Home Kitchen, a newly opened restaurant in north London’s Primrose Hill, stands out from the rest with its Michelin-starred chef and staff comprised mostly of individuals who have experienced homelessness. Co-founder Adam Simmonds emphasizes the importance of giving the restaurant a new identity and purpose, providing economic opportunities for those who are willing and ready to work. The staff, on full-time contracts and paid above the London Living Wage, receive training and qualifications to support their growth and development. Illia, a former asylum seeker turned waiter at Home Kitchen, expresses gratitude for the job that has become her second home, while Jeremy, facing challenges from a difficult upbringing, values the opportunity to work in a fine dining environment. Simmonds is dedicated to seeing the staff succeed and is inspired by their progress in the kitchen, teaching them new techniques and menus.
‘Without a purpose, it’s nothing’: the London restaurant serving up a solution to homelessness | Homelessness
At first glance, the restaurant appears to be like any other on the quaint street in north London’s Primrose Hill: staff are busy preparing for a fully booked night of service, tables are laid and menus organised. What is different at this newly opened restaurant is that it has a Michelin-starred chef and is staffed almost entirely by people who have experienced homelessness.
“We’ve given it a new identity and a purpose,” says Adam Simmonds, the multi-award-winning chef behind Home Kitchen which opened last week. “Without a purpose, it’s nothing, right?”
The restaurant employs 16 people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless, and was born out of a response to two problems within the industry.
Michael Brown, one of the co-founders, says that one of the problems was staff shortages and the other the “very flawed public perceptions of what it is to be homeless”.
Home Kitchen co-founder Michael Brown says the restaurant addresses ‘very flawed public perceptions of what it is to be homeless’. Photograph: Joseph Thompson/Joseph Thompson/vince.co.uk
As a volunteer at Soup Kitchen London, the question he was asked the most was “Do you know of any jobs going?” It was ludicrous to him that so many people were willing and ready to work, but there were almost no opportunities for them.
“We just thought, hang on a minute, there’s a rich resource of people who want economic opportunities. We can do something about this.”
Asked why he is trying to deal with the issue via fine dining, he says: “If you can change perceptions in that world, you can change them anywhere.”
In the kitchen, staff report to a professional head chef and, on the restaurant floor, are supported by a general manager and an assistant general manager. They are on full-time contracts – there are “no zero-hours contracts you usually find in hospitality,” Brown says – and are paid above the London Living Wage. Travel is also subsidised.
Alongside the in-house training, staff receive a qualification from the social enterprise Beyond Food, and then go on to complete a pro-culinary skills certification at Westminster Kingsway College. “And this is what this is about. It’s about giving people a platform,” Simmonds adds.
Brown says that, for many people, their only exposure to homelessness is someone on the street asking them for money, “but actually that’s a tiny part of the story”. Illia was an asylum seeker, and did not have permission to work in the UK. She became homeless when they were moved out of Home Office accommodation. “It’s really hard to find somewhere for the first time in this country,” she says.
When Illia got the job as waiter at Home Kitchen, she says it felt “unbelievable”. On the first day, she was told the restaurant would become her second home – the staff, her family. “I think it is like my second home and every time I come here, I come with a smile and every time I leave, I’m leaving with my smile … and I love my job,” she says.
Like Illia and all the staff, Jeremy was given a choice to work in front of house or in the kitchen. For Jeremy, working as a food runner was a no-brainer. “I don’t mind eating food, but making it is not for me,” he says.
‘I want our staff to succeed more than anything else,’ says Adam Simmonds. Photograph: Joseph Thompson/Joseph Thompson/vince.co.uk
“I didn’t have a stable upbringing – no parents, no family, no support and when you don’t come from a stable environment, you don’t have those support networks, you’re going to struggle,” he says. Due to difficult circumstances that followed, he found himself homeless. This job at Home Kitchen is Jeremy’s first.
Despite the challenges he’s faced, he is eager to avoid being treated any differently. “We’re here to do a job, build ourselves up. We don’t want pity, we want to be treated like everyone else. We’ve been given a chance that perhaps we have not had in our lives. And, the fine dining environment, this is fantastic.”
Of the eight non-professional staff in the kitchen, only two have a background in cooking, none in fine dining. “To be able to teach people that haven’t cooked before, and to see them put stuff on the plate and serve it is mental … it’s personal to me, the whole thing. I want our staff to succeed more than anything else,” Simmonds says.
The restaurant serves two menus – a la carte and a set tasting menu. It was inspired by Simmonds “own preference”, and considering the “different techniques we could teach the chefs”. “The menu is still the same as what I do normally, but we’ve just drummed it down a hell of a lot,” he adds. “They’re learning, we’re learning.”
Read the full story on www.theguardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/sep/20/without-a-purpose-its-nothing-the-restaurant-serving-up-a-solution-to-homelessness