Torrisi and Major Food Group partner with New York City’s largest anti-poverty philanthropy

Since opening in Lower Manhattan last December, Torrisi Bar & Restaurant has a status as the hardest to book in the city. Numerous articles and social media posts are devoted to helping hack your way to a table inside. Now, Chef Rich Torrici and co-owners of Major Food Group are capitalizing on this popularity for charitable purposes. Today they announced a permanent partnership with Robin Hood, a New York City-based charity that has invested nearly $3 billion in poverty alleviation over the past 35 years.

It’s part of an initiative known as Major Good, which debuted in 2015. The brand has been relaunched as Major Good 2.0. Here’s how it works…

Chef Torrici has volunteered his time and talent to cook personally curated meals for anyone who will donate more than $30,000 to the nonprofit. The first such dinner will start tonight, where 100% of the money raised will go directly to New Yorkers who are struggling to eat. If you have deep enough pockets and are interested in finding out what all the fuss is about with Torrisi, now you have a chance to find out, with the benefit of some of your less fortunate neighbors.

And don’t expect these extravagant experiments to be the Italian family’s varietal feasts in your garden – as if such a thing existed in Turrisi’s. Dinners will be held in a private dining room with its own kitchen, where you will receive individual care, attention and customized menus from the namesake chef.

“As a proud New Yorker, Torrisi Bar and Restaurant was an opportunity for me to recommit to my home city that I love and I’m equally proud to be relaunching Major Good and our partnership with Robin Hood,” says Torrisi. “The Foundation resonates deeply with me personally because I use my talent and passion through food. These are the best things I can bring to the table in the name of good. Through these dinners, we will help provide resources to the wonderful people on Earth who run amazing Robin Hood programs that focus on selflessness.” Food security “.

These programs include, but are not limited to, City Harvest, Food Bank for New York City, New York Common Pantry, St. John’s Bread & Life Program. Last year, the foundation worked with more than 300 community partners to create “paths to opportunity out of poverty for more than 325,000 New Yorkers,” according to a press release.

Robin Hood faces daunting challenges these days, with estimates suggesting that one in three New Yorkers has been affected by dietary hardship throughout the pandemic. Hyperinflation has exacerbated the current crisis. The cost of food increased 10.4% year-on-year between 2022 and 2023. Torrisi’s renewed involvement thus comes at a particularly important time.

“Money from the dinner will go directly to Robin Hood Community Partners focused on addressing critical food insecurity issues in New York City,” confirms Robin Hood CEO Richard R. Buery, Jr. “Chef Torrisi and the team at Major Food Group are a charitable corporation Naturally, she cares deeply about doing what she can to lift our fellow New Yorkers out of poverty. Chef Torrici’s vision and execution for Torrici’s Restaurant & Bar, as well as the way it pays homage to New York history and the neighborhood, inspires us deeply.”

If you’re wondering whether or not his cooking chops inspire wealthy diners to drop $30,000 on a custom meal at Turrisi’s…don’t. The chef claims he has already received requests from some to secure it several Dinner in the private space, located inside the famous Puck Building. If you would like to join the exclusive party, reservations and inquiries can be made here.