Brownsville Community Culinary Center

In 2017 a non-profit started by Claus Meyer, the co-founder of the Danish restaurant Noma, engaged ACHA to help locate and design an empty retail space in Brownsville, Brooklyn. ACHA designed this 5,000+ sq ft restaurant, culinary school and community center to be adaptable to many uses. In 2022, the Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) granted the BCCC with its the highest national design award, the Excellence Award.

The BCCC’s mission is to provide education and access to food in an area designated as a food desert and an area of food poverty. The brief called for students to learn culinary skills and how to manage a Michelin-rated restaurant, while serving the local community three healthy meals daily. As a testament to the design, the BCCC’s partner Collective Fare transformed this model during the pandemic to provide hundreds of thousands of healthy meals to the Brownsville community, including its house-bound senior citizens.

Today, through Collective Fare, the BCCC offers this safe, comfortable space for neighbors to access fresh, healthy, affordable, and culturally relevant foods prepared by training program participants apprenticing alongside seasoned industry professionals. The BCCC is also available to community groups seeking to organize and address issues affecting the neighborhood, and to celebrate, relax, exchange, and enjoy each other’s company.