Chef François Stéfanaggi, sponsor of Petites Cantines
Meeting with the young chef from Annecy François Stéfanaggi, godfather of the Petites Cantines d’Annecy which opened their doors a few months ago to the delight of the inhabitants of the district.
The concept of Petites Cantines was born in Lyon in 2015. A former journalist who had just lost her husband finds herself in complete solitude in her neighborhood. She decides with a friend who is an engineer and a specialist in social innovation to open an associative restaurant, which, like a neighborhood canteen, would welcome with open arms all those, whoever they are, who would open the door.
Since then, the formula has been emulated and three Petites Cantines is now operated in Lyon. Paris and Bordeaux have followed suit and Grenoble are preparing to embark on the adventure.
Very close to Annecy, in Cran-Gevrier, it is in the premises of a mini-market that the first Small canteens the Haute-Savoie have settled down … Just before confinement.
During the closure, the team got organized to make “Clic et Rapplique”, take-out formulas, just to maintain the link and get through the turbulence of the health crisis.
This fall 2021 finally sees the opening of this hybrid place, between the small restaurant and the neighborhood canteen where we were sent “like at home.”“
When you push the door, you are immediately struck by the warmth of the place with its cheerful and neat decor. Then comes the smiling welcome from the hostess, Karine, who has a little kerchief on her head and a vegetable peeler in hand, leads a beating hive, already in full effervescence.
Because here, as at home, you can put your feet under the table while tasting the entree-flat-dessert of the day or come to the stove from 9 o’clock in the morning, or help with the dishes and tidying up.
For the price, it’s the same, everyone pays in their soul and conscience, according to their wallet and their commitment. The board shows what a meal costs, the charges and what it takes to run the machine.
That day was Children’s kitchen with one of the sponsors of the Petites Cantines, François Stefanaggi, the head of Vinistrot in Annecy. On Wednesdays, his restaurant is closed which allows him to come and run this kind of workshop regularly.
An army of little elves-cooks buzzes around salad bowls filled with steaming chocolate. Objective of the day, to make brownies with nuts and pistachios. The cook explains and organizes the battalion while not far from there, the parents peel the potatoes from the mash and make the avocado mayonnaise at the entrance. In the middle of it all, chicken nuggets (local of origin) are planned, nothing to do with those that flourish on supermarket shelves.
From this organized chaos, beautiful tables will be born for the guests who arrive little by little: a mother and her three children, a young woman teacher in the neighborhood who arrives hungry and asks for a sandwich. She settles down and engulfs the menu with a big smile and returns the next day with husband and offspring.
A little grandma who calls out to us while doing the service: “I was part of the Colibris, I was at the very start of the project, here, it’s a bit like home “. At the end of a table, an elder, white mustache and sparkling eye, chatted while eating with one of the little cooks in Chef François’ workshop.
Chef François, who sails with Karine, the hostess, so that everyone has something to eat, is also seated with a glass of wine and a well-stocked plate. A little later, we see him with a tea towel in his hand in the middle of a discussion with one of the guests.
“Here, we feel known and recognized“, Explain Karine, the mistress household, the only employee of the association in charge of reception, operation, hygiene and a thousand and one tasks of the Petites Cantines.
The only requirement to be able to push the door and sit down, you have to reserve, because Karine can push the walls, but only up to a certain point.