In 2018, Walter el Nagar's restaurant revolutionized Geneva gastronomy by launching an innovative concept: the Italian-Egyptian chef, who arrived in Geneva after traveling halfway around the world, served market-price meals four days a week so that on the fifth day the dishes became free.
The initiative of Nogar – who was born in Milan, son of an Egyptian father and mother from campania – has a special characteristic: it does not live solely on donations, but seeks to be economically viable and, therefore, also opens its doors to customers who can pay for consumption.
The restaurant closed in February 2020, just before the start of “lockdown“. Along with this decision came Walter el Nagar's desire to transform it into a non-profit project.
During the period in which the establishment was closed, the cook created the Mater Foundation. Together with other friends, also restaurant owners – who were partially unemployed at the time – he rented several kitchens and prepared more than 30 thousand meals for the growing number of needy people. The initiative was supported by donors, volunteers and several associations.
Poverty in Geneva
According to official figures, 19% of Geneva's population lives below the poverty line. One in five families is unable to make even minimal savings to cover unforeseen expenses.
In 2020, during the pandemic, the situation worsened, especially among those already facing serious economic difficulties or the unemployed. Thousands of people lined up at aid organizations to obtain basic food baskets distributed free of charge through projects such as Caravana Solidária and other groups.
This is just one example. Even today, more than eighteen months after the start of the pandemic, dozens of food distribution centers still operate in Geneva.
Local journalists see no signs of improvement. For some, these food distributions are a last resort. And it is precisely because of this growing need that the restaurant Walter el Nagar will open its doors
popular restaurant
Walter has a fixed idea: reopen the restaurant Fifth day (in French “Cinquième Jour”) based on solidarity and sustainability. The idea now is to open a restaurant significantly larger than the initial one.
To carry out this project, the cook counts on the help of the project “Food for Soul” by the Italian chef Massimo Bottura. The aim is to open a popular restaurant in Geneva, similar to those already operating in Italy and several European countries.
Scheduled to open in early 2022, the place will open at noon like a normal gastronomic restaurant, “which will make it possible to finance evening meals for people in need.”
However, paid lunches are not enough to finance free dinners. So Jimmy Thiébaud took action.
The Swiss banker, a volunteer in the project, seeks to guarantee financing for the restaurant, an operation that, he considers, “will not be easy”.
Double mission
Like other establishments of its kind, the popular Geneva restaurant will have a dual mission: to combat food waste by using products that the food industry would otherwise throw away, and to offer those in need "good, balanced food, cooked with great care and culinary technique, in a beautiful setting."
To do this, it will use small local producers who guarantee the excellence of the products. And your surplus will be collected for the free evening meals.
By Alexander Thoele/SWI
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