Cuisines from around the world come together at the Dutch restaurant chain A Beautiful Mess. The website of the Dutch restaurant chain states: ‘Each dish at A Beautiful Mess has its own story, as do the people who work there. Food connects people through stories, cultures and flavors. Each meal is a bridge between worlds, built on shared experiences and joy’. Euronews is highlighting this special initiative.
A Beautiful Mess works with people who have once fled to the Netherlands. At A Beautiful Mess refugees can gain valuable experience through training for a stronger position in society and to inspire others to be open to people with refugee backgrounds. A Beautiful Mess is very successful: one in two trainees at A Beautiful Mess finds a job elsewhere.
A Beautiful Mess is run by the organisation Refugee Company. It has been crossing out the word refugee, because to the founders a ‘refugee is not an identity, but a temporary phase in someone’s life’. They prefer to talk about ‘people who have fled to the Netherlands’. Refugee Company now offers paid jobs and volunteer work in Amsterdam, Utrecht and Arnhem. Apart from the restaurants they also develop new formats like community cafe’s and they look for other Dutch companies that can offer work experience and jobs to refugees.
The mission of Refugee Company is to work together for work, in partnership with municipalities, companies, sponsors and the social enterprises and to unlock as much talent as possible for the Dutch labor market. A quote from the internet site of A Beautiful Mess: ‘In a world of increasing inequality and conflict, the goal is to live in an inclusive society where everyone matters equally and is of value’.
The Euronews program Made in Europe focuses on big success stories from all over Europe – whether from the business world, citizen-led projects, or public initiatives. Filming journalist Hans von der Brelie visits the A Beautiful Mess restaurants in Amsterdam and Arnhem and portrays and interviews Refugee Company founder Fleur Bakker, Syrian cook Ayman and trainee Lojain from Jemen. Also Ahmed Marcouch, the mayor of Arnhem gives his views on the importance of A Beautiful mess, the need for work experience and activities for refugees and the possibility to get in touch with the locals.
Activities: offer story idea, research, setup, planning, book rental car, driving, accompanying filming, filming and translations.