Immig eatery all-in on halal for holiday

The mix of music is almost as eclectic as the mix of cuisine inside the Migrant Kitchen.

Mariachi, Shakira, ACDC and Queen blare through speakers as workers from Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Middle East grill halal chicken, prepare chimichurri and sprinkle za’atar on a variety of dishes.

But the Migrant Kitchen, a socially conscious Manhattan caterer staffed almost entirely by immigrants and refugees, shifted its focus during New York’s coronavirus outbreak after the city essentially shut down. It switched to a nonprofit model and started receiving donations to produce 6,500 halal meals a day for food insecure families during Ramadan, the Muslim holiday that ends May 23.

“When the shutdown happened, having lived in Palestine in shutdowns, I knew there would be food shortages especially in food insecure places like the Bronx and some parts of Queens,” said Migrant Kitchen co-founder Nasser Jaber.

The kitchen also donated meals to hospitals around the city including Lenox Hill in Manhattan, Elmhurst in Queens and Kings County in Brooklyn. Workers helped out on a volunteer basis until a GoFundMe page was set up that raised over $100,000.

After partnering with World Central Kitchen, Migrant Kitchen expanded to five locations, reinstated wages for cooks at $20 to $25 an hour and set up partnerships with distributors.

When Jaber heard from local organizations that there was a need to get highquality halal meals to as many families as possible over Ramadan, the company decided to concentrate on providing halal meals to shelters,