A warm ‘gezellig’ room, a lovingly prepared hot meal, a community of people from all walks of life and freedom to come exactly as you are – this is the Wijk Restaurant.
Every other Friday a group of volunteers from ICF-Noord gather at the Wijk Restaurant, just a few doors up the road from our church building, to cook and serve a nutritious two course meal to people from the local neighborhood. The Wijk Restaurant is a wonderful initiative led by the Gaarkeuken van Rotterdam' who have established a series of neighborhood restaurants across Rotterdam to create connection and contribute to reducing poverty and loneliness.
A menu is planned for the week based on ingredients which are donated from local organizations and shops, and a head-chef is nominated each cooking session to guide the group.
Those who cook are not professionally trained, but each willing to get stuck in and prepare what is on the menu. Each volunteer often also comes from a different part of the world, so it is fun to learn about new flavors and cooking techniques from one another.
The two course meal (either a starter and main, or main and dessert) is then given to people in the neighborhood who struggle to afford food and are referred to the restaurant by local teams. Other people from the neighborhood are also welcome to join for a small fee. Those receiving meals are invited to either be served in a restaurant setting or take their meal away with them. Each volunteer is also able to taste the fruits of their labor and given a meal and seat at the table with guests.
We need lots of volunteers to enable the Wijk Restaurant to happen including cooks, servers and washing uppers. If you would like to join the team, please drop Gert Hofsteenge a WhatsApp message on: +31 6 53 42 37 00.
Check out the video below to find out more and see the restaurant in action!
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