In a Mobile Kitchen, Bringing \'Brooklyn Love\' to a President\'s Choir

Robert Stolarik for The New York Times Food fit for a president’s serenaders: Christopher Scott, at his restaurant, Brooklyn Commune, in Windsor Terrace, will help feed the 300-member Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir when it goes to Washington to sing at President Obama’s inauguration.

When the Grammy award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir performs “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” at President Obama’s second inauguration o Monday, one thing is for sure: They are not going to be singing on empty stomachs.

The 300-member choir will have consumed oregano chicken kebabs and red velvet whoopie pies for lunch that day. And they’ll be looking forward to sirloin beef tips Bordelaise, collard greens and white chocolate rice pudding with dark cherries for dinner.

All of the dishes will be concocted in a mobile food truck staffed by volunteer chefs including Christopher Scott, the owner of Brooklyn Commune in Windsor Terrace.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Mr. Scott said on Monday, sitting at a wooden table in his sunny, corner restaurant, often crowded with neighborhood residents drawn to a menu that could be described as global comfort food.

Mr. Scott, 44, said he was excited about attending the historic event, even if his participation will be largely confined to a cramped 32-square-foot mobile kitchen, where he and ! several other chefs will have to prep and cook by passing food and utensils up and down the line. There will be no extra room to move around.

“I’m glad to be representing my restaurant and my family and Brooklyn,” he said. “I’m going to be taking a lot of Brooklyn love down there and sharing it with cooks from Virginia and New Orleans.”

The cooking enterprise was spearheaded by Gary LeBlanc, the founder of Mercy Chefs, a nonprofit group based near Norfolk, Va., that prepares meals for disaster victims.

After Hurricane Sandy hit, Mr. LeBlanc drove north in his mobile kitchen trailer, outfitted with commercial stoves, refrigeration and everything else it takes to rustle up huge amounts of food. He and other volunteer chefs churned out 60,000 meals for New York residents affected by the storm.

Mr. Scott assisted him on Staten Island one day, feeding 6,000 meals to storm-afflicted residents. He said his feet were numb by the end o it. “It was crazy,” he said, describing the muddy cold scene outside and the intense scene inside the truck.

By the end of his 14-hour shift, during which they made everything from scratch â€" eggs and sausage for breakfast, chili for lunch and Salisbury steak for dinner â€" and served it hot, Mr. Scott said, “I was soaking wet from steam, sweat and food funk.”

The Brooklyn Tabernacle also volunteered that day on Staten Island, serving meals and going door to door with supplies like bleach and diapers.

Since the church is not being paid for its trip to the Washington, its leaders were scratching their heads about how to feed their 300 singers over three days. Mr. LeBlanc offered to drive his truck there and set it up where they can easily stop by for meals. With that many people, he said, “You can’t just walk into a restaurant.”

Mr. Scott, who once worked for Marcus Samuelsson, the celebrity chef who cooked Mr. Obama’s first state dinner, said he was asked what he’d cook for the president if he had the opportunity. He figured that Mr. Obama, a Hawaii-born former Chicago resident, might enjoy a Chicago deep-dish pizza with Hawaiian flavors like pineapple.

“Maybe I’ll keep one stashed away,” he said, “in case he does walk up.”