Our Values

Inclusivity & Diversity

As a proudly minority- and woman-owned business, inclusivity is at the heart of ChefScape. We open doors for those too often left out of the food industry, creating jobs, mentoring staff, and lifting up recent immigrants with opportunities to build lasting careers.

Entrepreneurial Spirit

At ChefScape, we live by a culture of "yes." We believe that bold ideas deserve space to grow and that with creativity, persistence, and support, hardworking entrepreneurs can transform their visions into thriving businesses.

Support Local Businesses
& Communities in Need

We see food as both a livelihood and a lifeline. That’s why we prioritize partnerships with local vendors and small businesses. Every partnership, meal, and program we run is designed to strengthen the communities we serve.

Our Story

Chefscape began six years ago in a modest 1,100 square foot commissary kitchen in Ashburn, Virginia. What started as a small space for food preparation quickly blossomed into an ecosystem of mentorship, opportunity, and community.

That vision reflects the journey of co-founders Rob Batchelder and Lorena Rivera, who immigrated from Colombia with little more than determination and a belief in the transformative power of food. Inspired by her mother’s legacy of hospitality, Lorena built ChefScape around the values of inclusion, dignity, and possibility, creating spaces where immigrant chefs and women entrepreneurs could thrive.

In 2020, ChefScape’s mission was put to the test. The team partnered with New York City and launched a large-scale meal program at the height of the pandemic. What began as 6,000 meals per week expanded into an extraordinary effort that delivered over 5.7 million meals to seniors and vulnerable New Yorkers, sustaining lives while creating hundreds of jobs for displaced food workers.

From there, ChefScape grew into a dynamic network of ghost kitchens in SoHo, a high-volume co-packing facility in Tribeca, and nonprofit partnerships across the city to combat food insecurity. Each new venture has stayed true to the same promise: to empower small food entrepreneurs while nourishing the communities around them.

Today, ChefScape is both a first-class meal provider and a thriving entrepreneurial hub, rooted in the belief that food is a vehicle for empowerment. Every meal, every kitchen, and every event we host is guided by a simple truth: food has the power to create equity, spark opportunity, and build community.

Our Team

Lorena Rivera (Co-Founder) is an entrepreneur, restaurateur, and social impact innovator who has transformed ChefScape into one of New York City’s most dynamic food ecosystems. Born in Cali, Colombia, Lorena immigrated to the United States as a young adult, carrying with her the values of hospitality and resilience instilled by her mother. With a degree in Industrial Psychology and a deep belief in the power of food to create opportunity, she co-founded ChefScape to champion women entrepreneurs, immigrant chefs, and underrepresented communities. Today, Lorena manages multiple locations across Manhattan and leads ChefScape’s vision of pairing culinary excellence with social responsibility, building a model where every meal and venture fosters empowerment.

Rob Batchelder (Co-Founder) brings both entrepreneurial vision and a deep commitment to community to ChefScape. Under his leadership, what began as a single food truck in Virginia has grown into a multi-location network of shared kitchens, ghost kitchens, and high-volume production facilities. With a background in business and a passion for service, Rob has played a key role in scaling ChefScape’s operations while keeping its mission people-centered. His work focuses on using ChefScape’s production capacity to grow food ventures, create jobs, strengthen local economies, and expand access to quality meals for communities in need.

Chef Angel Sanchez (Executive Chef) leads ChefScape’s kitchens with both skill and heart. A seasoned culinary leader, Angel has held executive positions in celebrated restaurants and built deep expertise in both refined dining and high-volume production. At ChefScape, he channels that experience into something bigger: creating meals that nourish communities, mentoring the next generation of chefs, and proving that culinary excellence and social impact can thrive side by side.