Inclusion in the world of catering and hotels is something recent but a trend is underway and we hope there is no turning back. The enhancement of differences, an aspiration of a society that wants to become fairer, is in place and if a few years ago seeing among the waiters at the tables a disabled person, perhaps with Down syndrome, it was really impossible, today it happens and we must be happy. Thanks to good regulations and managers and owners ready to welcome and enhance. In the sea of bad news in which we navigate on sight every day, catching positive signs of something that was not there before and today little by little there gives us hope. Sometimes they are real social projects to help more fragile people, with disabilities or to support rehabilitation paths. Other times it is the real insertion in the world of hospitality in the team of staff in service. In Padua Dadi Home is a small hotel entirely successfully managed by young people with disabilities, while the NH hotel in Padua is an example with a young worker with down syndrome well integrated into the catering service. A well-known example is PizzAut, the catering project that integrates autistic children into the world of work and educates society about this disorder. In Bologna there is very popular among university students the Bar without a name, in the center, entirely run by young deaf people. In Rome is famous La Locanda dei girasoli, a restaurant / pizzeria born with the aim of promoting the employment of people with Down syndrome, which over time has become something else with catering projects such as events and the new Special Food for training. And many others favor the integration of migrants, people in difficulty who thus find the dignity of work.
These are few examples of the change taking place.
10 value restaurants
The change even comes to a popular platform, TheFork, and it's a remarkable act to accelerate the trend. The online booking platform for restaurants in Europe now hosts realities such as PizzAut that perfectly blend the art of cooking with the pursuit of high-impact initiatives. These places, animated by the passion for something that goes beyond good food, are the pioneers of a real social movement.
"TheFork's mission is to support restaurants to increase their bookings while helping customers find the place that makes their meal out of the home unforgettable. We are extremely satisfied when this mission manages to join a good cause, because we are able to become promoters of an increasingly sustainable and inclusive restaurant and society, in line with our values", explained Carlo Carollo, Country Manager of TheFork in Italy.
Here are 10 "good" restaurants in every sense:
PizzAut (Milan, Monza): These days with his truck at the Rimini Meeting, Nico Acampora's gastronomic and social project aims to grow more and more to guarantee as many autistic children a future and dignity.
Jodok Pizza e Cucina (Milan): Catering activity headed by Olinda, a collective project born in 1996 in the park of the former Paolo Pini Psychiatric Hospital with the mission of supporting the rehabilitation of people with mental health problems. Jodok is one of its emanations. A restaurant-pizzeria ideal to escape from the Milanese heat by staying in the city and enjoying gourmet pizzas and Mediterranean-inspired dishes.
Fiore Cucina in Libertà (Lecco): In 1996 the former Wall Street building, home of this activity, was confiscated from organized crime and in 2017 returned to citizens as a catering establishment dedicated to social inclusion, cultural promotion and good food, with particular attention to values such as legality, reception and employment of disadvantaged people. At the table pizzas with refined and tasty doughs and toppings.
Le Fonderie Ozanam (Turin): Fonderie Ozanam is a non-profit social cooperative that has been operating in the catering world for 33 years and has as its mission to train young people with a certified disadvantage, the same ones who work every day in the kitchens putting themselves to the test in a professional and fun way. The result is a laboratory of culinary recipes that comes to life from the constant sharing of ideas and that feeds on the products of its own garden, marrying a concept of slow and zero km cuisine. There is no shortage of perfectly leavened pizzas.
Antica Riva (Vimercate, MB): Catering project that aims to train and integrate people with disabilities and not. The menu is seasonal, modern and Mediterranean-inspired and pays great attention to the quality of the ingredients of the dishes and pizzas, made with dough based on type 1 flour with wheat germ.
Roots (Modena): This social enterprise project for migrant women in Modena is a restaurant, a coworking and an event space. The menu is seasonal and tells the story of those in the kitchen: so far, it hosts recipes of Albanian and Nigerian origin. Even the wine list is the result of a selection from producersICI that promote examples of female leadership and entrepreneurship in the wine sector.
CIM – La Taverna del Castoro (Bologna): The restaurant La Taverna del Castoro offers integration, training and solidarity by promoting paths of employment of fragile people in the world of catering. The kitchen has its roots in the products of the earth, expertly transformed for the table and inspired by local recipes.
El Pueblo con Gustamundo (Rome): Managed by In Cammino con Gustamundo APS, it aims to increase the social and labour inclusion of political refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, mainly through gastronomy. The El Pueblo restaurant, since 2017, through the homonymous Gustamundo project, has already offered the concrete possibility of implementing the restaurant business to men and women who were cooks or restaurateurs in their countries of origin, enhancing the different cultures with a view to mutual growth.
Moltivolti (Palermo): Born in 2014 by a group of 14 people from 8 countries, it is a project designed and structured to offer dignity, citizenship and value starting from diversity. In the heart of the Ballarò district, he talks about cultural and economic integration, both in his planning and in his cuisine, which is told as a warm embrace between Sicilian tradition and recipes from different Mediterranean countries: from Senegal to Tunisia, from Afghanistan to Palestine.
Locanda dei Buoni e Cattivi (Cagliari): Social enterprise project of the Domus de Luna Onlus Foundation. It includes in its team children and young mothers who live in a condition of marginalization and fragility, some with disabilities and with difficult pasts and coming from paths of autonomy after living in the community. He has received awards, among others, from the Michelin Guide, Slow Food, Gambero Rosso, Touring Club and Accademia Italiana della Cucina.
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