The pilot project, Community/KITCHEN, is a non-profit public restaurant model that will be based in the LES and will operate on a sliding scale for diners. Culinary director Mavis-Jay Sanders (left), executive director Rae Gomes (center) and founder Mark Bittman in their soon-to-be new restaurant space at The Lower East Side Girls Club. It was like, how can we tell the story of Community Kitchen in a way that’s connected to the neighborhood and the community. “And if it happened on the Lower East Side, we’d feel really happy. I want to do food that’s familiar, but also things that people wouldn’t expect, you know, things that are surprising.