16-04-2014
Right to left, Davide Rampello and Massimo Bottura, this morning in cardinal Angelo Scola’s (fourth from the right) Archdiocese in Milan presenting the Refettorio Ambrosiano project, a permanent kitchen which in May 2015 will feed students and poor people in the theatre beside the San Martino parish church, in Greco, a neighbourhood in the suburbs of Milan. Every day, a different chef will cook: from Ferran Adrià to Renè Redzepi, from Alain Ducasse to Gualtiero Marchesi
Refettorio Ambrosiano is built in the old theatre connected with the parish church of San Martino, in Greco, in the suburbs of Milan. It’s a room from the Thirties, later abandoned, which will be completely renovated and redesigned by great artists, designers, artisans and architects. A space in which – during each of the 30 days in May 2015 – the greatest Italian and international chefs will cook the food left over in the pavilions of the Expo, for students at lunchtime and for the poor in the evening.
Bottura illustrates the long list of chefs who have already accepted
Selecting the chefs was a task assigned to Bottura, the most beloved Italian chef in the world, even by his colleagues. «I began», Bottura recalled the genesis of the project, «by considering the charity-beauty pair. And the real theme behind Expo, that is to say feeding the planet. I focused on the sense of doing, of making one’s self available to others. After all, we are not rock stars but chefs who every day do nothing but feed others». In the chef’s initial idea there was Milan’s station: «I wanted a remake of "Miracle in Milan". We then decided to focus on the suburbs, a desire that is dear to the Holy Father. We found this incredible oratory in Greco: an abandoned theatre which is still alive thanks to children playing and screaming. It struck our hearts».
Besieged
Charity, goodness and beauty. To get an idea, from 2008 to 2012 the number of people who asked for the food package in Milan’s shelters has increased by about a third. This while the world continues to produce 30% food more than what is actually used. «Every day, eight-hundred people in the world», cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan explained during the presentation of the Refettorio «risk starving to death. So I’d like to thank all those who try to make people sensible to this essential priority».
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born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt