Inside the Michelin star soup kitchen serving delicacies to destitute

Times

6 days ago

It boasts more Michelin-starred chefs than any restaurant in France, but the rich and famous do not figure on Le Refettorio's carefully vetted guest list. Its fine dining experience is reserved exclusively for the poor and homeless.
Located in the crypt of the Madeleine church in Paris's chic 8th arrondissement, it is a soup kitchen, albeit one that serves five-course gourmet dinners five nights a week. Several times a month, they are cooked by one of its more than 100 celebrity guest chefs, who include Alain Ducasse, Ken Hom and Michel Troisgros.
'We like to say we've got more Michelin stars than any other restaurant, although we've never received a star,' said Marco Berrebi, 63, a former tech entrepreneur and chief executive who is Refettorio's co-president.
'Our guests are people who live on the streets, who have difficult times, sometimes women in shelters with their children, and we try to make them enjoy the evening with the food, the decor and the welcome. I've seen some of the greatest chefs of France moved to tears when they come here.'
The guests are all recommended by charities or non-profit organisations. When The Times visited this week, many arrived with backpacks or carrier bags.
'We never search them or stop them bringing in their bags because that's their homes they have on their backs, all their possessions,' Berrebi said.
'It's a safe space here,' added his co-president, Jean-François Rial, chief executive of Voyageurs du Monde, a French tour company. 'It's not somewhere they come every night but a place where they come once in a while, for a special night out, just like us when we go to a restaurant.'
Le Refettorio Paris was founded in 2018 by the Michelin-starred Italian chef Massimo Bottura and Lara Gilmore, his American wife and fellow chef.
'There is no difference between our three-star Michelin restaurants and cooking here. Cooking is an act of love,' Bottura said in a recent interview.
Pascal Barbot, one of Refettorio's Michelin-starred guest chefs, said: 'We all see people in difficulty around us and for us chefs, the only thing we can do is to cook and give people pleasure.'
This week there was no guest chef, but the two resident chefs, Blandine Paris and Marine Beulaigue, both previously worked in Michelin-starred restaurants.
'We work as if we were in a one-star restaurant, so that when chefs like Alain Ducasse cook here, they feel that they are with a professional team, said Paris, 29, speaking in the bustling kitchen as volunteer sous-chefs worked around her.
The waiters are volunteers from many walks of life. One is a journalist, another an investment banker.
They may not be professional, but they manage to create an atmosphere like that of a high-end restaurant. The stylish decor, with cloud motifs hanging from the ceiling to symbolise dreams, was created by the French artist JR and Ramy Fischler, a Belgian who also designed the National Café at London's National Gallery.
Pastries are sometimes donated by Pierre Hermé, the celebrated chef nicknamed the Picasso of pâtisserie, and macarons by Ladurée.
'All our ingredients are donated and 70 per cent of them would have been thrown away,' Paris said. 'We work with whatever comes in and we didn't receive any meat this week so we are creating vegetarian dishes. Our guests are discovering nice flavours they didn't know, like aubergines with soy sauce. It tastes almost like meat. And we have scallops for the amuse-bouche.'
One of the kitchen volunteers, Lucy Drew, a graphic designer from London who has lived in Paris for decades, said: 'The people who come here benefit hugely. It's everything from the minute they walk in the door to what's put in front of them. It's a feeling of respect and dignity.'
Dominique, 64, who lives in a shelter and has come to Le Refettorio several times, said: 'It's very special for me to come here. I know almost everyone and the food is excellent.'
Berrebi said: 'We don't just feed people here, we chat with them, we joke. For some, it might be the only meaningful conversation they've had for months. We also organise outings to museums, the opera or concerts.'
The first Refettorio opened in Milan in 2015, followed by others in Rio de Janeiro and London, but the Paris branch is the only one with such an impressive roster of Michelin-starred chefs.
Amuse-bouchePan fried scallops with beetroot and green Kalamata olivesVegetarian option: St Nectaire cheese to replace the scallops
StarterSoy-lacquered aubergines topped with cherries and smoked almonds, tahini cream and fresh herbs from the Perche farm near Paris, which supplies top-rated restaurants
Main coursePurée of potatoes with fondant vegetables including kohlrabi and turnip, cooked in rice vinegar, and new carrots
DessertChocolate ganache with fig leaves and candied pearsMignardise (an additional mini-dessert to finish the meal on a sweet noteCompote of apples and strawberries with cardamom-scented Chantilly cream