It is a restaurant with a humanist ambition which opened in December in Roubaix. “Tocca a té” means “your turn” in Italian, and it sounds above all like an invitation from Gilberto d’Annunzio. This restaurateur, already at the head of several establishments in the region, has just created a special pizzeria. From the kitchen to the service in the dining room, all the employees are young people in training.
The restaurant that welcomes customers from Tuesday to Saturday will thus support dozens of young people who are having a little trouble finding work and who need to regain their confidence.
In the kitchen, just before lunchtime, Barakat is very focused and listens to instructions when preparing the pizza dough. “It’s not complicated, but you have to be very careful. In this job, I like everything. Before, I didn’t even know that I could like it”explains the young job seeker.
Ahmed handles the pressure and makes sure customers don’t miss anything. “I’m a bit like their big brother”, laughs the dean of the team, 56 years old, and gone through several professional lives. “Catering is demanding, but we will get there.”
Waiter, bartender, cook, hygiene manager: during his 4-month CDD which can last up to 2 years, everyone touches on all areass, which allows him to acquire a solid training and experience.
The pizza maker is on stage. He is looked at, thanked, and all thanks to the work of his hands.
Gilberto d’Annunzio is convinced of this, the pizza has an almost magical side. “The pizza maker is on stage in front of his oven, he is watched, thanked, congratulated, all thanks to the work of his hands.”
The restaurateur has never chosen his employees according to their CV. “I have plenty of examples around me, of people I’ve hired and seen open up. I myself was what is called a school failure. When I touched my first flours, I felt that it gave meaning. It opened me up, it nourished me.”
No one is unemployable
This philosophy is shared by Mustapha Zebdi, head of integration schemes at Safeguarding the North, who is a partner in the project. “No one is unemployable, that’s our credo. Of course, there are rules to respect, but for the rest, you come as you are.”
– Sophie Morgans
When setting up the project, the two men also realized that they had grown up in the same estate, in Denain, where they already dream of one day opening a new school.