Albatross

• JON wears JACKET by ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, PANTS by ACNE STUDIOS, SHOES by RICK OWENS, JEWELRY and SHIRT are TALENT’S OWN

• PIERRE wears JACKET by BURBERRY, SHIRT by SACAI, PANTS by KENZO, SHOES by SACAI X CLARKS

• LESTER wears JACKET by BALENCIAGA, SHIRT AND PANTS by 7 DAYS ACTIVE X OFFICE, BOOTS by MONCLER, HEADWEAR is TALENT’S OWN, JEWELRY by BERNARD JAMES and TALENT’S OWN

   

Eavesdropping in on the conversation and connection that occurred between artist Alvin Armstrong and the members of the illustrious culinary supergroup, Ghetto Gastro, I couldn’t help but think that for a moment, the black men who were talking about their lives in front of me could truly be seen as their entire selves. The main trio behind Ghetto Gastro, Pierre Serrao, Jon Gray and Lester Walker all hail from the Bronx, NY, the birthplace of hip-hop, a dominant culture in the world today. Their way of expressing themselves, from clothing to overall body language, are urban, yet hearing them speak of their lives, from their passion for telling stories through food to their appreciation for art, one immediately realizes that there is a lot more to these guys than the typical narrative attributed to black men from communities like the ones in which they grew up.

Their story is grounded in a shared tie to the borough of the Bronx, but it extends around the globe to places like the Caribbean, Ghana, Liberia and Japan, and those are just the journeys they’ve taken over the past few months alone. The gentlemen that make up the Ghetto Gastro have used culinary arts and the power of storytelling as their tools to change their own lives, and the lives of the people that make up the community around them through initiatives that nourish the body, mind, soul and social climate with a “street-to-table” mentality. Growing up in an urban city, Newark, NJ, I realize how powerful this is — the idea that you can make it out of the hood without rapping or playing a sport. There are other pathways to making it in America. Young urban youth from communities like Newark or the Bronx can also be world-class chefs, artists, entrepreneurs, architects and curators. Additionally, to do so, you don’t have to disassociate yourself from the environments that birthed you. These interviews were recorded as Armstrong, an acclaimed young artist, former member of the Coast Guard and a friend of Ghetto Gastro, painted portraits of each collective member, asking them questions about their lives during his painting process.

• PIERRE wears SHIRT and  SHORTS by WILLY CHAVARRIA, COAT and SOCKS by SACAI, BOOTS by ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, SUNGLASSES by FLATLIST X OFFICE, JEWELRY are TALENT’S OWN

   

Alvin Armstrong— Pierre, how did you and Jon meet?

Pierre Serrao— He and I were neighbors. We met in the gym. We developed a relationship as friends for a couple years before we got into business together.

AA— You were working in the kitchen at that time?

PS— I was doing a lot of private work at that time. I had my own company. I was doing events and things along those lines. I had clients in Central Park, and clients with big yachts in south Florida. I had left restaurants maybe a year or so before. I was tired of that grind.

AA— I feel you. It’s a serious grind.

PS— But yeah, we were homies before we actually got into business together. We’ve been cooking ever since. It hasn’t stopped.

AA— My favorite dish that I had from you guys is definitely the caviar with the cornbread. What else is on that one?

PS— With the crab salad. Triple C’s.

AA— Yup, Triple C’s. That shit was so fire. I had that at Basel two years ago.

PS— That’s one of my favorite dishes as well.

AA— Did you guys come up with that collectively? How does that work?

PS— All three of us work on our signature dishes. Ideas get tossed around. Conversations are had, and then we go to the lab and cook up and create. Usually, one person takes the lead on particular things — if it’s your idea. The rest of us will give constructive criticism on what we think can change, or if it’s perfect as is. These are ways that we continue to refine the craft.

Armstrong stops for a second and looks at the portrait of Serrao.

AA— It’s fire, bruh.

PS— Speed painting.

AA— These joints be quick, but they be fire. I’m acrylic all day. I just love the speed of it. Like today, being able to do three portraits really quick in one session is why I like it so much. I’m pretty happy with this. You still gotta come to the studio, dawg. You were on your way that one day.

PS— Then I got jammed up. I was with my daughter. But will stop through, best believe. Also, I’m glad to be able to see you in your element though.

AA— Have they been traveling with you?

PS— A little bit. I took them to Tokyo. [Then to] Grand Cayman and Barbados. They are in Barbados now. We spent the winter out there, on the islands, working on some stuff on the ground as well.

AA— What’s your daughter’s name again?

PS— Sage. And her art collection is up right now.

AA— Who’s in the collection?

PS— Jon is her godfather, so he still owes her a piece for her last birthday. He has promised her that for each birthday, he’d get her a piece of art… She’s got a José Parlá.

AA— Local legend.

PS— She’s got a Miguel Payano Jr. She’s got a Bryan Fernandez. She has a photo that I believe is by Renee Cox. She’s got a pretty good collection for a three-year-old.

AA— So much is about legacy, that’s why I’m always interested in how the kid’s collection is looking.

PS— She's been to gallery openings, she’s used to being in the mix. She’s three, but she loves to paint and create with her hands. She likes to perform as well. We nurture all those things to keep that imagination growing. It's an important stage in her life, where we can see how advanced she is, just because of the travel and exposure that she’s been getting through all the trips we've been taking around the world.

The interview pauses while the photo shoot of Walker jumps into full gear on the other side of the Studio. Gray wraps up his meal and sits down for his portrait. A few moments pass before the interview begins. Armstrong is getting his paint materials together as we wait for Walker’s photo shoot to pause for a wardrobe change.

• LESTER wears JACKET, PANTS, BOOTS by BALENCIAGA, SHIRT by WILLY CHAVARRIA, SUNGLASSES by GENTLE MONSTER, JEWELRY are TALENT’S OWN

AA— Jon, when did you and Les meet?

Jon Gray— I saw Lester around the neighborhood for most of my life because I grew up with his brother, Chad. My grandmother taught Chad in fourth grade. I’m two years younger than Chad, so he was like a big brother to me. He took me under his wing and made sure I was aight, because he was close with my grandmother because she was his teacher.

AA— When did you start collecting art?

JG— I consider myself a custodian of work. The first work I collected was a drawing with Oasa DuVerney. It was a diptych of Al Sharpton and Albert Einstein. We were at the Hunter MFA. So Larry Ossei-Mensah is my big brother in the art game, and he was just learning. We were learning from experience: going to open studios for MFA students, reading whatever literature and going to shows. That’s how I got a feel and understanding of what spoke to me. So, my art history and appreciation comes from looking, watching and listening.

AA— About what you gravitate towards.

JG— It has to speak to me, and also the maker of the object, I like to feel that I gravitate to them, because I’ve often felt like an outsider in many of these spaces. Being underestimated when you work in rooms can be a superpower, but it also gets annoying after a while.

AA— Like you got to prove that you belong there, and those feelings can get challenging after a while, especially when you guys have already done so much. Were you a resident at the Met? I saw you curated a show there.

JG— I curated a show at the Cooper Hewitt, which is the Smithsonian Design Museum. But I was an artist-in-residence at the Met from 2020 to 2022. It’s interesting, because we were the second cohort of civic practitioners, which is basically a program about connecting communities to the Met. Communities that the Met is not speaking to, or would like to have a deeper relationship with. It was about galvanizing people, building with the curators, letting the museum know how they could be better and shaking the bureaucracy a bit.

AA— That’s what’s up, man.

JG— It’s like, growing up in East Harlem, at one point going to school 20 blocks from the Met. It was like a beautiful full-circle moment. Even with Cooper Hewitt, I remember being on Museum Mile, but I lived in the project on the other side. On First Avenue and Metro North. 

• PIERRE wears JACKET by ALEXANDER MCQUEEN, SHIRT by 7 DAYS ACTIVE, JEANS by DENIM TEARS, BOOTS by TIMBERLAND, SUNGLASSES by GENTLE MONSTER, JEWELRY are TALENT’S OWN

• JON wears COAT by WILLY CHAVARRIA, SWEATER by DENIM TEARS, PANTS by RICK OWENS, SHOES by LOEWE, SUNGLASSES by LOUIS VUITTON, JEWELRY are TALENT’S OWN

• LESTER wears JACKET, PANTS, BOOTS by BALENCIAGA, SHIRT by WILLY CHAVARRIA, SUNGLASSES by GENTLE MONSTER, JEWELRY are TALENT’S OWN

   

Emann Odufu— Where is Cooper Hewitt?

JG— 91st street and 5th, and the Met is on 82nd and 5th, so we were really 5th and 5th City, which is what we call section 5 to 5th Avenue. Museum Mile letting them smile, you feel me.

EO— You just got back from Los Angeles.

JG— We did the Black Music Collective, which is a celebration honoring black music. Because it was the 50th anniversary of hip-hop, they honored Sylvia Rhone. She grew up in Harlem. So uptown reigns, you know that. Missy Elliot, Dr Dre, and Lil Wayne.

EO— They were all honored?

JG— Yeah, with the Global Innovator Award. It’s like a Black Grammy. Literally, it’s a Black Grammy. It’s like the same type of statue, but it's dipped in rhodium so it looks black. I don’t know what they dipped it in, but that’s my assumption. That was a lot of fun, and then the year before, we did the Oscars. So, we’ve been catching wreck at the Academy, don’t get mad at me.

AA— And more to come.

JG— Yeah, it never stops. We try to take pause to admire the blessings and how far we’ve come, but we’re just getting warmed up. [Glances at canvas] I’m going to smile. My momma would want me smiling.

AA— Your mom’s going to like it, regardless.

JG— Yeah, she’s going to be really ecstatic.

Lester Walker— Alvin, it’s dope to have this interaction after all the sessions me and you had just speaking about growth. Nothing transactional at all. Just building as brothers. We always spoke about doing something together. It just had to be the right timing and make sense, and here we are.

The shoot pauses for a half hour lunch. At some point Walker, who just hopped out of his photoshoot, sits down in front of Armstrong’s setup. He takes his durag off and re-wraps it to make it perfect for the portrait, and reminds us all that this is the second time Armstrong is painting him. The two talk about Walker’s son’s basketball games, who Armstrong had recently met about two months prior and had also done a portrait of.

• LESTER wears SHIRT by WILLY CHAVARRIA, JEANS by LOUIS VUITTON, SHOES by UGG X DENIM TEARS, SUNGLASSES by FLATLIST X OFFICE, JEWELRY by BERNARD JAMES and TALENT’S OWN

AA— It almost feels like we spoke this into existence.

LW— We really did. [Pauses] This is big right here, too. It’s an opportunity to express the multi-disciplinary talents that we have, and give an example of collaboration and how that’s the most sustainable way to do business. Just putting things down together. Just from breaking bread we could build bridges. How’s it coming out?

AA— We good, we getting there.

LW— This color’s different, too. The silky. I think it’s called Ice Blue.

AA— Yeah, it’s definitely starting to come together.

LW— When I first met you, you weren’t really interested in painting, I don’t think.

AA— Yeah, I was fresh out the Coast Guard. At that time, I wasn’t. I didn’t even know what, what the art world was, really.

LW— You was just about having fun and getting that next paycheck. But we all was artists. We were just figuring out. My art is culinary. My man Alvin is a sculptor painter. A wizard with the colors, and I’m a wizard with the food and flavors. This shit go hand in hand.

AA— Almost, almost, almost there. [Alvin smacks the paint brush on his lap forcefully] What’s coming up for you?

LW— We got PAMM coming up in Miami. We’re doing a dinner. We gon’ style em out. We got LA Frieze coming up. We’re opening a restaurant out there with Pace gallery. You've been to Mother Wolf? It’s by the Hollywood strip. We’re gonna have some merch over there, a DJ type of thing.

AA— Which artists are you excited about?

LW— I’m excited to see Chase. I’m excited to see Tschabalala’s work — we were just with her in the Cayman Islands too! Chase Hall, yourself, Aya Brown. My man Jamel Robinson. Amoako Boafo. We were just out there in Ghana with him. We went there for his opening of his new residency in Accra, so we were in Accra for a week. We did Monrovia, Liberia for a couple days.

AA— Was that your first time back in Africa?

LW— That was my first time in Africa. But it was dope because Liberia was where a lot of my ancestors were sent back to. I spent a lot of time just walking around barefoot over there. Just so I could be connected with the dirt over there, and connected with the people more. I did a social media fast. Just to be present, just to soak in everything and not be distracted by any outside situation. We went over there for the Bicentennial for Liberia. We came back to the town for like, 23 hours, and then hopped on another flight to Tokyo, Japan.

AA— In Japan, you worked with a clothing brand?

LW— Yeah, we did a collaboration with Sacai. We did a collab on an apron and some pants, and we opened up a restaurant out there called Burnside. Paying tribute to Burnside Avenue in the Bronx. So, you take the 4 train to Burnside, or you can take the Air Japan to Burnside in Tokyo. The number 4 train to the G4, you feel me. It was an amazing experience. That’s one thing about food and what we do, is how we’re able to translate our story to other languages – through food. I don’t even need to speak Japanese to tell my story to Japanese people.

AA— They get it.

LW— We make sure that we are engaging with the guest and the people that are eating. It’s really off a vibe, and a body energy and a body language that they understand where it's coming from, and how we putting this shit down.