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Italian chef uses Olympics food waste to feed homeless

With three Michelin stars to his name and a restaurant recently crowned the world's best, Italian chef Massimo Bottura is used to serving the wealthy in his Modena restaurant.

Published: 18 August 2016 08:54 CEST
Italian chef uses Olympics food waste to feed homeless
Italian chef Massimo Bottura (centre) is feeding the homeless in Rio. Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

But as part of his ongoing project to eliminate food waste and help tackle social issues through food, Bottura is currently working in Rio de Janeiro, serving meals to the homeless.

The restaurant, Refettorio Gastromotiva, is housed in a building made of corrugated plastic in a lot in the city's Lapa district; its customers are members of Rio's large homeless population.

Meals are made from leftovers from caterers working at the Olympics and other local businesses, with filling, healthy dishes on the menu including aubergine parmigiana and a twist on classic carbonara which used banana skins, La Repubblica reported.

The project is the result of a collaboration between Bottura himself, whose social organization Food for Soul aims to eliminate food waste and build community, and Brazilian chef David Hertz, who runs the non-profit organization, Gastromotiva, to promote social integration.


Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

Around 5,000 meals a day are prepared both by top international chefs, and graduates of Gastromotiva's cooking school, which teaches people from Brazil's neglected favelas how to cook. The restaurant will stay open throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games, after which it will become a social project.

Bottura says his inspiration comes from Pope Francis's dedication to help the poor, and he was involved in a similar project providing food to the homeless during Milan's Expo last year, which saw an abandoned theatre on the city's outskirts transformed into a kitchen.

Bottura's Modena-based restaurant, The Osteria Francescana, was crowned the best eatery in the world in this year's prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards. The restaurant also boasts three Michelin stars and a meal doesn't come cheap, with the tasting menu setting diners back €220.

READ MORE: Meet the Italian genius behind the world's best restaurant

His dishes, including 'Yellow is bello' and 'Memory of a mortadella sandwich', offer a creative twist on traditional Italian cuisine, and Bottura doesn't take himself too seriously. He also devotes a lot of time to social projects around eliminating food waste, an issue which has become a hot topic in Italy recently.

Photo: Giuseppe Cacace/AFP

Earlier this month, Italy introduced a set of laws aimed at eliminating unnecessary food waste by incentivizing shops and restaurants to give away food waste for free. Donating food which has passed its official sell-by date has been made easier, and a €1 million campaign has been rolled out to encourage the use of 'doggy bags' in restaurants.

A study by the University of Bologna earlier this year suggested that the food wasted by Italian households and businesses amounts to some €13 billion each year, equivalent to 1.1 percent of the country's GDP.

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FOOD AND DRINK

What to do (and avoid) when paying a restaurant bill in Italy

If you have plans for dinner out in Italy, here's a look at the etiquette over the bill - from where and how to pay to the culture around tipping.

Published: 12 June 2024 12:11 CEST
What to do (and avoid) when paying a restaurant bill in Italy

If you go out to eat in Italy, then there are a few things you should know about paying the bill afterwards.

This sounds like it should be straightforward, but the etiquette may differ from your home country.

Uncertainty around how it all works in Italy leads some visitors to worry about causing offence, or to wonder if they’ve been overcharged (which is thankfully rare, although it does happen.)

But becoming familiar with a few local norms should make dining out in Italy a stress-free experience.

How to ask for the bill – When you’re ready, try to catch the waiter’s eye and ask for the bill (possiamo avere il conto?). You can always ask for the bill while they clear your plates.

Unless you’re in a very busy or touristy place the bill is not usually presented until you ask for it – this is deliberate, as Italian waiters normally don’t like to hurry their customers and once you’ve finished dinner it’s perfectly OK to linger and chat over the dregs of the wine.

If you’re in a place that runs two service periods at night (usually one at around 7.30pm and one at 9pm) then you may be asked to clear your table by a certain time, but this should be made clear to you when you book or when you arrive. 

If it’s getting late and the place is emptying out the waiter may bring over the bill and ask you to pay so they can close up the till – but they’re not necessarily saying that you have to leave. If they start stacking up chairs, however, then that’s your cue to go home.

What to expect on the bill – On top of the cost of your food and drink, in many places you can expect to see an extra fee for coperto, or a cover/table charge, on your Italian restaurant bill.

Coperto is a a fixed fee which is charged by restaurants in Italy on a per-person basis, in addition to the price of food and drinks, to cover expenses for washing or replacing cutlery, plates, napkins and tablecloths used by customers.

The coperto charge only applies to seated customers (both children and adults), meaning that you won’t have it tacked onto a takeaway order – and should definitely complain if you do.

READ ALSO: ‘A rip-off’: Should you really get mad about Italy’s table charge?

It’s usually around €2-€4 per person, but can rise as high as €10 or even €15 per person at major tourist sites such as Venice’s Piazza San Marco or right next to Milan’s Duomo cathedral.

Coperto has been banned by regional law throughout Lazio since 2006, so you shouldn’t see it listed on your bill in a Rome restaurant, though it may be snuck in in the form of an extra charge for bread (pane) or service (servizio).

There’s nothing illegal about charging these fees, and a restaurant could in theory add all three to your bill – but they must be clearly listed on the menu or price board, and you can refuse bread when it’s brought to your table so you don’t have to pay an extra charge for pane.

Where to pay the bill – One major difference between Italy and other countries is that many restaurants – usually more casual ones – will expect you to walk up to the cash register to pay the bill.

This means that once you feel ready to go you can just walk up and pay at the counter, rather than waiting for the bill.

You can always double check with the server by asking paghiamo qui o alla cassa? (do we pay here or at the counter?)

In many cases, the answer will be ‘either’ so it’s really up to you – but be prepared to wait a while for both your bill and your change if you want to pay at the table.

Tourists sit in the shade of umbrellas at an open-air restaurant on a street in central Rome, on July 19 2022. Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP.

How to split the bill – If you dined with a friend or friends, then you may want to split the bill. Some Italian restaurants use smart tablets that allow servers to click each of the items you ordered and then inform you of exactly how much you owe individually, while others will expect you to do the maths yourself. 

The waiter will likely ask how you want to pay (come volete pagare?). In response, you and your friend can tell the waiter vogliamo dividere il conto (we want to split the bill) once they come out with the card reader.

READ ALSO: How to spot the Italian restaurants to avoid

If you want to split it, you can say possiamo dividerlo in three/cinque? (can we split it three ways/divide it by five?). If there’s two of you can also say paghiamo metà a testa.

If you don’t want to do an equal split – let’s say your friend had the bistecca alla fiorentina and was drinking wine while you had a salad and a water – you can just do the maths yourself and then tell the server exactly how much you want to put on each card when they come out with the card machine.

How to leave a tip – Italian wait staff aren’t reliant on tips to get by like they are in many parts of the US. As is the case elsewhere in Europe, they are paid a standard wage and tips are viewed as an added, and optional, extra.

Italians may tell you they rarely leave a tip, or only do so if service was exceptional.

While tipping is always appreciated, then, it’s entirely at the customer’s discretion (beyond ‘servizio’ charges on the bill).

READ ALSO: When and how much should I tip in Italy?

If you don’t see servizio listed on the bill, you might want to leave one or two extra euros per person, and if there’s a group of you paying the bill together, you’d want to round up to at least the nearest five.

If you’re paying by card, bear in mind that not many places will be able to add a tip to the card payment – so you might want to carry some change or small notes so you are able to leave something behind.

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