"It will be the most beautiful school kitchen in France, at least the ultimate!" exclaims Ariel Weil (PS), mayor of Paris Centre. This large kitchen of local production set up in the premises of the nursery school at 6, rue Paul-Dubois (IIIe) will prepare 2,000 meals a day for some of the establishments of the first, second and third arrondissements. Cost of the project: nearly 9 million euros.
If the work does not start until the second half of 2024 (for delivery at the end of 2026), it is because the school on Dubois Street will not close until July 2024. At the beginning of September 2024, the hundred students will join the elementary school next to Béranger Street. And it's time for the construction site, which should transform the 800 m² of the site into a vast ultramodern school kitchen.
Dishes previously heated and then reheated
Currently, of the 5,500 meals served daily in the 38 schools and colleges of Paris Centre, only 1,800 are produced "in hot link", that is to say prepared directly in the establishments or in nearby kitchens, all located in the fourth arrondissement. The other 3,700 meals are concocted in the kitchen of Sogeres located in the eighteenth century. Before being transported by electric or gas vehicles to the establishments of the first three boroughs where they are heated at the office. In the jargon of the mayor of Paris, this is called the "cold liaison".
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"When you cook pasta or lentils to cool and then reheat them, inevitably, the quality is not the same!" euphemizes Karine Barbaglia, first deputy mayor of Paris Centre, in charge of school affairs and the quality of school catering. The icing on the cake: the kitchen of Sogeres moves this summer to settle in Osny (Val-d'Oise).
"When it's cooked on site, it's much better. Especially since we buy the food ourselves from producers, in Île-de-France, Normandy, etc. to favor short circuits, "adds Ariel Weil.
Greener delivery
Beyond the quality of meals, the price of which will not increase for families, this project is also virtuous in terms of the environment. "Not only will the distance between the central kitchen on rue Paul-Dubois and the canteens be very short, but deliveries will also be made by cargo bikes or small electric vehicles," says the elected official.
The mayor is also betting on profitability: "In the current context of exploding energy and raw material costs, the experience of the IVe where we are in hot link, shows us that we manage, by negotiating with producers, to contain increases better than in the other three boroughs".
The site of the Paul-Dubois Street school was not chosen by chance. "Upgrading the refectory, currently in the basement, would have cost us two million euros of work anyway because we had to raise the building," he says.
While recalling that "in Paris Centre, two vegetarian meals are on the menu each week in primary schools and that a vegetarian alternative is offered every day in colleges". Karine Barbaglia also highlights the efforts made to reduce noise in canteens: "Noise-absorbing noise panels have been installed in all establishments in the IIIe. The IIe is already equipped and we are doing the same in the IVe arrondissement."