Alum Adapts Recipe for Connecting Female Foodies for Pandemic Era

By Maya Pottiger ‘17, M.Jour. ‘20 | Photo by Stephanie S. Cordle

Whether you’re plucking the last cans and boxes from a picked-over grocery store aisle or a dark corner of your own pantry, figuring out what to do with the hodgepodge of stray ingredients can be a puzzle.

Pineapple Collaborative, a community of over 100,000 that connects women who love food, is asking its Instagram followers to submit their ingredients, and the staff assembles the puzzle pieces, providing a suggestion for a dish to try. All you have is salmon, lemon, white wine and artichoke hearts? Try a seared salmon with wine-braised artichokes. Did you find a jar of giardiniera? Put the peppers on a sandwich or a pizza or try them in tuna salad.

“People want to be inspired and entertained, and it’s a great way to connect with our community,” co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Atara Bernstein ‘13 said. “There’s a network effect that’s happening.”

Under non-pandemic circumstances, Pineapple Collaborative hosts at least 20 events a year at each of its locations in New York, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco. Ranging from cooking workshops to panels with prominent chefs, the aim is to build and strengthen the community with conversations around thought-provoking and substantive issues. Panel discussions include equity in the kitchen, queerness and food, and the experiences of black farmers.

“In this day and age around social media and feeling so at once connected to people but also very alone, just the act of getting into a room together and being together physically in person is kind of a radical idea,” Bernstein said.

She first realized her passion for food and the environment while studying photography and design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Yearning for more substance in her career, Bernstein came to the University of Maryland to study environmental science and policy. Her classes helped Bernstein think about nature, food and social issues.

“While I was at Maryland, I learned a lot about the idea of environmental justice and sustainability,” Bernstein said. “Those ideas have really shaped the ethical code and the values of Pineapple today, and how we’ve launched our products and how we think about our content, too.”

Though its roots are in D.C., Pineapple Collaborative is based in New York with a 10-person team spread from coast to coast. In what she calls the “best meet-cute ever,” Bernstein met co-founder and CEO Ariel Pasternak at a farmers market in 2015. Under its old name, Pineapple DC was a project where Pasternak hosted events for women in the DC food industry and Bernstein was in a supportive role. The name was inspired by the pineapple as a symbol of hospitality, along with their desire to promote a supportive and inclusive atmosphere. The two women quit their jobs in 2017 and co-founded Pineapple Collaborative, which housed the events along with the company’s other initiatives.

Pineapple Collaborative constantly serves content through its podcast called pineapple radio, a newsletter and a running feature called The Pantry, giving readers an inside look at the personal kitchens of popular chefs, including Alison Roman, Priya Krishna and Antoni Porowski.

Caviar, the food delivery service, sponsors Pineapple Collaborative’s events and provides food that aligns with the theme. In 13 cities across the country, the Women-Powered collaboration between the two allows people to order food from restaurants operated, owned and cheffed by women.

Pineapple Collaborative launched its own olive oil and apple cider vinegar products in November and plans to expand its product line, tell more travel stories and introduce a project around hosting.

A February panel with “The Defined Dish Cookbook” chef Alex Snodgrass—the most recent Washington, D.C. event—sold out in under a minute. Organizer Rae Robey, D.C. city lead for Pineapple Collaborative, was drawn to the way the organization was creating platforms for conversations about food she said were missing from mainstream media.

“They created this community for women by women all about empowering and uplifting women. I was so thrilled by that,” Robey said. “I sent them fan mail periodically for a few years and was finally like, ‘Please hire me.”

Bernstein and Pasternak were named to the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list of up-and-comers in the food and drink industry. A previous Forbes article said the “strength of their community comes from their focus on learning about interesting, innovative and political topics through their content which connects potential friends, business partners, and mentors at their events and through providing a platform to women-owned businesses to sell their products or services as well as share their mission and story.”

The two had long dreamed of being the go-to lifestyle brand for women who love food. As their brand grows, so does their determination to build a community that brings people together for conversations about serious topics.

“Along the way, what we’re seeing is we want to be that place for women, but we also want to grow sustainably and intentionally,” Bernstein said.

Atara Bernstein’s Pantry Staples

Atara Bernstein, co-founder of the women-led foodie community Pineapple Collaborative, shared an insight into her kitchen and cooking habits.

Pantry Must-Haves
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Apple cider vinegar
“Lots and lots and lots of herbs. I always have herbs in my refrigerator. They make any food taste so much better.”

Favorite Cookbooks
“Dining In” by Alison Roman
“Near & Far” by Heidi Swanson
“Indian-ish” by Priya Krishna
Vintage community cookbooks from churches and synagogues. “They’re super fun to look through. I’m doing research on them, but it’s very funny from a food history perspective to see how our food culture has changed.”