Black-owned
Interview: JJ Johnson, Fieldtrip
CHEF INTERVIEW: JJ JOHNSON, FIELDTRIP By Georgette Farkas Founded in 2019 by Chef JJ Johnson, FIELDTRIP is a community-based dining experience that celebrates culture through
At Great Performances, we believe that nourishment is a cornerstone of community—and this year, we were proud to help strengthen that foundation through our partnership with DREAM Charter Schools. As DREAM launched its innovative Community Resource Hub at the 20 Bruckner Campus, we supported the effort by donating the fresh, farm-grown produce that families often struggle to access.
Through Katchkie Farm, our organic farm in Kinderhook, we contributed nearly 2,700 pounds of vegetables to help stock the school-based pantry with ingredients that bring both nutrition and dignity to every household. From tomatoes, carrots, and potatoes to kale, squash, herbs, and more, each week’s harvest expanded what DREAM could offer to families and deepened the impact of the pantry pilot.
This collaboration reflects our shared belief that nourishing a community begins with meeting essential needs—and that when organizations unite around care, equity, and access, families thrive. We’re honored to partner with DREAM as they build a model that supports students and families not only in the classroom, but at home and around the table.
Partnership in Action: Nourishing Families, Strengthening Community
At DREAM Charter Schools, we believe that every child deserves the foundation to thrive, academically, socially, and physically. But for many families we serve, the path to success begins not just in the classroom, but at the table. With 89% of our students qualifying for free and reduced-price lunch and 85% of our families receiving HRA benefits, food security remains one of the most pressing challenges in our communities.
This year, we took a bold step forward by launching the DREAM Community Resource Hub at our 20 Bruckner Campus, a school-based pantry pilot designed to ensure that our families have consistent, dignified access to nutritious food right where they already feel safe: at school. Each week, the Hub distributes balanced pantry bags filled with grains, proteins, dairy, vegetables, and, thanks to a remarkable partnership, fresh produce.
One of those partnerships is with Great Performances, whose weekly produce donations have transformed what our pantry can offer. Their commitment allows us to include fresh vegetables, items that are often among the most expensive and hardest for families to access. It’s not just about the food; it’s about the message it sends: that our families deserve quality, nourishment, and care.
In just a few months of the pilot, we’ve served 881 families and distributed the equivalent of hundreds of meals. Each pantry bag, designed to provide about 15 meals, helps ease the strain on households and strengthens our shared goal of growing the whole child by addressing the basic needs that underpin learning, wellbeing, and community stability
For DREAM, “DREAM is Family” isn’t just a motto, it’s a way of operating. By bringing together partners like Great Performances, we are building a model that not only feeds families but connects them to critical resources such as SNAP, WIC, and Health Bucks.
Our long-term vision is ambitious but clear: to expand the Community Resource Hub model across all DREAM campuses, ensuring that every DREAM family, no matter their current circumstances, has a reliable way to secure food and support services that enable them to play, learn, and grow.
Partnerships like the one with Great Performances make that vision possible. Their generosity reflects what happens when mission-driven organizations unite around shared values, when we see food not just as sustenance, but as a tool for dignity, connection, and hope.
Together, we’re proving that nourishing our families is the first step to nourishing our future.
About Raymie Fernandez
Raymie Fernandez serves as the Chief Operating Officer at DREAM, bringing 14 years of experience in education and 18 years in youth-serving organizations to his leadership. A native of Harlem, Raymie has been connected to the DREAM community since childhood, when he grew up in the neighborhood and played baseball against DREAM formerly known as Harlem RBI. He formally joined DREAM in 2021.
As COO, he oversees network and school-based operations across DREAM, including facilities, food services, health and safety, transportation, and procurement. He leads and develops a broad team of direct reports and dotted-line leaders whose portfolios span school operations, network operations, student enrollment, facilities, and food services.
Raymie also oversees DREAM Charter Schools’ work in health and wellness, including the scratch food program and the launch of DREAM’s first-ever community pantry, the Community Resource Hub, advancing DREAM’s commitment to holistic support for students and families.
IN HIS WORDS: GARY BEDIGAN TAKES ON A NEW ROLE AT GREAT PERFORMANCES
By Great Performances
We love celebrating at Great Performances, and and most of all, we love celebrating people. It’s one of our core values that helps support our mission to Unleash Joy through Genuine Hospitality.
One of the ways we support our people is by allowing them the chance to grow and develop within the organization, including moving to different departments. We have a lot of success stories about how people have moved from one department to another. Today, we’re sharing Gary Bedigan’s story and how he moved from operations and living in the “venue world” to sales and living in the events side of Great Performances.
Gary Bedigan joined Great Performances in 2011, working throughout the venues on the operations side at Great Performances before joining the sales team. We interviewed him to hear his story and insights on growing at Great Performances.
After 10 years with other organizations in the industry, I joined Great Performances in 2011 as the Venue Manager at BAM. It connected my passion for the arts and hospitality into one role. During the first two years, we made some impactful changes to our operations and how we put forward services at BAM. My interaction with different departments internally at Great Performances and externally through our client and vendors expanded my skills and scope. I remember sitting with Mindy Birnbaum (Chief Legal Officer at GP) for hours reviewing contracts and handbooks and felt like I was getting a junior law degree, but the skills I learned have proven invaluable many times over the years.
Fast forward 11 years later, I was proud to be part of multiple openings, structural changes, bids for new business, unique partnerships, and finding the balance of operating as a for-profit company within the walls of our nonprofit partners.
Why did you choose to change roles within GP?
During Covid, I was fortunate to stay on board at GP in a modified role planning reopenings, going after new business, and staying engaged with our cultural partners. Like so many of us, Covid gave me time to think about what’s next – was I happy with what I was doing? Was I challenged? Could I continue to grow? Was I in the right place for me, GP, and the clients I served? I got curious.
I began to explore opportunities within and outside of GP. As the pandemic eased and we worked our way through the reopenings of multiple venues and cultural partners, I realized that so much had changed within the world in a short time period. It reinforced my belief that it was the right time for me to make a move.
Tell us about the process?
First and foremost, I was reminded that communication is key. Being open to talking to colleagues, leaders, and friends inside and outside GP was critical. Each person had a unique perspective and insight on how we grow as individuals.
Through my conversations, I felt drawn towards the sales side of the business as a way to complement the operational skills I had developed during my time working on the venue side of Great Performances. I worked closely with my manager and with the head of sales to structure a transition that would support my previous role while allowing me to take on the new role with minimal disruption.
How does one pack up a life and mindset gained through one side of the company and move to the “one night stand” side of the company? Through collaboration with colleagues and trusted partners. While it wasn’t necessarily easy, it was made easier by the support across all parts of the organization – truly a testament to our core values.
What’s it like being on the Sales Team?
I could not be prouder of the work this team does. I knew that coming on board, I would be the junior member. After years of being a senior member on the venue team, it was a strange and humbling experience. However, the level of support and collaboration among the team has been incredible, and the excitement I felt was refreshing. Additionally, the fast pace of events and the amount of work, detail, craftsmanship, and time that goes into each event is like nothing I have ever seen. Working in the venue world, we saw a sliver of what would happen for an event at our venues. Seeing these events take shape from the sales and event side of GP is incredible.
You’ve been on the sales team for almost a year now – can you describe your year?
When Shaun, now Chief Revenue Officer, and I were reflecting that it had been a year since I joined his team, he asked me how I felt (apparently, tired was not the word he wanted to hear). I could honestly say that while it has been tiring at times, it’s mostly been incredibly exciting and energizing.
In the year that I’ve been on the sales team, I’ve managed more than 200 events with more than 31,000 guests. Some highlights include the Oceans, Food, and Finance Dinner, which we’ll be doing again in September; a multi-day holiday event for Brookfield Properties; Representative Jeffries’ 2023 inauguration, the VALRHONA 100th Anniversary Celebration, and most recently, the Hot Bread Kitchen Fête for 15.
Any closing thoughts for us?
None of this would have been possible without my event producer, Kevin Jaeger, who makes me look much better than I am; and the support of my colleagues, the leadership team at GP, and all of our partners.
My move from one department to another gave talented team members the opportunity to grow, expand, and share their skill sets. The move was bittersweet to say the least – I loved what I did with the venues and was sad to go, but seeing colleagues including Pia Tedesco, Cesar Parra, and Taina Alves take on new challenges was so exciting to watch.
It’s also been exciting to join the ranks of Mark Jackson, former cater waiter, and Vicky Traegler, venue catering manager, join the sales team (or “the dark side”).
And finally, I encourage everyone who’s curious about what’s next for them to explore both internal and external opportunities. Speak with your colleagues, speak with HR, and check out some departments that you’re curious about. Most importantly, keep challenging yourself.
HONORING BLACK LIVES MATTER MONTH
AND SOUL FOOD MONTH
By Great Performances
As we honor both Black Lives Matter Month and Soul Food Month, it is important to acknowledge the significant contributions of Black chefs and restaurant owners to the culinary world. From traditional Southern dishes to unique and creative fusion cuisine, Black chefs and restaurant owners have brought immense talent and creativity to the industry. We are honored to partner with Black chefs and restaurant owners who have made an impact on the culinary scene, both locally and nationally.
Join us as we celebrate their achievements, cultural heritage, and culinary mastery this month and every month.
Recent and Ongoing Collaborations Include:
Black-owned
Sylvia’s Restaurant
People’s Kitchen partners with Sylvia’s Restaurant to bring our guests comfort food by the Queen of Soul Food, Sylvia Woods.
Black-owned
Zanmi
People’s Kitchen partners with Zanmi to bring our guests Haitian dishes with a modern twist by Chef Wesly Jean Simon.
Black-owned
Charles Pan-Fried Chicken
People’s Kitchen partners with Charles Pan Fried Chicken to bring our guests Harlem’s Finest Soul Food by Chef Charles Gabriel.
Black-owned
Melba’s Restaurant
People’s Kitchen partners with Melba’s Restaurant to bring our guests premier comfort food by Chef Melba Wilson.
Black-owned
Celebrating Black History Month
CELEBRATING BLACK HISTORY MONTH By Great Performances February marks Black History Month, an annual American initiative designed to bring awareness and recognition of the achievements
Blog
Interview: Auzerais Bellamy, Blondery
CHEF INTERVIEW: AUZERAIS BELLAMY, BLONDERY By Georgette Farkas Have you had a culinary mentor, and if so, what is the most meaningful lesson learned from
Black-owned
Jumieka NYC
People’s Kitchen partners with Jumieka NYC to bring our guests Caribbean specialties with a modern twist by Chef Kemis Lawrence.
Blog
Interview: Samuel Branch, Branch Patty
CHEF INTERVIEW: SAMUEL BRANCH, BRANCH PATTY By Georgette Farkas Delivering Jamaican Patties Handmade with Sustainable Ingredients – Branch Patty Established in 2013, Branch Patty is
COVID PANDEMIC REFLECTIONS - A LOOK BACK
By Liz Neumark
It’s hard to unpack the range of emotions on the 3rd year anniversary of the Covid Pandemic rupture. On the one hand, we love to simply forget trauma and hard times and move ahead. Conversely, the impact on our routines and lives has been so profound, it is impossible not to acknowledge the historic disruption that continues to permeate our world. The physical world and social environment has changed dramatically and we are still digesting the impact; professionally, personally and emotionally.
The 3 year story is as varied as we are. In this moment of look-back, we wanted to hear the stories from all corners of our GP community (friends, colleagues, co-workers). Remembering the details of how we felt, what we experienced and how we lived through the first global pandemic of our generation is essential.
Death, illness, financial hardship, academic disruption, mental illness, family upheavals are a part of the landscape. Some were shielded and speak of growth, discovery, even economic success.
The 3 year mark coincides with the official ‘end’ of the pandemic. Restrictions are lifted, the state of emergency is over. Crowded gatherings have returned, supply chain woes are replaced by other global disasters. The push towards ‘normalcy’ feels more urgent so that the mechanisms of our society can resume. For us, the ‘war’ might be over but the scars remain. Covid is not gone and the issues it exposed with great urgency, from equity and social injustices to quality of life issues to the fractures in our county, will continue to gnaw at our bonds.
What will we remember? What will we individually take away as lessons? How will we be changed? What have we learned as a society?
Below we share the stories our colleagues, partners, and friends have shared with us. And if you’d like to share yours, send them to us at marketing@greatperformances.com. We’d love to hear from you.
Covid Reflections
TASTE OF TOMORROW CAREER DAY 2023
By Food Education Fund At Food and Finance High School, NYC
By Georgette Farkas
The whole wheat turkey and cheddar sandwiches and winter grain and butternut squash salads that Great Performances served this Saturday were not delivered to a typical event venue and were not destined for a typical catering client. In fact, the 750 bagged lunches were devoured by New York City high school students taking part in the Food Education Fund’s “Taste of Tomorrow” 2023 Career Day at the Food and Finance High School. Working with Food and Finance Highschool through student internships throughout the year has been the highlight of our ongoing workforce development and outreach programs. Witnessing their curiosity and engagement at their Career Day reflected, once again, just how fortunate we are to have these motivated young people in our culinary community.
Culinary professionals came out in force to share their skills and experience at this event open to all New York City public high school students interested in food careers. Cooking classes and interactive seminars, covering just about every possible food world topic filled every corner of the West 50th Street school. Students practiced hands on in the kitchen with chefs including Omar Tate, Lena Ciardullo and Vera Kaltinik, as they shaped fresh pasta, prepared donuts, made mozzarella and discovered whole animal butchery and sausage making and so much more.
NYC Schools Chancellor David Banks welcomed students from across the city before they fanned out to explore food entrepreneurship, brand strategy, marketing and restaurant operations. For example, the maître d’ from Brooklyn’s famed restaurant Francie, gave students a taste of real world customer facing front of house know how. Elsewhere, the likes of Pete Wells of The New York Times and Heath Goldman of TV Food Network provided an introduction to working in food media. Students could even opt for presentations on food photography and food styling. There was particular interest in community gardening, thanks to a team from Grow NYC, as well as a compelling food justice panel led by Rae Gomes.
On the catering front, Great Performances’ own Jenelle Cruickshank led an event planning seminar, giving students the opportunity to build a non profit gala from the ground up. The highschoolers plunged into the exercise head on, demonstrating their appreciatelion for the guest experience, and revealing some promising event planners of tomorrow in the group, as Great Performances founder, Liz Neumark, looked on from her very own schoolroom desk.
Food media leader Dana Cowin provided a career day highlight, with an inspiring panel and insights from a chef, a sustainability expert, a culinary editor, an influencer and an entrepreneurial blondie baker, all sharing their winding career paths to professional success. Unanimously, panelists recognized the Food and Finance High School’s unique value in providing exposure and opportunities they could not have dreamed of when they were starting out. As the day came to an end, Program Director Kat Taveras announced scholarship winners, reflecting the Food Education Fund’s drive to inspire students to continue their studies. Including those apples in the student lunches was clearly a very good idea.
Use this link to support the Food Education Fund or to take part in their internship programs.
SWEET REUNIONS
A Dream Client. An Idyllic Location. Amazing Memories. Lasting Connections.
By Stephanie Kantzos Mages
Throughout its history, Great Performances has been present at countless milestone celebrations, from weddings to baby showers (and then back to weddings); from bar and bat mitzvahs to retirement celebrations; and so many more. We treasure each of these events and pride ourselves into turning them into memorable experiences for the couples, families, and loved ones involved.
Along the way, we’ve also developed close relationships with the clients and delight when our paths can cross again, whether socially or by working with them to plan another event.
We recently heard from Stephanie Kantzos Mages, a Great Performances’ alumna, who re-connected with one of her past clients and current friends. They reminisced about a wedding Stephanie had worked on for them, and she shares her story with us here.
In the summer of 2000, a storybook wedding took place that was the highlight of my young career at Great Performances. Over 200 guests were invited to Iona Island, a magnificent natural landmark in the Hudson River known for its winter nesting of bald eagles. The remoteness of the site proved a logistical challenge, to say the least. But with the sharp focus and clear vision of my client Betty Rauch, combined with my own event production experience, we made a superb team. We conceptualized and executed a beautiful wedding for her daughter, while simultaneously forging an enduring bond between the two of us.
What made that event so remarkable? Betty and I gracefully contended with any obstacles, as we fulfilled the unique wedding vision of the bride and groom to be. The couple, Molly and Ben were and are environmental activists who wanted a wedding that was as natural as possible. We marched to Molly’s tune and created magic!
There was a wonderful feeling about each task we took on, women with force and creative power methodically working towards the same goal. This large and complex event included mapping the landscape to find the best location for tents, installing generators for power, finding portable restrooms that were actually attractive, transporting the guests and the necessary equipment to an island, choosing just the right decor to match and compliment the unique surroundings and of course, the gorgeous Great Performances menu!
Even back then we focused on local food products, selecting as many regional ingredients as possible. These included butter, cream and cheese from the Egg Farm Dairy in Peekskill, NY and organic vegetables, herbs and berries from local farms in the Hudson Valley. The New England Lamb Porterhouse and a late-night snack of Bear Mountain Barely Blue Tear of the Clouds Wild Ripened Cheddar were stars of the evening.
This wedding was an extraordinary event and perhaps even inspired my own inner sense of romance. Just 6 weeks later I met the man who was to become my husband, a marriage which took me overseas to my new home in Munich, Germany. I recently visited NYC and reached out to my lovely client Betty. She was delighted at the prospect of reuniting after 22 years, and together with her husband, affectionately welcomed me into their home.
We sat three-in-a-row, like kids in a candy store, reminiscing over Molly’s and Ben’s wedding album, astounding at the marvelous details, and feeling once again the connection that had bonded us all those years ago. It was this Wiedersehen* that reminded me to treasure memories as sweet reunions, celebrate the human spirit and cherish pieces of shared time as one of life’s precious gifts.
*Wiedersehen = meeting
About Stephanie Kantzos Mages
As a 30-year veteran in the special events industry, Stephanie Mages began her events industry journey at Great Performances in the late 1990s. She is currently an independent event planner in the Bavaria region of Germany, working with such clients as Michelin Star Chef Anton Schmaus, AMS OSRAM, and Adobe Inc.
2022 KATCHKIE FARM IN REVIEW
By Jon Ronsani
Katchkie Farm is Great Performances’ NOFA-certified organic farm located in upstate New York. A source of ingredients and inspiration, it is managed by Jon Ronsani who lives on the farm with his wife Jen and three children. Each year, Katchkie Farm offers a CSA available at select Great Performances locations for community pickup and at participating workplaces. To learn more and find out how to participate in the CSA, visit our farm site by clicking the link here.
The farm fields are covered in snow as the earth beneath lies in its deep winter slumber. Walking across them, following deer tracks with my children, one would never know the visible vitality that the earth held many months ago. This seems like a different farm from the ever fruitful one that bore so much in the summer sun. Now the farmers breathe deeply in the frosty air and take a moment to enjoy the sparkling of the snow and their children’s laughter.
Wintertime is upon the farm, and it is the time the course is mapped for the next season. However, before the course onward is charted, the course already traversed must be weighed in upon. The metrics are garnered through all of our weekly harvest records and compared to those that were anticipated before planting. Some crops were on target, some were below, and others exceeded expectations. One of those crops that did not exceed expectation was also one my favorite stories of the growing season. This year was the first time we have attempted to grow popcorn during my tenure on the farm. The first attempt at growing any crop is usually more of a learning experience than anything else. This was no exception. The variety “Dakota Black” was chosen for its superior eating quality as well as its open pollinated nature, which would allow us to save seed if it was a good fit for the farm. Much care was taken into preparing the soil for planting and tending the crop to reach its full potential. My two sons even got involved in pulling weeds under the tree like canopy that the leaves developed by mid-summer. Once we got close to harvest time, every critter within walking distance decided to make a visit to the farm. Foxes would stop by and pull whole ears off the stalks and take them back to their den for their winter store of food. Grey squirrels and red squirrels were dragging ears back to their trees to shell and store the kernels away safe and sound. Crows would stop by to perch on the corn stalks and peck kernel after kernel off of the ears. All in all, we harvested an armful or two of ears, but the fact that so much diversity abounds on the farm is another way for us to tell we are not producing our crops at the expense of nature.
Our two most outstanding crops this year were our field tomatoes and sweet potatoes. The prior year brought endless summer rains that hampered the development of these crops substantially, but with all the heat and irrigation available this year, we had bumper crops. There were days in August that were solely dedicated picking tomatoes. Crate after crate would be filled in the warm summer sun, staining our hands and shirts greenish black from the sap of the plants. This was everything that was hoped for and even more. The sweet potato crop shared equal success. Little by little the plants grew and made a vibrant green carpet of leaves catching all of the warmth of summer, bringing it down into the earth to produce the vibrantly colored roots. Crate after crate was filled with them and stored, until our cooler could hold no more sweet potatoes.
The course for the 2023 growing season is slowly coming together. Finding a balance between what is wanted, what grows well, what is profitable, and what will contribute to the health of the farm is the puzzle that must be put together every year. Finding a hibiscus that will flower in Upstate NY, planting more chicory, cauliflower, broccoli, and herbs would be wonderful pieces to add. 2023 will also bring my wife Jen into the fields and greenhouses to add a flower element to the farm. With all of the potential, I look forward to embarking on the journey ahead.
Happy Holidays from Great Performances
It’s time we catch our breath!
Another year, filled with the unexpected and unforgettable. Through it all, it’s the people around us who enrich our days,
help us through the challenges, and are there to celebrate the moments.
From all of us at Great Performances, Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year!
We also have a gift for you: a collection of recipe cards written and designed by Micha Bentel, our creative director. These recipes are perfect for entertaining at home.
LIZ'S LIST OF GIVING 2022
By Liz Neumark
New York is home. And it is a big, complex, kind, tough, and indomitable city.
It showers some with riches while being ground zero to suffering, hunger and hardship for far too many of our neighbors.
The pain is both in plain sight and invisible. We are a subway stop, a quick walk or just around the corner from the widest range of realities.
Supporting the nonprofits that help our neighbors and our city is important to all of us.
We each have causes that speak to our hearts be it anti-hunger, the arts, community health, homelessness, addiction, education, children or the elderly.
Here is a short list of some organizations I do my best to help support along with an invitation to you to learn more about them.
The Sylvia Center
The Sylvia Center educates young people on the connection between food and health.
We help children and teens take control of their health through better food choices, and encourage them to be healthy food advocates in their communities.
GrowNYC
For over 50 years, we have believed that everyone can make a positive impact and that collective action is necessary to secure a clean & healthy environment for future generations.
CityMeals
Citymeals on Wheels provides a continuous lifeline of nourishing meals and vital companionship to our homebound elderly neighbors.
The Fund for Public Housing
The Fund for Public Housing enhances the lives of NYCHA residents and uplifts the importance of public housing to New York City.
Open House New York
Open House New York promotes unparalleled access to the city—to the places, people, projects, systems, and ideas that define New York and its future.
Bronx River Alliance
The Bronx River Alliance serves as a coordinated voice for the river. We work in harmonious partnership to protect, improve and restore the Bronx River corridor. Our goal is to make a healthy ecological, recreational, educational, and economic resource for all communities through which the river flows.
Bronx Museum of the Arts
The Bronx Museum of the Arts is a contemporary art museum that connects diverse audiences to the urban experience through its permanent collection, special exhibitions, and education programs. Reflecting the borough’s dynamic communities, the Museum is the crossroad where artists, local residents, national and international visitors meet.
The Knowledge House
The Knowledge House (TKH) was founded in 2014 to close the gaps in the education-to-employment pipeline by leading digital skills training in coding and design for underserved young people in the Bronx. TKH combines technology training, career support, and a comprehensive network of partners to help disconnected job seekers secure rewarding careers in the tech economy and become financially independent. TKH aims to lift entire communities out of poverty by creating a pipeline of talented and capable workers equipped with the technology and skills that provide economic opportunity, living wages, and career mobility.
West Side Campaign Against Hunger
West Side Campaign Against Hunger is on a mission to alleviate hunger by ensuring that all New Yorkers have access with dignity to a choice of healthy food and supportive services.
Bronx Community Foundation
The Bronx Community Foundation is the first and only community foundation in The Bronx, solely dedicated to delivering resources to the borough.
The Bronx Community Foundation supports and invests in community power to eradicate inequity and build sustainable futures for all Bronxites.
OUR FAVORITE PHOTOS
November 2022
It’s been an incredible November. We held dozens of events, and through it all our teams remained energized, professional, and provided exemplary service. Our guests delighted in the experiences from the food to the location. Our culinary team dazzled with decadent delights and developed new dishes to tempt even the most jaded palates. And we set the scene for unforgettable moments.
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