REFETTORIO AMBROSIANO
- FOOD FOR SOUL Wastage and Salvage
Making the connection between food, art and waste.
Back in 2014 chef Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana, Modena had the idea
to contribute to Milan's Universal Exposition (Expo 2015) with a project that
addressed the dual issue of food wastage and hunger in our cities. His concept was
to re-interpret the iconic church refectory, where monks once gathered for their
meals, and turn it into a dining hall for the city's neediest but cooking with
ingredients from the edible waste generated by Expo.
Under the vision of Bottura this was never going to be any old project. The NGO
Caritas Ambrosiana took Massimo Bottura under their wing and located an
abandoned theatre from the 1930s called Teatro Greco that was restored and turned
into an example of a contemporary Refectory. Archictects from the Politecnico of
Milan, artists and designers were asked to participate and contribute to making a
one of kind space in a forgotten quarter of Milan, Quartier Greco, located behind the
central train station. Artists Carlo Benvenuto, Enzo Cucchi, Maurizio Nannucci, and
Mimmo Palladino as well as 13 designers: Mario Bellini, Aldo Cibic, Pierluigi Cerri,
Antonio Citterio, Terry Dawn, Michele de Lucchi, Giulio Iacchetti, Piero Lissoni,
Alessandro Mendini, Fabio Novembre, Franco and Matteo Origoni, and Patricia
Urquiola helped to create a space that not only Feeds the Body but also
Nourishes the Soul. Lighting and furniture sponsors such as Riva 1920, Kartell,
Artemide, and Poliform donated the essential elements. Lavazza sponsored the
kitchen design and San Pellegrino helped with the travel logistics for the visiting
chefs.
From May 26th to Ocober 31st, the Refettorio Ambrosiano’s 96 seats served lunch
for school children and dinner for a selection of the city’s homeless residents using
ingredients that would have otherwise been thrown away. During the 5-month
period, 10 tons of food waste from the Supermarket of the Future from the Coop
pavilion in Expo, were salvaged and turned into healthy and delicious meals.
Massimo Bottura in turn invited 60 chefs, Italian and international, to Milan and
together they cooked 150 meals per day with the kitchen staff of Caritas and the 87
volunteers who dedicated their time and energy over the 5-month period.
The chefs who collaborated were: Gastón Acurio, Ferran and Albert Adrià, Ugo
Alciati, Yannick Alleno, Andoni Aduriz, Alex Atala, Andrea Aprea, Antonio Bachour,
Oriol Balaguer, Matteo Baronetto, Mario Batali, the Basque Culinary Center with
Juan Mari Arzak, Andrea Berton, Cristina Bowerman, Andreas Caminada, Moreno
Cedroni, Enrico and Roberto Cerea, Mauro Colagreco, Christian and Manuel
Costardi, Carlo Cracco, Pino Cuttaia, Alice Delcourt, Rino Duca, Alain Ducasse,
Gennaro Esposito, Luca Fantin, Mario Ferrara, Carlos García, George Brown
Collage, Todd Gray, Rodolfo Guzmán, David Hertz with Gastromotiva, Daniel
Humm, Antonia Klugmann, La Lanterna di Diogene, Carles Mampel, Fabrizio
Mantovani, Virgilio Martínez, Mark Moriarty, Jess Murphy, Yoshiro Narisawa,
Alessandro Negrini and Fabio Pisani, Petter Nilsson, Davide Oldani, Enrique Olvera,
Matt Orlando, Daniel Patterson, Sara Papa, Matías Perdomo, Roberto Petza, Rene
Redzepi, Joan Roca, Ana Ros, the Santini family, Davide Scabin, Digby Stridiron,
Michel Troisgros, Mitsuharu Tsumura, Mauro Uliassi, Viviana Varese and John
Winter Russell.
Theater of Life Documentary
Canadian filmmaker Peter Svatek, documented the development of the soup
kitchen, its chefs as well as some of its guests. The documentary, Theater of Life,
will be released in the fall of 2016 worldwide.
FOOD FOR SOUL Foundation
Expo Milan 2015 closed its doors on October 31st, 2015 but the Refettorio
Ambrosiano continues to serve meals daily to its guests with the help of the Caritas
kitchen staff and local volunteers. Due to the success of the project, Osteria
Francescana has decided to create the Food for Soul Foundation to continue to
develop the ideas and concepts, as well as the recipes that evolved over the months
of preparation and action. The main goal of the foundation is to offer support and
guidance for opening future soup kitchens around the world based on a shared
sensibility about food wastage and hunger. The foundation is currently working on a
cookbook of the recipes created in Milan for publication in Spring 2017. The
foundation is currently collaborating with the opening of a Refectory in Turin in 2016
as well as a possible New York Refectory in 2017.
English language articles written about Refettorio Ambrosiano:
- Gabriele Zanatta - Identità Golose-:
http://www.identitagolose.com/sito/en/180/10998/tutto-expo/the-first-supper-at-refettorio.html?p=0
- Joanna Savill- Good food:
http://www.goodfood.com.au/good-food/food-news/dumpster-to-dining-room-chefs-take-the-foodwaste-challenge-20150720-gictfd.html
- Ryan King- Fine dining lovers:
https://www.finedininglovers.com/stories/refettorio-ambrosiano/
- Blog of the USA Pavilion:
http://www.usapavilion2015.net/it/blog/a-night-at-refettorio-ambrosiano
- Jessica Chou- Refinery 29
http://www.refinery29.com/2015/11/96602/massimo-bottura-soup-kitchen-milan-expo
Pictures:
Dropbox folder- Refettorio Ambrosiano pictures
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ug2ik762w57l126/AABrf5JnGVy76-jPQbMICpITa?dl=0
Press Contact:
Cristina Reni -Osteria Francescana Modena
Telephone: +39 059220286
Cristina Reni cell +39327044557
Email: [email protected]