confections a block away from Yankee Stadium. , a South Bronx streetwear brand, annexed a pizzeria on its block, offering huge $2 shots that blend blue, a (Albanian flaky veal dumpling) is served proudly alongside a (a Puerto Rican sandwich between two slices of fried plantains).
