Save this story Save Story Save this story I’m watching five women are working together in the kitchen, pots and pans bubbling and sizzling amid laughter. One woman is cutting cauliflower for a traditional Bengali stew, while another fills small pie forms with the dough for Tunisian tajine. “Ruhana is from Bangladesh, Mariama is from Guinea, and Hasna is from Morocco; we also have two more trainees from Tunisia and Nigeria. So those are all the different flavors you’ll find on tonight’s menu,” Jessica Rosval, co-owner of Roots, tells me.
Rosval quickly introduces the restaurant’s all-female team, who are preparing dishes from around the world here in the small city of Modena, and celebrating culinary diversity right in the heart of Italy. “We have a waiting list every evening,” Rosval says, a fact that makes Roots one of the most sought-after reservations in the region.
But Roots is more than just a place to enjoy great food: it’s also a social integration project designed to help migrant women access the Italian job market. Every quarter, five women complete a four-month training program then are placed in professional kitchens throughout Modena—and demand from the restaurant industry is already exceeding the number of graduates.
Photo: Jessica Jungbauer Opened in 2022, Roots was founded by Rosval—one of modern Italian cuisine’s most celebrated talents and the chef behind Michelin-starred Al Gatto Verde—alongside the social entrepreneur Caroline Caporossi, through their organization the Association for the Integration of Women. The fixed menu consists of appetizers, a main meat or fish dish, and dessert, and it costs 38 Euros. “We want as many people to come in here as possible, to support the cause and share the message, ” says Rosval.
The idea for Roots was first sparked when a Nigerian refugee approached Caporossi because she couldn’t find a job in Modena after searching for three years. Caporossi spoke to her close friend Rosval, who used her connections in the food world to help. “That’s when we realized that we could combine our powers and create a program to help women find jobs in the restaurant industry,” says Rosval. Soon, the city council supported the initiative and helped raise the necessary money to open Roots. “Modena helped us build it. It’s a small, traditional town, but also very open-minded.”
Photo: Jessica Jungbauer Photo: Jessica Jungbauer Aketzalli Bobadilla Canseco was one of the first women to graduate from the training program, and has since been promoted to team leader. Originally from Mexico, she worked as a biological engineer before coming to Italy; after moving, she struggled to find a job. “Roots changed my life,” she says. “When I arrived in Italy and started looking for a job, the opportunities for immigrants, but also women, were really small...” Having spent her early months in Italy feeling alone—having lost her close family, language, and culture—at Roots, Bobadilla Canseco finally felt seen and part of a community. “We are like a big family here,” she adds.
Now leading the team, Bobadilla Canseco says: “Most of the women here learned to cook at a young age, at age 10 or 12; some started as early as eight. They have up to 20 years of experience.” The goal is to build on that knowledge and turn it into professional skills. “Every woman here at Roots who shares her culture is also telling the world: ‘I’m here. I’m still working on my dreams. Even if life gives me no opportunities, I can find a way.’"
In the meantime, the current far-right government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, continues to pursue its anti-migrant agenda. “Life is made of exchange. History was made of exchange”, says Rosval. “We can’t close ourselves off to things we don’t know because they’re often the most beautiful. Even just the thought of stopping it now is absurd…” According to Rosval, projects like this one encourage people to learn about the world through their stories.
Photo: Jessica Jungbauer Indeed, the idea behind Roots is simple: bring people together around cultures they might not otherwise know through the universal language of food. “The way to somebody’s heart is always through their stomach,” says Rosval. And although it’s a social enterprise, the team wanted to treat it like a regular restaurant and create a thoughtfully designed space. “It’s a place where people can discover the beauty of the diversity that exists in Modena, try food from countries they may not know much about, and open their minds and hearts.”
The historic building that houses the restaurant used to be an orphanage for young girls, and the dining space was once a classroom. Standing proudly in the middle of the courtyard is an enormous oak tree, stretching its branches out in all directions. “This tree is a rare native species of Emilia-Romagna, and it grows right here in the middle of the city,” says Rosval. “That’s why we wanted to call our project Roots.”
Photo: Jessica Jungbauer In addition to being paid by Roots, the women receive a salary supported by the regional government of Emilia-Romagna. This allows them to take part in the program without the financial burden of conventional training programs. “From the very beginning, the restaurant is entirely self-sustaining,” says Rosval. All proceeds are reinvested into the project, and the track record is impressive: Since its inception, Roots has trained more than 60 women from 22 different countries, and about 85% of those who graduated found jobs in the kitchens of Modena.
Photo: Jessica Jungbauer One of them is Ndeye Maguette Diop, who is originally from Senegal. She was already a cook in her home country and came to Italy to become a better chef. “I was looking for a job, but the language was probably the biggest barrier”, she says. After taking Italian classes alongside the culinary training at Roots, she was hired right after the course ended. Today, she assists Bobadilla Canseco in overseeing the daily training and execution of the menu. “Everything changed,” she says, with a smile.
What sets Roots’ training apart is that it offers a true restaurant experience: Aside from cooking, tasks include everything from cleaning and maintaining the kitchen to keeping stock fresh. But the food is the priority, of course, with Rosval building a menu that reflects the women’s various cultural traditions and flavors. “This menu needs to be a technical training tool,” says Rosval. “All of the dishes have specific techniques embedded in them that the group will practice over the four months of training.”
It’s a weeknight when I visit, and after the restaurant opens at 7:30 p.m., the tables fill up unusually early and quickly, especially by Italian standards. Big families sit right next to groups of girlfriends and couples on date nights. The beautifully designed former classroom is bathed in warm light, with part of the floor made of glass and illuminated so that guests can see the old canal system of Modena running beneath them. On each table, a card introduces one of the trainees with a short quote—her name, her country of origin, and a reflection on what cooking here represents. “Roots made me be wise and know many things, not only how to cook,” writes a woman named Faithful from Nigeria, as one example.
Photo: Jessica Jungbauer To accompany the menu, guests can choose a beverage pairing. “Here we are in Nigeria,” says Giada Malavolti, the head waiter, as she serves the first drink, a cocktail inspired by a Nigerian drink called Chapman: a mix of zobo, a traditional hibiscus juice, and Italian Bitter Rouge. “It’s our take on the Italian aperitivo, but we’re keeping the roots in West Africa,” she adds. Then she places a large tray full of appetizers on the table, all the small dishes from this afternoon’s preparations served together. It is accompanied by a millet flatbread from Guinea, “which the farmers of Guinea call ‘the bread of strength,’” she explains.
What follows is an introduction to the diverse cuisines on offer, always served side by side and almost overflowing the tables: from the spicy Nigerian bean stew L’Ewa Riro to Aloo Bhaja, thinly sliced potato strings spiced with cumin and turmeric and a staple of Bangladeshi cuisine. By now, the entire restaurant is lively, and it’s time for dessert: A festive Bengali dessert called Semai, which is a creamy combination of slow-roasted vermicelli noodles, warm sweetened milk, and spiced with green cardamom. Accompanying this is some freshly made Moroccan baklava, drenched in orange blossom water and served alongside masa, soft yet crispy small cakes made of fermented rice that are typical of Nigeria. Malavolti surveys the feast proudly: “This is how we celebrate today’s end of Ramadan.” Here, in the heart of Modena, everybody leaves full.
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Source: Lifestyle
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