Elite Traveler Summer 2022

over 850,000 guests all around the world thanks to the incredible work of over 100,000 people from chefs to volunteers and apprentices. What changes would you like to see in fi ne dining over the next fi ve years? The last few years have certainly created di ffi culties for everyone. But we have also been given the opportunity to grow. I am more convinced than ever that energy in the gastronomy world, as in that of art and design, should be turned towards the outside, towards others and towards our planet. I believe in the fi ght against food waste and social isolation through beauty. To paraphrase Albert Camus: “With beauty you don’t make a revolution, but one day the revolution will need beauty.” osteriafrancescana.it

centered around promoting a food culture in which we act sustainably and work together to create better, more equitable systems where good food is available to all. In less than six years Food for Soul opened 13 Refettorios across nine countries around the world. Each Refettorio collects surplus food and gives it a new life, transforming it into delicious meals for those in need. It is a cultural project that unites people, revives neighborhoods and restores dignity through beauty and community. We partner with a local nonpro fi t to create spaces that uplift those most vulnerable. In the last two years of the pandemic, the projects have saved over 670 tons of food and served over 1.5 million meals and 1.85 million fresh food boxes. Food for Soul action has reached

opportunity to raise awareness about food waste and food insecurity, to create community through cooking, to feed those in need and to show that chefs are more than the sum of their recipes. We reinvented the concept of a soup kitchen inside an abandoned theater in a neglected neighborhood of Milan and we called it Refettorio Ambrosiano. The same principles that inspire our restaurants guided the project’s design and programs, giving energy to a place that would lift the soul and bring people together. We would have never imagined that the project would still be open today. The year after, we founded Food for Soul as a non pro fi t association, a cultural project to raise awareness and take action on reducing food waste and social isolation. Today, it is a global movement

meals as a child: In the evening I had a huge cup of hot milk with a spoonful of sugar, in which I dipped large pieces of stale bread. The simplest, but also the best, of dinners. The recovery and use of food in its entirety is something that we Italians have in our DNA; it is in our roots, in our history and in our culture. What inspired you and your wife, Lara Gilmore, to establish Food for Soul? It was back in 2015, during Milan World Expo. The theme was ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.’ Every country called its best chefs to cook and represent them, but no one was asking for their opinions or ideas about what feeding the planet really means. For us, the Expo was a chance to do something more than just cook a good meal. We felt the urge to give back. We saw an