Steven Picker, a recovered chef/restaurateur, is the Executive Director of the NYC Food & Beverage Industry Partnership (#F&BIP”) at the NYC Dept. of Small Business Services. The F&BIP team acts as a convener to drive alignment and collaboration among NYC food service sector leaders, business operators, chefs, educators, workforce development orgs, service providers, innovators, philanthropy, and city agencies. The team leads strategic thinking to guide the city’s investments in industry-informed programs and resources, and continually seeks new, actionable ways the city can demonstrate its commitment to support NYC’s food & beverage businesses and workers.

Steven’s hospitality career began with a summer job as busboy in a midtown NYC restaurant. After years in front-of-house, he transitioned into restaurant kitchens and advanced on-the-job at numerous NYC restaurants including Le Bernardin, Quilted Giraffe, Glorious Foods, and Sarabeth’s before devoting his time to the development of a restaurant concept of his own. Steven opened Good Restaurant in the West Village and, throughout its almost 20-year run, operated one of the most popular and well-loved neighborhood restaurants in the area.

Steven’s work now allows him the opportunity to have a much broader positive impact and to give back to an industry that provided him so much opportunity.