In four storefronts along Henry Street, between Orange and Cranberry Streets, a Brooklyn ownership group and some 50 employees, most of them Heights residents, are building a new world of food. With big plans and lots of community spirit, they are supplementing local food offerings - with prepared meals to go, homemade baked goods and ice cream, sit-down gourmet pizza, and, soon, a wine bar -- and extending a helping hand to local organizations.

Local resident Dan Kaufman is an owner and the man in charge. Dan comes from a long line of food purveyors - his grandfather owned a produce shop, his father was a wine merchant, and, thanks to his mother, family meals were always an occasion. He calls this his “dream job”. On site from 6 AM when Busy Chef opens until its 11 PM closing, Dan draws on his coast-to-coast restaurant background to develop the brands and do a lot of the cooking.

"Our mission is to be a good neighbor," Dan says. To that end, Busy Chef contributes food to PS8, churches and synagogues, and community events. Thus, neighbors who attended “It's Our Park Day” on October 20, raking and planting bulbs in Cadman Park, enjoyed free sandwiches contributed by Busy Chef as well as freshly baked cakes that were sold at PS 8's bake table to benefit the school.

Dan emphasizes that these contributions are driven by his employees who, at the end of the day, don't walk out the door and take the subway home. Most of them live in the Heights, have families here, and send their children to neighborhood schools. That explains their contributions to the community, which also include donations to a homeless shelter ("one of our employees is involved with that"), biscuits for passing dogs, and litter-free sidewalks.

Blue Pig came first. About two years ago, Julia Horowitz - Dan calls her a "creative woman with a great story and great recipes" - moved here from Croton (where the first Blue Pig still operates) and opened Blue Pig, making and selling ice cream with 14% milk fat (the "gold standard.") With a third shop recently opened in Grand Central, Julia loves to experiment with flavors, and Dan expects more stores will follow.

Busy Chef, open 8 months, is the flagship store, with its feet in two markets. It offers prepared foods to go - from Yankee Pot Roast and Beef Brisket to Eggplant Parmesan and Curry Chicken with Vegetables. Customers check the menu online (busychef.biz) and call for pick-up or delivery. Busy Chef is also a full-line bakery with two pastry chefs. This part of the business is Kaufman’s special pride.

Oven opened last summer with a theme of wine and pizza (plus other choices). Chris, the proprietor invites customers to sit down and enjoy a glass of wine and a salad with over a dozen ‘upscale’ pizzas. It bridges generation gaps, offers free delivery, and is available for private parties.

UCG - coming soon to the yellow storefront on the north side of Cranberry, UCG (for Uncommon Ground, a name already in use) will be a wine bar. Operated by Amanda Green, a co-founder of Bouillabaisse, UCG will also serve food and owners hope to open a sidewalk café.

With Blue Pig's new shop in Manhattan, this business has already grown beyond Henry Street. Three new Busy Chefs are under construction - one on Court Street across from the Regal Court Street movie theater, another in Fort Greene, and a third in Chelsea. But whatever happens in the future, Dan says, Brooklyn and the local community is the heart and soul of the business.