From the Firehouse Kitchen: Pete Gonzalez Brings Gourmet to Jersey City’s Bravest

On a sweltering Tuesday afternoon, while most of Jersey City was seeking shade, the kitchen of Engine 10 was heating up for a different reason. Pete Gonzalez, a firefighter with a spatula in one hand and a chef’s knife in the other, was orchestrating a lunchtime feast for his crew—think braised short ribs, charred summer corn, and a blueberry cobbler that vanished as fast as the alarm bell.

The ritual of the firehouse meal is as old as the Dalmatian mascot, but this summer, Gonzalez’s culinary ambitions have reached new heights. ‘We spend more hours here than at home,’ he says, arranging plates as the rest of the team files in from a morning drill. ‘A good meal keeps spirits up, especially after a long call or a hot day.’

Gonzalez sources his produce from the Lafayette community market, just a ten-minute walk from the firehouse. The firefighters chip in for ingredients, and the menu rotates with the ebb and flow of Jersey City’s summer bounty. On Mondays, it might be a classic Italian spread; by Thursday, he’s riffing on Dominican comfort food, a nod to the neighborhood’s deep ties to the Caribbean.

The open kitchen is the unofficial heart of the station—part mess hall, part therapy session. Between bites, conversation ranges from last night’s four-alarm warehouse fire to the upcoming city softball league semifinals. On days when the pace slows, Gonzalez invites rookies to help—passing down both knife skills and the unwritten code of firehouse camaraderie.

By 2 p.m., the meal is finished, the table cleared, and the city’s afternoon heat presses on. But inside Engine 10, the lingering scent of garlic and roasted peppers is a reminder: in the high-stakes world of first responders, a shared meal is more than sustenance. It’s a lifeline.