OzHarvest and chef Massimo Bottura just days away from opening Australia’s first ‘Refettorio’

Food rescue and relief charity OzHarvest will open the doors to its new eatery, two years after the Surry Hills space was generously donated to the charity.  

481 Crown Street will open around 24 February as a Refettorio – an Italian word commonly used to mean a dining hall for clergy or even students.

Highly acclaimed chef Massimo Bottura, along with wife Lara Gilmore have repurposed the Refettorio concept.

The couple has worked with charity partners around the world to create community hubs for disadvantaged people where they can eat fine food. 

The hubs also solve the problem of food wastage.

With OzHarvest opening its doors, the pair has now brought the concept to Sydney. 

"In Australia, people have a deep appreciation for food, its origin and connection to land and nature. There's a celebration of food and gastronomy," Bottura tells GoodFood Australia from the US. 

"But we still see habits of waste while individuals do not have enough to eat. The Refettorio is a place where we can bring these two ideas together, to show a new way of thinking about sustainability and caring for one another." 

After meeting OzHarvest founder Ronni Kahn in 2016, during Noma Australia's MAD food symposium at Sydney Opera House, the couple agreed to headline a zero-waste dinner in Australia featuring a cast of the World's 50 Best chefs who were in Australia for the Melbourne awards ceremony.

This is where the plan for a Refettorio was born.

"We share core beliefs: dignity, respect, beauty, art, culture and food being the conduit to embracing and showing love," Kahn says.

"Massimo is a force of energy that is so infectious that anything to do with him is magic on a personal level. Huge respect." 

The 50-seater space will serve lunch to those in need four days a week across two sittings. 

Takeaway options will also be available.

The space will also be used by the broader community for neighbourhood dinners and other fundraising initiatives.

Irit Jackson, 9^th February 2022