The next leg of his career
When Doherty hit his 25th year at Waldorf Astoria, he was starting to get a little nervous. He wanted to fulfill his dream of owning his own restaurant. After a little bit of consulting, he opened up his latest restaurant, BLACKBARN, about 10 years ago. Doherty took the fiscal responsibility lessons coupled with the leadership and management skills he learned at the Waldorf Astoria to start this venture with high school friend Tom Struzzieri. (see story in Jan/Feb edition for more details on BLACKBARN). The restaurant is farm-to-table and certified green. To achieve this designation, restaurants need to be accomplish certain tasks including composting, saving electricity, recycling, etc. Interestingly, NoMad, the neighborhood where BLACKBARN is located, has become the first neighborhood to be certified green.
Inspired to fight hunger
While Doherty was at the Waldorf Astoria, he was on the advisory board of City Harvest, which “rescues and distributes over one billion pounds of food” for people throughout the five boroughs of New York, according to its website. Doherty also did some consulting work for the Chicken Soup for the Soul group, where he learned about manufacturing food. One day, he had a calling where the concept of a complete meal in a pouch with the name, logo and message all together. He knew the name needed to be Heavenly Harvst because that’s what was foretold. Which was why when he reached out to a lawyer to trademark the name, he said it needed to be Heavenly Harvst and he wouldn’t entertain other names. Thankfully, it wasn’t taken and the foundation was formed. Doherty found a copacker to create meals that had 20 grams of protein and minimal salt that could be easily made and were nutritious. He and his daughter run the organization with a warehouse in Farmingdale and have really expanded its board of directors. To date, Heavenly Harvst has provided more than 300,000 meals to families in need. Soon, Doherty will be sending three palates (7,500 meals) to an orphanage in the Ukraine and 120,000 meals to Feed the Children. In the future, Doherty would like to see Heavenly Harvst become a global foundation and receive more funding from corporate sponsors and individuals to do its work. For those who would like to help, here are some ways: • Making a donation through the website heavenlyharvst.org. • Recommending a corporate donor/sponsor. • Organizing a Heavenly Harvst dinner where a percentage of the proceeds from a dish goes to the organization. HOSPITALITY NEWS JUNE | Page 23
Photo Credit: Fog & Apple
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