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There are about ten small canteens in France, but their number should double by the end of the year. Meals at free prices made by volunteers and eaten around a large table are successful, as in Croix, in the North.
In Croix (Nord), it has been four years since a restaurant like no other opened. In the middle of preparing the main course, Jean-Marc Gano, a young retiree, comes to lend a hand. “It gives me a boost, it reminds me in the morning moments of what I was going through a little at work”, he testifies. He is one of the volunteers cooking every morning in this small canteen. All this under the watchful eye of the manager, Vanessa Vion. “I orchestrate the guests, the menu, the reasoned cuisine to open the canteen to everyone”she explains.
Free price menus
The restaurant opens at 12:30 p.m. Regular customers and curious newcomers settle around the large tables. Membership of the association and payment for the meal are free, knowing that a menu costs around 13 euros. Guests who wish can stay to help with the dishes. For Ariane Derville, the project leader, the initiative welcomed “more than 10,000 smiles. It’s a banana in the morning, it’s a project that brings people together, it’s a lot of joy for me.” A dozen similar projects exist in France. Their number should double by the end of the year.
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