![\"Gourmega,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_0377-1920x1440.jpeg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto credit: Ahsan Washington <\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby Selena Hill <\/a><\/p>\n July 10, 2026<\/p>\n The Black-owned and Bronx-based culinary collective announced its latest venture celebrating Afro-diasporic cuisine. <\/p>\n Ghetto Gastro, the acclaimed Bronx-based culinary collective known for blending food<\/a>, fashion, art, and activism, has opened its first permanent dining concept<\/a> in New York City.<\/p>\n The invitation-only supper club, Gourmega, opened this spring<\/a> in New York City\u2019s Greenwich Village as a daytime community kitchen and caf\u00e9 before transforming into an intimate chef\u2019s table experience at night, reports Time Out New York.<\/p>\n Founded in 2012 by Jon Gray, Malcolm Livingston II, and Pierre Serrao, Ghetto Gastro has built a global following<\/a> through high-profile collaborations while championing food equity. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the collective helped provide more than 100,000 meals to food-insecure New Yorkers and Black Lives Matter protesters.<\/p>\n Although Ghetto Gastro has deep Bronx roots, Gourmega\u2019s home in Greenwich Village carries a historical significance. According to Time Out, the restaurant sits in an area once known as the \u201cLand of the Blacks,\u201d one of America\u2019s earliest free Black communities and later home to Black-and-tan clubs during the Harlem Renaissance<\/a> era. Designer Mariam Issoufou incorporated that legacy into the restaurant\u2019s Afrofuturist design through Black artwork, dramatic interiors, and a communal alabaster table that transforms throughout the day.<\/p>\n Gray said the space was intentionally created with Black women in mind.<\/p>\n His vision was to create \u201ca space of rest and welcoming for Black women,\u201d he said, explaining that \u201cBlack women always introduced me to all the fly s\u2013t that I know.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite years of speculation about opening a restaurant, Gray said the group intentionally waited for the right opportunity.<\/p>\n \u201cI was able to be a patron to La Esquina, The Box, Beatrice Inn\u2014all of these different cultural spaces that really shaped who I am, and the possibilities that I understood. So now it\u2019s my job and the gang\u2019s job to create those spaces,\u201d Gray told Time Out.<\/p>\n The restaurant offers what Gray describes as \u201cAfro-Asiatic Americana\u201d cuisine led by Chef Lester Walker, whose r\u00e9sum\u00e9 includes Eleven Madison Park and Per Se. He curated a seven- to 10-course tasting menu featuring dishes inspired by the African diaspora, Asia, Puerto Rico, and the Bronx.<\/p>\n Beyond fine dining, Gourmega partnered with the nonprofit Rethink Food to prepare more than 3,000 community meals each week during the day, with 100% of its net proceeds supporting efforts to combat food insecurity. Gray said the vision extends beyond creating another sought-after restaurant.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to be able to, like, really build community and rock with people on the reg, you know?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT: Celebrity Chef G. Garvin\u2019s LowCountry Steak Closes Midtown Atlanta Location<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t\t