The first restaurant opened in Lisbon where the waiters are all (formerly) homeless

In Lisbon there is a restaurant where the waiters are all ex-homeless, coordinated by an excellent chef, very famous in Portugal.

Don't store avocado like this: it's dangerous

Not just any restaurant but the first, in Lisbon, where the waiters are all (ex) homeless. The initiative, wanted by the CRESCER association, was in fact created to offer a second chance to the excluded, hiring them in what takes the name of "É Um Restaurant", located in the former Zé Varunca, number 54, in Rua de Sao José .

A place that has nothing to envy to its neighboring competitors, the quality is just as high, but in addition it has a social value. The goal is indeed integrate the last ones into society offering them that job that is often denied, making attempts to start over again in vain.

There is also a psychologist to help out, her name is Alexandra Evaristo, and it is she who helps the team to open up to others and to have confidence in their abilities, as reported by Observador.

It all began in 2016 when the idea was just a seed that was then transformed into a real restaurant, where, among other things, he works a chef of excellence, Nuno Bergonse, famous in Portugal for having participated in the Portuguese Master Chef, and already involved in other Crescer projects.

Bergonse, according to the Observador, personally participated in the selection of waiters, stating that he discovered that homeless people are not always people with addiction problems, as is usually thought, but with complex and diversified histories:

"The truth is that I have talked to people who have never touched a cigarette, have never consumed anything rigorous and have come to the streets for completely different reasons: depression, separation or divorce that led to family rejections ... everything."

Nuno Bergonse, chief consultant and ambassador for our Project IS A RESTAURANT and Américo Nave, Executive Director of…

Posted by CRESCER on Friday, September 27, 2019

The initiative was funded and supported by the Lisbon City Council, the Institute for Employment and Vocational Training, the Social Security Institute, the WiZink Bank and the Stavros Niarchos Foundation.

Crescer is not new to this type of project, had already launched "É Uma Rua" ("It's a street"), "É Uma Casa" ("It's a house") and "É Uma Vida" ("It's a life"), all initiatives aimed at improving daily life of the most vulnerable people.

If you drop by Lisbon, it is really worth reaching this restaurant both for the excellent cuisine and for its social value.