Renowned chef feeds Rio's homeless with excess Olympic food

The name is a play on the Latin word reficere, meaning "to restore", and a nod to the communal dining rooms known as refectories that are a mainstay of monasteries.

With questions swirling over the 12 billion US dollar price tag of South America's first Olympics, Mr Bottura wanted to make a statement about the Games' sustainability by taking on one symbol of Olympic waste: the more than 230 tons of food supplied daily to prepare 60,000 meals for athletes, coach and staff.

"This is a cultural project, not a charity," said Mr Bottura, who runs the three-star Osteria Francescana in Modena. "We want to rebuild the dignity of the people."

He said he was inspired by Pope Francis' advocacy for the poor and modelled his project on a similar one he organised last year in an abandoned theatre during the Milan world fair.

His aim is to educate people about food waste in order to help feed the 800 million in the world who are hungry.

It is a message that resonates in Rio, as the city's homeless population has been struggling since Brazil plunged into its deepest recession in decades over the past year.

In June, facing a financial calamity, Rio's state government had to close or cut back service at 16 meal centres.

The splurge on the Olympics has only heightened a sense of abandonment among the homeless, with many reporting being repeatedly removed by police from the city's recently cleaned-up Lapa district, where Mr Bottura's restaurant is located.

Some of the world's top chefs are turning wasted Olympics food into meals for the homeless https://t.co/ymLWHvwLgD pic.twitter.com/X9OJcGjhYh

— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 15, 2016

In contrast to the government-run centres, where meals are served on prison-like food trays with throw-away cups, the Refettorio is an epicurean's delight, complete with designer wood tables, oversized photos of the staff by French artist JR and a long mural of the Last Supper dripping in chocolate by Vik Muniz, one of Brazil's top-selling artists.

At night the space, built of corrugated plastic on a run-down lot donated by the city, looks like a lit-up box.

For the Olympics launch, Mr Bottura assembled a tour de force of local and international celebrity chefs.

Once the Games are over, the project will morph into a lunchtime restaurant, proceeds of which will fund evening meals for the homeless.

Siamo pronti grande @massimobottura #Rio2016 @RefettorioBR @CucinaCorriere @angelafrenda pic.twitter.com/rpKAUgGGFN

— Andrea Berton (@andreaberton5) August 10, 2016

Beneficiaries are selected by groups like one that runs a shelter for transvestites who work as prostitutes on Lapa's streets.

Working the kitchen are graduates of local partner Gastromotiva, a non-profit cooking school that has turned hundreds of Brazilians from the country's neglected favelas into cooks.

For many of the diners at Refettorio, the food is unlike anything they have tasted before. But it is the royal treatment they relish most.

"Just sitting here, treated with respect on an equal footing, makes me think I have a chance," said Valdimir Faria, an educated man who found himself alone on Rio's streets, in a downward alcoholic spiral, after his marriage and life in a city hours away fell apart.

As dinner service got under way on Sunday, a dishevelled man identifying himself only as Nilson removed a few radish slices from his aubergine panzanella salad and deposited them in a plastic bucket holding a window cleaning kit.

"I thought it was paper," he laughed, while trading a boisterous "grazie, grazie" with Mr Bottura.

Sunday's meal was prepared by chef Rafael Cota e Silva, who normally dishes up fixed-price meals for 150 dollars a head at his swank Lasai bistro in Rio.

While he makes a living catering to the rich, he said he will never forget the experience of serving the poor.

As dinner wound down, Mr Cota e Silva emerged from the kitchen to thank his guests. It was Father's Day in Brazil, and so for many of the men gathered who talked about life's wrong turns and their estrangement from family, emotions ran high.

"What you've enjoyed is a simple meal but one made with lots of love and care," Mr Cota e Silva said before the dining hall broke into applause. He wiped a tear from his cheek and continued.

"We wanted you to feel spoiled - for at least one night."