Five-Star Soup Kitchen

Chef David Garcelon has prepared meals for heads of state, rock stars and the Queen of England herself. He also cooks for New York’s homeless.

Photos by Danielle Elliot

On the second Wednesday of each month, in the damp pre-dawn hours generally reserved for the city’s late-night revelers, David Garcelon rises for the day. By five o’clock, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black apron tied on and coffee in hand, he takes his place as sous chef at St. Bart’s soup kitchen. Garcelon spends the early morning hours helping a crew of volunteers rinse and chop dozens of heads of lettuce and cabbage, then tomatoes, bell peppers and whatever other ingredients make up the daily salad. He slices open 102-ounce cans of green peas and sweet corn to pour into a bubbling vat of stew, which will stuff enough shepherd’s pie to feed the 150 or so homeless men and women who’ll be waiting at the door by seven a.m.

By 7:30, Garcelon removes his apron and crosses 50th Street, where the opulent 42-story Waldorf Astoria rises high above St. Bart’s dome. He enters the 1,413-room hotel, with its decadent Art Deco decor and crystal chandeliers. There, don…