Just before noon, the café was in relative shambles. Tables and chairs, still being upholstered in printed textiles, were belly-up in the middle of the dining room. The kitchen was empty, save for an enormous stockpot of broth, with chicken feet bobbing at the surface. Bittman seemed unconcerned. He had been careful in selecting the people in charge, including Rae Gomes, the executive director, and Mavis-Jay Sanders, the chef, both Black women in their late thirties who have worked in the food-justice movement, and he was determined to stay out of their way.journey-inline-newsletterinline-newsletter