Italian chef's new restaurant chain: free food made from scraps

MILAN - 23 December 2017: Italian Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura plans to open two new restaurants in Paris and Naples next year, but wealthy diners are not welcome. The food will be free, made from supermarket scraps and served only to the poor.

Bottura’s prestigious restaurant in Modena, northern Italy, charges around 250 euros a head. But in Milan, his Refettorio Ambrosiano feeds the poor, many of them homeless - and now he plans to expand the charitable experiment further.

Housed in an old theater on the outskirts of the city, the Refettorio cooks free meals with leftovers from shops, following recipes created by Bottura and other famous cooks.

“I never thought these ingredients were waste,” he told Reuters.

“I always thought bread crumbs, some overripe tomatoes, brown bananas, they are just opportunities for us. To show what we can do with our creativity.”

Bottura started the project in 2015 to reuse leftovers from the eateries of Milan’s international Expo. With the support of church foundation Caritas Ambrosiana, the initiative has become a permanent project.

Unlike traditional soup kitchens, guests don’t queue. Everyone gets served at the table.

“I call it a restaurant, not a soup kitchen,” Bottura said.