Features Kids Celebrity Chef Education News World-Class Chef Dan Giusti is Giving School Lunch a Gourmet Overhaul (Starting in New London CT) Connecticut Magazine January 24, 2020 Dan Giusti. Photo by Winter Caplanson Dan Giusti was not used to failing in the kitchen. At 29 years old he had been named the head chef at Noma in Copenhagen, making him a de facto high priest of fine dining. As the leader of the kitchen of one of the world’s most critically acclaimed restaurants, he was tasked with executing owner and executive chef René Redzepi’s vision and making sure the culinary dreams of those who had spent years and months planning their visit to Copenhagen to dine at Noma came true. Giusti was good at this. But three years into the job, Giusti walked away to tackle the seemingly never-ending enigma that is school lunch. With Redzepi’s blessing and investment, Giusti founded a new company called Brigaid that sought to put skilled chefs at the helm of cafeteria kitchens in schools across America. The idea was “getting chefs who would never choose to do this work to do this work,” Giusti says. After a nationwide search, Giusti launched a pilot program in New London, a city where the poverty rate is above average and where each student has the option of eating free meals at school. Giusti recruited veteran and talented Connecticut chefs who he says were drawn by a combination of factors. Read the complete article on Connecticut Magazine.
