[🌵] EPISODE 19. With this new episode I am delighted to discuss with chef Walter El Nagar 🎧✨
Originally from Milan 🇮🇪 Walter is a former art curator and self-taught chef 👨🍳 with a strong sense of social commitment 🙌🏻 In 2008 he moved from Italy to the USA, where he set foot in Los Angeles and created his first pop-up restaurant, called “The Barbershop” 🍽 A couple of years later the now called “Mad Chef” decided to take this successful concept on a year-long culinary world tour: ✈️ from Barcelona to Ibiza, Moscow, Tulum, Singapore and finally Dubai 🌍
When he came to Geneva, Walter first worked in a luxury hotel before leaving to follow his own path 🚀 It was time to create a restaurant living up to the values he holds dear: fostering social inclusion 👩🏻🤝👨🏽 reducing food waste 🥘 and bringing people together 🔗 “Le Cinquième Jour” (“The Fifth Day”) was born. This 12-seater chef’s countertop was open to the public four days a week 📆 while the fifth day was reserved to the homeless and people in need, where they could eat the same tasting menu for free🍴
Eventually the restaurant closed 🔒 but Walter didn’t stop there and created the Mater Fondazione to build on this model and extend his social endeavours 💭 Needless to say the newly formed organisation was very active⚡️during the COVID-19 crisis, providing meals and support to the local community 👥
In this episode Walter looks back on his journey, from traveling the world as a culinary nomad to being actively involved in projects with a social cause 🔥
To follow Walter and discover the Mater Fondazione:
linkedin.com/in/walter-el-nagar-81bbb866
www.materfondazione.com
instagram.com/madchef
instagram.com/mater.fondazione
You can also find Instant Cactus on instantcactus.com and via @instantcactus on Facebook and Instagram.
