From migrant to successful chef: the story of Omar who left Siena
A story of risk, willpower and desire to overcome every obstacle. This could be called the life of Omar Ngom, a Senegalese boy who, having arrived in Italy as a migrant, starting from Siena, to become a high-level chef by opening his own restaurant in a luxury hotel in Dakar, in his Senegal.
“I left after my father died, I left my studies seeing Europe as El Dorado – Omar tells RadioSienaTv – I left with a visa and I had the opportunity to enter Europe by doing Portugal, Switzerland and France. I then went to Italy where, however, I discovered that my visa was not valid. I toured Turin, Brescia and Milan, until I spoke to a cousin I met in Siena and he invited me to the city. At the beginning it was difficult, I could not find a job also because of my position with documents. I tried to sell CDs but it wasn’t for me, in the end I managed to enter the Palace Hotel Due Ponti as a dishwasher. I have always been busy and day by day I realized how much Mrs. Sandrucci did for me and cared about me. He helped me with the documents, with the residence permit that I obtained thanks to the employment contract he gave me “.
“Omar remained a great friend, a person of gold. He started here shortly after arriving in Italy. He worked as a dishwasher and then growing up and committing himself to being an assistant cook and then a chef – reveals the former owner and now head of the back office of the Palace Hotel Due Ponti Arianna Sandrucci – He never gave up, he started from nothing and over time is studying, working and also helping his family in Senegal ”.
A story with a happy ending, which tells of Omar’s stubbornness and the great heart of Siena, capable of hosting, making the young Senegalese grow and mature. “I started to get passionate about cooking and the lady helped me to become a chef by paying for some courses – explains Omar – I worked and did internships in various places such as the Hotel Garden and the Il Carroccio restaurant”.
In 2016 Omar decides to return to Senegal to create a catering company. Thanks to his work he meets Yudith who, having invested a lot of money in a restaurant located in the center of Dakar, offers him to work there. “Leaving Italy was difficult, but since Covid started I have realized the situation and I have decided to accept this job ”explains the chef. Now he has opened an Italian restaurant in Dakar, “The parrot“, Where he puts into practice everything he has learned in his culinary experience in the Bel Paese, in Siena and beyond. A luxury restaurant in the heart of the capital, frequented by many Europeans and prominent personalities. Success for Omar has finally arrived, but even now you work and live in his country of origin, a piece of heart always remains in Siena. “Siena is home to me, it’s a part of me – he says – Sooner or later I’ll be back, in May I’ll definitely be there for my best friend’s wedding “.