Nicole Bartelme knew that her husband, David Bouley, had always wanted to start a foundation that would support not just the culinary arts but the way the creative arts in general collide with health and food. He wanted to call it the Living Pantry. So after his death in February 2024, she decided to put plans in action.

The David Bouley Living Pantry Foundation, established as a non-profit last year, has several goals as part of its mission:

• Annually award an artisan/visionary the opportunity to study with a mentor and advance their craft through creativity and innovation.
• Provide alumni chef demonstration videos from the Bouley Test Kitchen as part of the “Chef and Dr. Lecture Archives” hosted by Bouley with renowned doctors and nutritionists
• Foster the bioavailability of food by sharing the synergies of ingredients that promote gene health.
• Develop foundational “Building Block” products for optimal health, starting with a curated selection of natural ingredients, recipes and instructions on how to build your own living pantry
• Partner with farmers to regenerate soil health for nutrient-dense crops
• Support sustainable fishing practices and water purification initiatives
• Support initiatives for local farming through a five-borough competition

“David really wanted to do this while he was around,” Nicole said. “The award can go to flower design, culinary arts, bread bakers, wine makers, decor — everything that goes into service. That’s what I am basing this whole thing on — that philosophy that it takes all those things together to be transported when you come into a restaurant. It’s a combination of art, creativity and innovation.”

The first recipient would have worked with Bouley directly as a mentor; now it will fall to Nicole to connect his broad network with up and coming talent. The first recipient will be a chef.

Bouley cultivated ingredients and worked with more than 2000 purveyors in his career. He sourced his fish on Cape Code, his oysters in Maine, his knives in Japan, and on and on — developing relationships with families and producers across the globe over decades. He also developed a chef and doctor series that were filmed; Nicole plans to reproduce those with better visuals to create an archive.

Bouley’s work as a chef, business owner and resident made Tribeca a destination for fine dining starting four decades ago. His career here included eight restaurants and two retail operations — all of which were lauded by James Beard, Michelin and The Times — as well as a test kitchen and event space. And even at 70, he was still inventing new ways to think about and serve spectacular meals.

Bouley died from a hereditary heart condition on February 13, 2024, despite his years of attention to his health. It’s that sudden loss that Nicole is trying to bridge with the foundation.

“I want to make sure the legacy of his name and everything he wanted to share is carried on,” she said. “He just wanted to expand people’s bandwidth for how they are living. For him everything mattered. You don’t attach meaning to things, you give it meaning.”