Alessandro Petruzzi has become a familiar face to participants of the London occupation, who he feeds us daily. Working from a small, camp kitchen,a tent tucked on the right side of St Paul’s Cathedral, he provides at least 400 meal a day using food donated by supporters of the movement.
A trained Italian chef, Alessandro runs the kitchen in an unorthodox but professional manner. He worked in some of Milan’s top restaurants, and now lives in London working nights at a security firm and spending his days running the kitchen. The make-shift kitchen is in a gazebo, with gas cookers, long tables and a washing up section. And it’s not only the occupiers he has been feeding. Alessandro has had homeless people, tourists as well as business people stopping by for nourishing meals.
The kitchen usually has snacks, like bread, spreads, fruit or biscuits laid out, and the staff are often seen bent over gas cookers making rice dishes, lentil, soups or pasta trying to provide 3 hot meals a day. As he is fully trained in kitchen health and safety, the kitchen meets all the requirements needed to operate. “Safety in the kitchen is very important, we have danger in every corner, we have knives, we have fire, everything,” he said. A city health inspector has come around to check out the kitchen a few times since its inception and has found it up to standard each time, something to be expected, Alessandro said.
He always has an eye on what all his voluntary staff are doing, and coordinates them as needs be. He also enforces rules that are found in any professional kitchens, like the no smoking requirement , hair covered and tied back and clean and tidy clothing.“I don’t want to make myself responsible for eviction because of the kitchen, the kitchen is safe” Alessandro told Occupied Times. The kitchen is always in need of donations, and they are grateful for all offers.
If you want to meet Alessandro or any of the dedicated, hard-working volunteers working in the kitchen come down to St. Paul’s Square. We ‘e open!
By Stacey Knott
