If you are homeless, you can eat haute cuisine at Refettorio Gastromotiva for free.
The fancy Rio de Janeiro restaurant is at the forefront of an innovative movement to combat hunger and homelessness.
As one patron says, “they don’t just socialize the homeless, they humanize us.”
It’s all part of a growing “social gastronomy” movement that can also be found in San Francisco, Rome and elsewhere.
Refettorio Gastromotiva began as a culinary- and business-training program for low-income Brazilian youth.
Today, its cooks all come from Rio’s favelas.
This, and similar restaurants, serve as training grounds for up-and-coming chefs who lack the means to attend top-end cooking schools. They also provide financial support for disadvantaged students at culinary programs in Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.
Source: The Guardian