In this restaurant in downtown Rio, volunteers like journalists come to serve every day, including chefs and waiters. The chefs who come here to help are all professional chefs, even famous chefs from Brazil and all over the world. Homeless people who usually sleep on the street and have a full meal with an empty stomach enjoy the delicious food here and the feeling of being respected.
The "Shili Restaurant" was born because of a chance encounter at the 20 15 Milan World Expo. At the invitation of Italian Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura, David Hertz, a chef from Brazil, cooked with discarded raw materials and distributed the prepared food to the vagrants on the streets of Milan, which made Hertz very moved.
Hertz himself is the initiator of the "Food Power" social assistance project. In 2006, he left the restaurant where he worked and began to teach poor young people to cook without any tuition. He just wants these young people to have skills and find jobs. Why not combine these two practices? Hertz hit it off with Portula. So, in 20 16, Bottura served as the chef, and the students of the "food power" project helped to cook, so the homeless restaurant was established.
During the Rio Olympic Games, the restaurant used leftovers from cooking for athletes in the Olympic Village. Now all the ingredients for cooking come from local supermarkets. Every day, vegetables and fruits are thrown away by the supermarket because they are not beautiful, but it does not affect eating. As for fish, meat, etc. , need to be provided by sponsors or sponsored by cooperative restaurants.
On the morning of the experience 1 1 or so, the reporter saw a truck parked at the entrance of the restaurant and boxes of vegetables and fruits arrived. The staff sorted these foods again and discarded those foods that were really inedible. While observing the ingredients, the chef discussed the menu with his assistant that night. Due to the particularity of the source of ingredients here, we have to wait for the ingredients to arrive every day to determine what to eat for dinner.
The chef of the day was Carla Porto, a student of the third training course of "Food Power". After graduation, she opened a small restaurant, but whenever she has time, she will come to the "Shili Restaurant" to help.
Volunteer Luciana Benamor was in charge of dessert that night. She lives in Niteroi, across the sea from Rio. She needs to get up early to help in the restaurant, but she is happy to think that she can help so many people. "I come to the restaurant two days a week now, and I even worked here for 30 hours last week! I don't feel tired at all, because I am very happy. "
At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, everyone began to prepare dinner. Wash vegetables, cook pumpkin soup, cook noodles and serve dessert ... This restaurant prepares 72 dinners every day. Mariana, the public relations manager, told reporters that some government agencies and NGOs are responsible for arranging street vagrants to eat here every day, so that there won't be too many people or dissatisfaction.
At 5 o'clock in the afternoon, volunteers as waiters arrived. Volunteers usually sign up through restaurant official website or social media. The restaurant staff will arrange a short training for everyone first, and then volunteers will set the table and pour a glass of mineral water on each table, waiting for the diners to arrive.
At 6 o'clock sharp, the restaurant opened and the tramps couldn't wait to sit down. The exquisite food made them particularly satisfied, even the bread and olives as side dishes were eaten clean. Two of them heard that the reporter was from China, and asked the reporter to write their names in Chinese on the napkin, and then carefully put away the napkin. An old lady actually said "thank you" in Chinese when the reporter served food. The reporter asked her where she learned it. She said that an China man once gave her some food and money. She learned "thank you" from this kind person and used it again today. She is very happy.
Although the clothes of these diners are incompatible with the fashionable and elegant design of the restaurant, their behavior is not vulgar. Some people will pile up the plates after eating a dish, making it faster and more convenient for the waiter to clean them up. Hertz said that he hoped that people who came here to eat would feel respected, not given alms. After serving for one night, he found that they actually deserved people's respect.