Carroll's Kitchen feeds thousands in need for the holidays

The 2020 pandemic brought to light the issue of food insecurity on Long Island. To combat it locally, chef Ryan Carroll of Carroll’s Kitchen has been on the forefront of feeding people in need.

After being laid off as a sous chef in New York City, Carroll moved back to his uncle's home in Sayville and started to cook for his family, never forgetting to make something for his grandmother.

Eventually, he started selling meals out of Bistro 25 East, and with the money he made he was able to donate 30,000 meals to frontline workers, police and fire departments, veterans, the elderly and children.

This Christmas, with the help of the director of catering, Cole, and chef, Alex, the grassroots nonprofit charity provided 3,000 full Christmas dinners to first responders, the elderly and families struggling with food insecurity.

The meal included glazed ham, roasted root vegetables and all the fixings. When asked what it takes to put all these moving pieces together Carroll said, “It takes an army.”

His “army” consists of 50 volunteers that helped assemble the meals and distribute them all over Long Island earlier this week. The team managed to cook, assemble and deliver thousands of meals across Suffolk County.

At the moment, Carroll is working under government grants and has been contracted by school districts to help fix school lunches across Long Island.

His ultimate dream is for Carroll’s Kitchen to become a food service provider akin to Aramark or Cisco, where they could provide meals to nursing homes and other facilities that are in need of food for the people that live there.