About the Evening

Chef's Lab x Pressure Drop brings together some of the most celebrated voices in food and culture for one night in Harlem — a multi-course tasting menu built around Pressure, the limited-edition extra virgin olive oil born from a collaboration between Ghetto Gastro and Gustiamo. Pressure is sourced from Leone di Carpineto's 500+ year-old olive trees in Molise, Italy — hand harvested, pressed, and bottled within hours of picking — one of the first oils from the 2025/2026 Italian harvest to arrive in the United States. A curated group of collaborating chefs will craft a menu that puts this rare ingredient at the center, honoring both the people who grew it and the community it's being poured for. As with all Chef's Lab events, there will be a musical performance element — chefs and music to be announced.

The Chef's Lab is an opportunity to showcase the mission and raise support for Free Food at Refettorio Harlem's three-course dinners with dignity program — currently serving 700 meals weekly across three programs — Wednesday and Friday community dinners and a Tuesday Fresh Choice Pantry and Lunch — addressing food insecurity, food waste, and especially social isolation. Every week, our kitchen recovers surplus ingredients from farmers, distributors, and food producers who practice sustainable, responsible agriculture — and transforms them into three-course meals served free to the Harlem community. Since 2023, the program has recovered over 225,000 lbs of food from entering the waste stream. The program also runs a culinary training initiative for justice-impacted individuals, providing professional kitchen skills towards meaningful employment in the food industry.

Free Food at Refettorio Harlem was recently featured in the New York Times and presented on the floor of the United States House by Rep. Jim McGovern.