Michelin-starred restaurant The Alchemist serves meals to the homeless during coronavirus lockdown
Chef swaps 45-course extravaganza for lasagne and shepherd’s pie
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Your support makes all the difference.An haute-cuisine restaurant that normally charges more than £500 a head is going to start feeding the homeless during the coronavirus outbreak.
Two-Michelin-starred outfit The Alchemist in Denmark is moving away from expensive and inaccessible dining to cater for Copenhagen‘s 1,400 homeless people during lockdown.
The restaurant has swapped 60 covers a night for 600 as it delivers meals around the city.
Normally known for his extravagant 45-course, six-hour long tasting menus, comprised of dishes like strawberry gazpacho served on a silicone tongue and costing around £560 per person, head chef Rasmus Munk also founded a charity, JunkFood, last year.
“We would make food for homeless people on days when the restaurant was closed,” Munk told CN Traveler.
Now that the restaurant has had to close full-time for regular diners, Munk and his team have stepped up to make meals for the homeless every day.
Chefs used to producing the most elaborate of dishes have had to swap tweezers and pipettes for baking trays, cooking hearty favourites like lasagne and shepherd’s pie instead.
However, there are still some unexpected touches, such as the kefir shots and cherry juice they’re distributing to help boost the immune system.
The team starts at 8am and finishes as 6pm, when service would normally just be beginning, after delivering meals to around 10 shelters across Copenhagen.
Other restaurants are getting involved too, with three-Michelin-starred Geranium offering to help, while a local bakery is providing 700 sourdough buns. Another company has also lent a van and a driver to help with deliveries.
“It’s been amazing to see so many people supporting it,” said Munk.
Plans are even afoot to roll out the programme across other Danish cities, such as Aarhus and Aalborg.
“We also want to see if we can help the amazing nurses, doctors, and medical staff,” said Munk.
The Independent has launched its own appeal to help those going hungry because of the coronavirus crisis. Help The Hungry aims to highlight how you can help in your area, with money, food donations or volunteering.
The campaign has been backed by politicians including Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, and Jess Phillips, the Labour MP who recently ran for party leader.
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