“Pivot” has been the word of the year for the food industry, and Don Mahaney of Scratch & Co. has championed it, serving his community with every step. In March, Mahaney responded to the needs of neighbors by converting his Troy Hill eatery in Pittsburgh’s North Side to a grocery stocked with hard-to-find goods, toiletries, and a variety of prepared foods. As people struggled with a loss of income, he instituted a temporary “pay-what-you-can” model. He also started doing weekly runs up city steps, raising money to provide meals for those who were food insecure. To help parents manage work and schooling from home, Mahaney designed a subscription box filled with five days of nutritious lunch food. Collaborations, kits, meal donations, and delivery services were constantly added to the restaurant’s bill of offerings, running alongside the reopening for in-person dining in June. This all led to Scratch Food + Beverage rebranding to Scratch & Co. to better represent Mahaney’s commitment to community and collaboration.
Pittsburgh’s People of the Year 2020: Food and Drink
Don Mahaney of Scratch & Co. served his community’s needs throughout the pandemic
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