January 2022 Edition

BANQUET OF HOPE

S oup kitchens have long had poor reputations. The dreary perception that follows these spaces, however, could not be further from the truth. Hospitality News Magazine learned this when we got the chance to travel to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) and chat with Chef Adam Livow, TASK’s Manager of Food Services, a wonderfully enthusiastic chef who shared with us his personal history, his plans for TASK, and a little bit about Hell’s Kitchen. Chef Adam speaks with an upbeat positivity blended with sincere humility and an eye for the good in the world. As a kid in Marlboro, NJ he struggled staying focused in traditional classroom settings due to ADHD. Fortunately, he realized early on that he was a hands on learner and found that cooking – a passion fostered at home with his mother – kept him engaged. After excelling in his high school’s culinary program and completing a degree in Criminal Justice, Chef Adam enrolled at the French Culinary Center and became classically trained.

“It kept me engaged. I wasn’t just sitting in a classroom learning a recipe for chicken chasseur, [I learned] it by executing the dish.”