Respec’Table

 

Non Profit ID card: present your project/organisation/campaign

Questions answered  by Laurent Bolon, owner of the restaurant Respec’Table.

– Where are you based? Paris. Our address is: 5, Rue de La Tour d’Auvergne, 75009. Metro: Anvers.

– What are you called? Respec’Table.

– What are you doing and why? I own an environmentally and socially responsible restaurant in Paris, called Respc’Table. The food we serve is organic, natural and fair trade. The staff is made up both of interns and of people from socially disadvantaged contexts. We assure fair salary to the staff that is also provided education and training.We are doing all this because we are an entreprise solidaire advocating for a more social and more humane economy, based both on sustainable and on personal development. 

– Do you have a website/email? www.respec-table.fr; mailto:laurentbolon@yahoo.fr

– Do you have a facebook link/name? Respec’Table

– What makes you so special? There are very few restaurants in Paris with a social aim like ours. Plus, our prices are very reasonable even if organic and natural food is very expensive. Food, including vegetables, meat and wine, comes from reputable local suppliers. We are involved in protecting the environment: at Respec’Table also all materials used to renovate and build the restaurant are rigorously environmentally friendly, even the paint, the floor and the ceilings!

The turning point

– How did you start? I studied in a hotel school to become chef. Then I worked for many years as social worker after a master in education sciences. I worked as a professor with people who find it hard to be employed, as they have social problems, and trained them into the catering business. At that time I was working for the Ministry of Justice with young people. I then decided to continue working in this field applying my experience in an entrepreneurial activity. 

– What keeps you going every day? Sometimes it is hard to work, but everyone has to work, so I do it anyway! Plus, it is my own activity, I created it myself, so I have to take care of it!

– Who is your target? Our clients are people who eat organic food, people who are already engaged in their everyday life in the food awareness process. The idea is to make organic food accessible to everyone and to make people more environmentally aware. We want to encourage people to eat organically. 

–  How are you financed? We are mainly backed by Garrigue, a solidary venture capital firm, and by France Active. 

The challenge

–  A proud moment? I have many proud moments! What makes me really happy is when clients tell me that they liked the food they had at Respec’Table and that they think my activity is going to be successful. Another proud moment is when people with problems in finding a job, that I decided to employ and welcome and who now work in the catering business, come visit me to have news about me and Respec’Table because there is a bond between us. 

– A problem you face? There are two aspects that we have to monitor. On the one hand there is the social aspect of the enterprise, and on the other hand the enterprise must be profitable. The social aspect concerns the people with difficulty in finding an occupation that I employ. At the same time it is necessary to be productive.

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