Opening the restaurant wasn’t the first thing on my mind when it came to making sense of theFormer Faddadisused wine factory in San Vito dei Normanni (Brindisi), transformed into space for aggregation and social innovation. But since the early twentieth century structure extends over 3,000 m2, is made up of three buildings and boasts an outdoor area of 15,000 m2, after having started the laboratories and the theater it was decided to pay a further homage to the gastronomic excellences of Puglia . And given that the theme here is social, in fact, it was finally decided to focus oninclusiveness. Along a path that has gradually generated connections and emotions, along the lines of excellent cuisine.
The XFood restaurant
XfOTO / Giuseppe Di Viesto«At the time we worked in communications, but we wanted to make a contribution to our territory», he says Vito Valentepresident of cooperative Include which today deals with the work integration of people with cognitive disability. «So, when in 2010 the Municipality renovated the building we applied for its management, consulting the local community to understand its needs. Various proposals have emerged, such as a music school, a DIY school, dance courses and so on. Until we came up with the idea of cooking. At that point we involved public bodies such as the Municipality and the territorial areas of Brindisi and Francavilla to train the young people, who we selected through an open call”.
The goal was to stabilize at least five of them, with regular contracts, and it is they who have been dividing their time between the dining room and the kitchen of XFood for exactly ten years, that is, since it opened. «At a certain point, however, we realized that it was necessary raise the quality of serviceinvolving new chefs.”
