A new top restaurant in London is giving people threatened with homelessness a chance to become a chef or waiter, offering them a new lease on life.
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00:00Last-minute prep.
00:03The new restaurant Home Kitchen in central London
00:06is getting ready for the first guests to arrive.
00:10The waitstaff still have plenty to learn.
00:13Not many of them have any experience in the catering industry.
00:17Home Kitchen helps socially vulnerable people
00:19get out of poverty and into work.
00:22They all were at risk of being homeless
00:24and this is giving them a second chance.
00:27I feel great, confident, yeah.
00:29We've been doing this for a few weeks now.
00:31Started with training and induction.
00:34We've had a series of soft launches
00:36and it's still a process, this is still new.
00:41For a long time, Jeremy Coates had no permanent home.
00:45He says he had a difficult childhood
00:47and has never really had a proper job,
00:49but he's gained self-confidence from being part of a team.
00:54Someone like me,
00:56who didn't come from a stable upbringing,
01:00stable family,
01:02can get easily lost in life with no purpose
01:06and with no networks,
01:08that's what everyone needs to strive
01:11and build themselves up.
01:15The restaurant wants to be such a network.
01:19One of the initiators of the project
01:21is top chef Adam Simmons.
01:26Years ago, he himself went through a tricky time
01:29and almost ended up on the street.
01:34Everybody deserves an opportunity.
01:36People see somebody on the street or homeless or in trouble
01:39from the outside, not from the inside,
01:42and they don't realise potentially why they're there.
01:45People don't choose to be on the streets,
01:47it's circumstances.
01:50Paul, who did not want to share his surname,
01:52spent a long time in prison.
01:54That's where he took cooking classes.
01:58When I was in jail, I wanted to have my own place,
02:01my own cafe,
02:03and that was my dream.
02:05And when I came out, I thought I couldn't get that
02:07because of the stigma of,
02:09yeah, you're an ex-convict, da-da-da,
02:12but now they're supporting people like me.
02:16And for me, having a dream like this come true,
02:18I always have to pinch myself to think,
02:20is this really happening?
02:22OK, guys, so good evening.
02:24Tonight's service, we have 12 tables,
02:26we have 31 covers in total.
02:28At last, pep talk from the manager.
02:31So we start with the crab.
02:33There's crab, fresh vegetables and fish on the menu,
02:37and the six-course meal isn't cheap.
02:40Don't the guests have a right to expect impeccable service?
02:43Yes, we're going to be slower.
02:45Yes, there's going to be mistakes.
02:47But hopefully the people that come through the door
02:49will understand that and say that it's OK
02:51if they have to wait another 10, 15 minutes for a plate of food.
02:57The restaurant is located in an expensive part of London
03:00where diners are used to high standards.
03:05Everyone in the kitchen is now working at full speed,
03:08both the top chef and those who still have a lot to learn.
03:13Home Kitchen is partly financed by donations,
03:16so it doesn't have to make a profit right from the start.
03:19But it is important that guests are satisfied
03:22for the project to work out in the long run.
03:27This first evening seems to be going well.
03:31So we have the grill, the kohlrabi, the mussels and mussel soup.
03:35I will just show you the garnish.
03:37Thank you very much.
03:39So, yeah, I think it's an excellent idea.
03:41I mean, I'd like to think that they maybe go on from there.
03:45To further themselves.
03:47And maybe if they're interested in going into catering,
03:50start at the bottom and work their way up.
03:54And that's exactly what many of the staff here want.
03:58Jeremy Coates is highly focused tonight and optimistic about the future.
04:07I am like a black hole.
04:09I'm hungry and I want to swallow it all up
04:11and then build myself up fully.
04:15And then, with the skills, perhaps move on in the future
04:20and perhaps make this a career for myself.
04:26Home Kitchen wants to nurture talents that once were hidden
04:30and help everybody here hone their skills and careers.