Massimo Bottura to bring pioneering community kitchen to the capital

‘It’s a gesture of love’ says the world’s top chef who will serve food to vulnerable people
New venture: Massimo Bottura is launching his third Refettorio in London in June. Food will be supplied by The Felix Project

The world’s highest rated chef is bringing his three-Michelin-star genius to London for the first time — at a community kitchen serving lunches made from surplus food to vulnerable people.

Massimo Bottura, known as “the poet chef”, has chosen London Food Month in June to launch the third of his pioneering Refettorios — Italian for refectory — run by his non-profit organisation Food for Soul. It follows the success of similar projects in Milan during Expo 2015 and in Rio de Janeiro at last year’s Olympics.

The 54-year-old Italian, whose Osteria Francescana in Modena topped the list of the world’s best restaurants last year, will open the Refettorio at an as-yet undisclosed London location.

It will be called the Refettorio Felix after Felix Byam Shaw, the inspiration for the Evening Standard’s campaign to tackle food waste and hunger.

The Felix Project will supply the ingredients, which otherwise would have ended up as waste — in the same way that Refettorio Ambrosiano used wasted food from the Milan Expo pavilions and RefettoRio Gastromotiva used surplus food from the Olympic Village.

‘We are not only talking about feeding the body: we are talking about nourishing the soul’ 

Massimo Bottura

The Refettorio Felix will be open for lunch from Monday to Friday and aims to serve 2,000 meals during London Food Month. The site will be converted into a stunning dining room by Bermondsey-based designers Studioilse. Their previous projects have included Mayfair restaurant Cecconi’s and Soho House New York.

The project, supported by fashion, dining and entertainment destination Westfield and other partners, will see Bottura team up with a different renowned British chef every day to produce free or heavily subsidised healthy meals for thousands of people who are struggling.

Bottura, who is expected to visit London at least three times during London Food Month, will also teach two local cooks new recipes and how to create more interesting meals with surplus food. He said: “Food for Soul is really pleased to be working with such engaging and dynamic partners as The Felix Project and London Evening Standard. The opportunity to bring together these partners during London Food Month adds even more energy to the project.

“Chefs have risen to celebrity heights. I believe we can use these heights to illuminate the most pressing issues facing society today. I run a small restaurant with big dreams in Modena and I have followed my passions over the past 30 years to find my voice.

The best food in London

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“Food for Soul works to create inclusive and beautiful spaces to promote wellbeing for those who are marginalised and often excluded from society. Each project begins by listening to the needs of the local community.

“Chefs are invited to cook nutritious and healthy meals and demonstrate how ingredients from food waste can be nourishing. Volunteers are invited to serve guests at their table; this helps to promote social inclusion through human contact.

"Food for Soul believes that we do not need more soup kitchens, we need soup kitchens that do more. We are not only talking about feeding the body: we are talking about nourishing the soul."

“The gesture of sitting down to a meal and breaking bread together is the first step towards rebuilding dignity and creating a community. A warm, seasonal, and delicious meal shared at a table with others is much more than the sum of the ingredients. It is a gesture of love.”

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