Here, apprentice cooks in socio-professional integration feed 200 people in precarious situations every day. They would also like to cook for you for two weeks. You who are shopping with a calculator in your hand, at school or just have too much broth in your cheek.
Posted at 11:00 am
I didn’t know about Resto Plateau until a few days ago when his team invited me to eat. The association has been in existence for 30 years…
“There are people who are unemployed and there are people who eat poorly. What can we do ? All we have to do is train the people in the kitchen and feed others what they cook! »
Audrey Mougenot, the organization’s director general, simply sums up their mission. But many filigree details are hidden behind this apparent simplicity.
PHOTO KARENE-ISABELLE JEAN-BAPTISTE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Audrey Mougenot, General Manager of the Resto Plateau
Every year, 96 people benefit from a seven-month training course in the Resto Plateau in the process of socio-professional integration. Not only will you be introduced to the kitchen hand job, but you will also be seen by mental health workers to talk about anything that might affect their employability: stress management, mood disorders, drug addiction, behavior or housing, etc.
It goes beyond cooking school, we agree on that.
However, this support is necessary.
Some trainees are new to Quebec; others have not worked for a long time due to lack of confidence, injuries or drinking habits; some come out of prison; others must take responsibility. In short, all have unique challenges.
The good news is that around 60% of them find a job within the first three months of their apprenticeship.
At this lunchtime, about fifteen of them are busy in the kitchen, assisted by chefs and sous-chefs. They can be easily observed from the crowded dining room. About 200 people came for dinner. The majority of them are in a precarious or social isolation situation…
However, the atmosphere is festive. It speaks loudly, it laughs, it absorbs news.
Monday through Friday, Resto Plateau offers two full meal choices—one vegetarian and one meat—for $4.75. People who can afford to pay more can donate the $7 “solidarity amount” to support the community initiative.
PHOTO KARENE-ISABELLE JEAN-BAPTISTE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Gaëlle Descary, Community and Communications Director
I notice that a lot of people around me put half of their food in take away dishes. It must be said that the portions are very generous. “We know that for some it’s the only meal of the day,” said Gaëlle Descary, Community and Communications Director.
Now the team also wants to serve people who eat more regularly. Since January 23rd, the Resto Plateau has been opening its doors on Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:30 p.m solidarity price).
As we know, more and more workers are struggling to eat well. They are of course the target of this initiative, but the team also thinks of students on a tight budget and parents preparing meals for the race. Not to mention people who just can’t cook or don’t have access to healthy food.
We know it is a necessary tool, but we must work to make it known. Until recently, many people never had to worry about filling their plates. They are unaware of the resources available to them.
Gaëlle Descary, Municipal and Communications Director of Resto Plateau
“Or they tell themselves it’s only for people in extreme poverty,” she adds. But everyone can have trouble eating well! »
So everyone is entitled to help.
“I like to say to the trainees that they come here to help themselves, but that they also help the visitors of the restaurant,” sums up Audrey Mougenot.
She also introduces me to Jean-Marie Giguère, 61, who has been an apprentice for six months. An injury kept him unemployed for years. It was the Resto Plateau that gave him the new impetus he needed.
“I think it’s the only job in my life that I enjoy going to every morning. »
PHOTO KARENE-ISABELLE JEAN-BAPTISTE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Jean Marie Giguere
Jean-Marie dreams of working in the canteen of a CHSLD at the end of his integration process. He now prides himself on preparing almost every recipe. He now knows what a putty knife is and how to sand anything other than a wall, he tells me, everyone smiles…
As Jean-Marie returns to the kitchen, Karene-Isabelle Jean-Baptiste, the photographer accompanying me, thinks aloud: “This is where the power of community unfolds. Reminds me of the concept of third place. It’s neither home nor work, but another place where people can meet…”
she is brilliant
The third place is a concept developed by the sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his book The Great Good Place (1989). It is an important place for people who find opportunities to meet informally. A home away from home.
PHOTO KARENE-ISABELLE JEAN-BAPTISTE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Micheline Girard
And that is exactly what the Resto Plateau represents for Micheline Girard. The 78-year-old pensioner has been eating here almost every day since 2006. In fact, she is sometimes taken to a meeting at the Verdun women’s center or to a demonstration for the right to housing.
On a culinary level, they satisfy the dishes prepared by Jean-Marie and his colleagues. On a social level, she finds people who have become her family on a daily basis.
“What would you like to say to invite the public to discover takeaway, Micheline?
— We have cooked a lot in our lives. It’s time to take a little break! »
Activist and excellent saleswoman, my belief…