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© Claire Payen
Food
A la carte
Tables solidaires: a socially engaged way to dine!
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Olivier Ploton
Would you like to enjoy a meal while helping others? This is possible with a handful of engaged restaurants in Lyon that have adopted an approach based on cooperation, solidarity and inclusion.
For a number of years now, eating out has become a fantastic way to offer mutual support and create a community spirit, thanks to initiatives taken by a group of restaurants that proudly display their values, known as ‘tables solidaires’.
As a pioneer in this movement, the association Habitat et Humanisme opened Le Bistrot des Amis in Lyon as early as 1997. This table d’hôtes was created to show solidarity with people facing difficulties, offering meals at very affordable prices. In 2018, Le Bistrot des Amis gave rise to Les Escales Solidaires, a network of several ‘lieux de vie’ (living spaces) scattered around Lyon and Villeurbanne, designed for “people who live alone, isolated, or in precarious situations, including the elderly, students and migrants, welcoming local residents who want to get involved in a solidarity initiative.”
In a similar vein, there is Les Petites Cantines, a group of authentic ‘cantines de quartier’ (neighbourhood canteens), where meals are seen as an opportunity to get together and where everybody is welcome to lend a hand, according to their abilities. Whether it’s helping prepare food, washing dishes or simply taking a seat at a table, the main idea is for people to take part. A pay-what-you-want price policy has been adopted, so people who are able to pay a bit more can help those who don’t have the means.
Other, more traditional restaurants, like Équilibres Café, allow their customers to add a “solidarity euro” to their bill, a bit like a caffè sospeso. These donations are then turned into invitations distributed to associations, which enable people in need to come and enjoy a meal just like any other customer. To date, more than 750 invitations have been sent out!
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Claire Payen
Integration through food
Beyond offering the simple pleasure of dining and eating together, tables solidaires also work to create opportunities for as many people as possible through training.
The Apprentis d’Auteuil foundation helps integrate young people struggling at school by welcoming them into their ‘Salles à Manger’ (dining rooms), the latest of which was opened on the square next to Fourvière Basilica.
Just below, in the cobbled streets of Vieux-Lyon, Katimavik has entrusted its waiting duties to people with disabilities since 2012, showing that differences do not prevent people working together and communicating.
The concept is similar at Café Joyeux, which opened in 2021 in Lyon’s Presqu'île district, where all the employees are disabled people, mainly with Down’s syndrome or an autism spectrum disorder.
A taste for otherness
A universal language, cooking is an amazing way to bring together people from different places. The association Singa regularly holds cookery classes and shared meals for refugees and local residents. Elsewhere, Weavers holds an annual solidarity dinner, imagined by the three-Michelin-starred chef Régis Marcon and prepared by the association Des Étoiles et des Femmes, which enables a class of 12 women excluded from the job market to gain a vocational cookery qualification on a work-study programme, while working with big-name chefs.
Last, but certainly not least, there is the Refugee Food Festival, initiated in 2016, which is an annual gathering of refugees and people from Lyon, around meals and kitchens run by chefs.
ADDRESS BOOK
Les Petites Cantines
A participative restaurant where people are welcome to cook and have lunch or dinner, all in a laid-back atmosphere that encourages exchanges.
Currently located in Lyon’s 3rd and 9th districts, as well as Oullins. Projects underway in Lyon’s 4th and 5th districts, as well as Villeurbanne.
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Les Petites Cantines Perrache
Les Escales Solidaires
People come here to meet other people, have a chat over coffee, share meals (starting at 2 euros) and take part in themed workshops. The aim is to create links between residents and “passers-through” facing difficulties.
Located in Lyon’s 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 9th districts, as well as Villeurbanne.
habitat-humanisme.org/escales-solidaires
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Escales solidaires / Habitat et Humanisme
Le Café Joyeux
In this bright, sunny restaurant, all of the dishes are home-made, using fresh, seasonal ingredients, “prepared and served with the heart.” 100% of the profits are reinvested in the opening of future café-restaurants, thereby contributing to the creation of stable jobs for people with mental disabilities.
La Petite Syrienne
Ruba and Mhiar Khatib arrived in Lyon in 2016, fleeing the Syrian city Aleppo. As they were unable to exercise their professions here, they began cooking mezze, pomegranate tabbouleh and baklava pastries. You can find their colourful, flavoursome culinary creations at their kiosk in Lyon’s 6th district. A delivery service is also available and, very soon, they will be gracing two new third places with their presence: L’Autre Soie, in Villeurbanne, and Le Grand Barnum, in Francheville, where they will be serving the hotel’s customers, as well as the staff and refugees who are welcomed there.
lapetitesyrienneÉquilibres Café
Created by Mathilde and Ludivine, Équilibres Café brings together great food, solidarity and ecology in a single place. The home-made cooking is vegetarian and made with local ingredients, organic where possible. Customers add one euro to their bill, to offer meals to people in need via a partner association. On the last Thursday of each month, shared solidarity meals are also organised, which are open to all.
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lesidéesclémentine
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