Bread tagliatelle with crispy chicken skin and fried sage, broccoli root flan with creamy cheese rinds, croissant cake with mandarin peel sauce. It is not the menu of an experimental laboratory, but the result of a no waste philosophy that transforms what would normally be discarded into haute cuisine for solidarity.
It is the idea of starred chef Simone Cantafio, at the helm of the Michelin restaurant La Stüa de Michil in Corvara, who decided to radically rethink the concept of “leftover”. In a few months, thanks to this vision, 125 kilos of very high quality food were recovered, transformed into complete dishes and destined for the homeless people of the Dormizil in Bolzano.
The second life of ingredients that end up in the bin
The project was born by observing what happens every day in high-level kitchens: excellent raw materials used for stocks, sauces or preparations and then eliminated. Cantafio overturns this logic and builds a system based on creative reuse, waste reduction and social responsibility.
The meat used for sauces becomes meatballs, the vegetables in the broth are transformed into flans or fillings, leftover bread takes shape into new fresh pastas. Even breakfast croissants, prepared in greater numbers than by hotel guests, become elaborate and surprising desserts. In this way, what was considered waste becomes the protagonist in refined, elegant and complete dishes.
Starry dinners for the homeless of Bolzano
The recovered food becomes concrete help. The dishes are intended for homeless people at Dormizil in Bolzano, transforming haute cuisine into a tool of inclusion and dignity. These are not simple emergency meals, but menus designed with the same attention as the starred restaurant: balance of flavours, careful presentation and selected ingredients. The aim is to offer a complete gastronomic experience, demonstrating that quality can also be accessible in a context of food solidarity.
Cooking class and anti-waste culture
The project expands with the No Waste Cooking Classes, monthly events in which starred cuisine opens to the public. Here we show methods and techniques for valorising waste, transforming it into creative dishes. Collaborators, citizens and local producers participate, creating a sharing network that goes beyond the restaurant.
Cantafio’s philosophy combines sustainability, culinary innovation and social commitment. His initiative demonstrates that the fight against waste is not only an ethical choice, but also a gastronomic possibility capable of generating value, beauty and attention towards those who live on the margins. An idea that all restaurants should make their own.
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