It’s a quiet Monday morning at the Greenmarket at Union Square, and chefs Diana Freedman and Annabel Sharahy scour the stalls for maitake mushrooms that they’ll use in a new recipe. The pair were preparing for a Rosh Hashanah-themed meal featuring brisket, root vegetable fritters and honey cake. 

Freedman and Sharahy are farmer’s market veterans. Both sourced ingredients here while working at fine dining restaurants like Gunter Seeger and Gramercy Tavern over the past several years. This time, they’re gathering produce for Brown Butter Supper Club, a startup that makes and delivers what they call “Michelin Star-quality food” across Brooklyn that will cost you about $35 for an entrée with accoutrements. Their sandwich menu currently starts at $12.

The pair are among thousands of hospitality workers in Brooklyn who have been forced to stake it out on their own amid coronavirus closures. Although the pressure to make a living has led to ingenuity in Brooklyn’s culinary world, it’s unclear whether the revenue from start-ups like Brown Butter Supper Club will garner the same demand in-person restaurants once did.