On the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, New York City’s restaurant community remembers a remarkable volunteer effort that fed the men and women working at Ground Zero for two months. Chef Don Pintabona, 66, who once cooked for celebrities at the Tribeca Grill, helped launch “Operation Chefs With Spirit,” a city‑wide network of chefs, caterers and food‑service workers who provided hot meals to first‑responders day and night.
How the operation began
When the towers fell, Pintabona watched the devastation from his Brooklyn rooftop. A torn page from a dictionary, split between negative words like “pesky” and positive ones such as “persevere,” inspired him to turn the tragedy into a mission of service. The next day he began cooking in his own kitchen and delivered the food to Stuyvesant High School, one of the early staging areas for rescue crews.
Transporting meals through the damaged streets proved impossible, but a chance sighting of a barge on the Hudson River gave Pintabona the idea to use boats. He contacted the owner of Spirit Cruises, which supplied three vessels: one at Chelsea Piers for food preparation, a second to ferry meals to the pit, and a triple‑deck barge at Battery Park City where workers could eat and rest.
Citywide collaboration
Within hours, top chefs such as Charlie Palmer, Danny Meyer and Daniel Boulud answered the call, assigning staff to tasks ranging from chopping vegetables to organizing cutlery. Long‑time food‑service coordinator Jim Stewart, a Navy veteran, leveraged his network to secure surplus food from the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, providing enough for an estimated 75,000 meals in three days.
Restaurants across Manhattan, from small Chinatown eateries to upscale establishments under B.R. Guest, contributed. “We were getting pallets of beef from Texas and other states,” Stewart recalled. Volunteers poured in at Chelsea Piers, many with no cooking experience, and were assigned roles that matched their skills—accountants helped inventory supplies, servers staffed the buffet lines.
Impact on the responders
Meals were delivered every few hours, sailing the 2½‑mile route from Chelsea Piers to the pit. Workers, covered in soot and exhausted, welcomed the hot food and a clean place to sit. “It nourished more than just stomachs,” Pintabona said, noting the morale boost and brief respite the meals provided.
Massage therapists also volunteered, offering free massages to ease sore muscles. Bartender Megan Murphy, 51, described the experience as a “call to duty,” saying she wanted to help because she felt helpless otherwise. She stayed on the night shift, serving food and listening to the responders’ stories.
Legacy of service
Operation Chefs With Spirit continued 24/7 for two months, feeding thousands of firefighters, police officers, construction crews and volunteers who worked tirelessly to clear the site. The effort demonstrated how New Yorkers can mobilize quickly, using private resources and faith‑driven compassion to support those who protect the city.
Today, the chefs and volunteers still gather to remember the experience, honoring the resilience of the first‑responders and the spirit of service that defined their response.
Original reporting: Brookhaven News – ABC7 New York — read the source article.
