Interview

Character Builder: Andrew Bension

Director of Culinary Team and Sustainability

Chef Andrew Bension’s impressive career in restaurants and four-star hotels grew deeper roots when he joined the New York City Department of Education.

There, he witnessed how food can influence young lives. He brought his vision for food as a tool for nurturing community to the Harlem Children’s Zone, where he created farm-to-table, scratch-cooked menus for inner-city students. 

“Food service sounds like you are just providing a service,” says Bension, who in 2022 was tapped to redesign Riverdale’s culinary program alongside Angela Costanzo. “We think of ourselves as community members.” 

At Riverdale, that ethos shapes everything Bension oversees, from seasonal menus and cooking classes to student clubs and community dinners. Sustainability is equally central, with reusable service ware and campuswide initiatives aimed at reducing environmental impact. “I want to create a relationship between students and their food and with each other,” he says. 

The kitchen becomes a classroom with students engaging with food in cross-disciplinary ways. Younger grades have bilingual lessons in making pico de gallo and literacy-based cooking tied to books like Growing Vegetable Soup. Upper School history explores Malaysian food to understand the spice trade. 

Students grow and harvest food through the School’s Freight Farm and hydroponic Grazing Gardens for greens on the go, with pride, curiosity, and caring for community blossoming from these connections. Beyond campus, Bension mentors the Friendly Fridge Club, where students prepare meals for Bronx neighbors facing food insecurity. 

“Our kids put a lot of love and care into these meals,” he says. “People know the food is going to be really good.”