About this Event
The famed culinary collective traces the odyssey of a beloved food across cultures and geographies: an iconic dish, but also a lens into migration, memory, and shared histories across the whole of the African diaspora.
August 21:
Guests: Chef BJ Dennis, Immanuel Wilkins
August 22:
Guests: Dr. Margarita Lila Rosa, Caroline Saavedra, and more to be announced
August 23:
Guests: Chef Alexander Smalls, Chef Ayo Balogun, DJ Niara Sterling Food Pop-Up: African Super Food from Teranga
Build your own Joloff bowl with food from Chef Thiam’s restaurant, previously located in The Africa Center, and rooted in time-honored African home cooking that emphasizes ancient ingredients
Run time: 60 minutes
Performers
Creative Credits
Ghetto Gastro
Curator
Ghetto Gastro is a Bronx-born culinary collective founded by Jon Gray, Pierre Serrao, and Lester Walker. Operating at the intersection of food, fashion, music, art, and design, the collective has carved out its own distinct lane, using cuisine as a medium for cultural expression, storytelling, and social commentary.
Rooted in the Bronx as both home and muse, Ghetto Gastro draws from a borough where Caribbean, Latin, Asian, and African cultures converge, overlap, and continuously generate new forms of creativity. This environment informs their approach as a “flavor company,” where layering taste is akin to how hip-hop constructs sound—through sampling, interpolation, and reinvention—to expand, challenge, and celebrate collective memory. Within their ethos, “ghetto” signifies innovation: a deliberate marker of their commitment to honoring underrepresented and often overlooked communities while asserting visibility and pride.
Ghetto Gastro’s practice spans far beyond the plate. They are storytellers, food enthusiasts, vibe curators, activists, artists, historians, and entrepreneurs, creating experiences and products that center race, identity, and economic empowerment. Their work resists easy categorization, reflecting a multidisciplinary approach that is as fluid as the cultures that inspire it.
FOOD PAIRING
Before or after the show, stop by The Play Ground for a perfectly paired pop-up from Teranga, where you can build your own red rice Joloff bowl, full of bold West African flavors, rooted in tradition.