Mark Bittman’s new restaurant doesn’t plan to make money

At a new restaurant in Manhattan, the goal isn’t to make money.

Launching as a pilot in September, the project—called Community Kitchen—is designed to show what it looks like when a restaurant does everything right: healthy, sustainably grown ingredients from local farmers; well-paid workers; excellent, plant-forward cooking; and food accessible to everyone, not just those who can afford $100 dinners.

Mark Bittman, the longtime food writer, started the restaurant as a nonprofit after stepping away from a career that spanned dozens of cookbooks, long-running New York Times columns, and books critiquing the food system. “I felt like I’d written enough,” he says. “I wanted to do something.”

Bittman had often written about the benefits of cooking at home for health, cost, and sustainability. But he realized it wasn’t realistic to expect everyone to cook, and that those who don’t have the time often struggle to find healthy food. “If people want to and have the time and resources to cook, the information’s out there,” he says. “I think the real hole is in helping people find good food affordably outside of the home.”

Community Kitchen’s pilot will open September 10 inside the Lower Eastside Girls Club in Manhattan’s East Village, with communal tables available four days a week. Diners will reserve fixed-menu meals on a sliding scale: $15 (just a bit more than a typical fast-food meal in New York City), $45 for middle incomes, and $125 for those used to fine dining.

The concept of “pay what you can” isn’t new, though it has often meant uncomfortable exchanges at the register. “It turns into a humiliating negotiation for the payer and the payee,” Bittman says. By paying online in advance—or eventually through apps—diners won’t have to ask publicly for a lower price.

Still, many pay-what-you-can restaurants have struggled to survive financially. Meanwhile, restaurants that prioritize ethical sourcing and worker pay often end up unaffordable. “I think you could do those first three things—source great food, pay workers well, have great food—as long as you charge $150 to $100 a person,” Bittman says. “With widespread access, you can’t do that and make money at the same time.”

That’s why Community Kitchen is structured as a nonprofit. The organization has raised funding from Bloomberg Philanthropy, Grace Foundation, Kapor Foundation, and Ford Philanthropy, among others, and will run on a budget of $1.2 million this year, including operations beyond the pilot restaurant. But Bittman doesn’t expect it to rely on philanthropy forever. One possibility is spinning off a for-profit restaurant to help fund it. He also advocates for policy change: he believes healthy, accessible restaurants should receive government support.

“My argument is that food is as important as education and healthcare and defense and police and all those other things,” he says. “And so should be funded by tax dollars—by federal money, state money, city money. We should make it so that everybody can eat really good food whenever they need to.” Some government-subsidized “public restaurants” exist in other countries, like Brazil’s “Popular restaurants,” which serve $3 meals to low income residents.

Community Kitchen will pay workers at least $30 an hour and offer predictable schedules—a rarity in the industry. While tipping isn’t necessary, any tips will be pooled and shared among nearly everyone. To avoid inequities, cooks will help serve food, and dishwashers, who remain in the back of house, will earn more than others.

The pilot will last through November, and the nonprofit will be carefully evaluating how it works. “Through the pilot, we hope to learn what it would be like to do a long-term version of community of Community Kitchen. How much do we need to raise? How much can we count on for income from the restaurant?” Bittman says.

The next step will be to raise money for a permanent restaurant—and begin sharing the learnings with anyone else who wants to start a similar project.