Community Lunch with Renae Wilson of Dear Henry
Good food for the people! For each Community Lunch, Pioneer Works and FIG invite a local chef to prepare a menu offered free of charge to our Red Hook and neighboring communities.
This Community Lunch features food by Renae Wilson of Dear Henry. Come hungry!
Community Lunch was created to build community across identities with a priority focus on the residents who have been taking care, organizing, and holding down Red Hook for many years. Its fabric is made up of predominantly Black, Latinx, and Chinese residents in the neighboring NYCHA housing.
This event aims to work alongside and learn from the local organizations that have implemented solutions to food insecurity in an area that’s largely considered a food desert. We aim to contribute to their existing efforts aimed at achieving food sovereignty.
Everyone is welcome! We kindly ask you to take care when pulling up. Wait to get in line, introduce yourself to a stranger, make your neighbor a plate, and make space so there’s room for everybody.
Presented by Pioneer Works in partnership with FIG and ARV Kitchen
About Renae Wilson and Dear Henry
Renae Wilson of Dear Henry Pop-Up offers you cozy, comfy American Southern cooking by way of Brooklyn. Her food, which is rooted in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the woods of East Texas, will make you feel like granny fixed your plate. Whether it be a fresh take on a Southern classic, a Southeast regional dish, or a recipe that she found in the pages of a vintage church potluck cookbook, Renae’s food combines heart and soul with a dash of razzle dazzle. She cooks to share, to connect, and to make you feel loved. Welcome home.
About FIG
FIG is a grassroots collective of chefs, farmers & organizers working to transform the food system in New York and beyond. FIG fosters deep partnerships between the food world, social justice movements and frontline community organizations. Their work is based in solidarity, cooperation, and resource redistribution.
FIG’s current collaborative initiatives include:
- Food Security Program, in partnership with growers Rock Steady Farm and Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm; independent food businesses Pixie Scout and ARV Sweets; and community organizations Black Trans Liberation and Colectivo Intercultural Transgrediendo to provide free fresh produce and prepared meals weekly.
- Community Culinary Workshops, an innovative popular education program designed to empower queer, trans, Black and brown chefs to share skills and recipes with their communities.
- Study Group, a monthly gathering for political education and relationship building for food workers, founded in 2014.
About ARV Kitchen
Gabriel and Pedro are the Arvizu brothers who run Arvi Sweets and ARV Kitchen. Inspired by their Mexican roots, the brothers produce authentic handcrafted baked goods that have become staples in many shops around Brooklyn and Manhattan. The brothers’ desire to give back to the community facilitated their partnership with FIG to provide their family recipes and turn them into culturally relevant, lovingly prepared meals. ARV Kitchen’s goal is to provide a piece of home to those they serve. Learn more about ARV Kitchen
Community Lunch is made possible by Nissan.