Founded by the famous chef Jamie Oliver, Fifteen Restaurant is a commercial enterprise with the social aim of providing youth with the opportunity to overcome their pasts and envision a successful future.
Interestingly, the name of the restaurant stems from the first 15 underprivileged youth that he trained to work in his London location in 2002. And now, each year, Oliver trains roughly 15 young people, between the ages of 18 and 24, some of whom are homeless, unemployed, and have criminal records and/or drug or abuse histories. Fifteen’s chef apprenticeship program works in collaboration with the Jamie Oliver Foundation to encourage youth that they can have successful occupations in the restaurant industry. Fifteen now has three more locations in addition to the original London, England restaurant: Amsterdam, Cornwall and Melbourne.
Fifteen Restaurant is an extraordinary example of how one person has evolved his own career into including what he loves—food—and a more general leaning toward his own social responsibility. Oliver used the proceeds from his cookbook "Cook With Jamie" to fund the Fifteen Foundation, seeing as graduating each student costs about $50,000 U.S. each.
Fifteen Restaurant doesn’t simply have a celebrity owner—patrons of the restaurant include Bill Clinton and Brad Pitt. The restaurant doesn’t attract customers on mere social good alone; its mouthwatering menu fuses Italian and Mediterranean-inspired foods made with fresh, seasonal and sustainable ingredients.
Fifteen Restaurant aims to inspire youth all over the world to have the self-confidence to achieve numerous goals regardless of any hurdles that they might have encountered in life. "Having not been the brightest banana in the bunch myself, I realised that my biggest weapon in life was the determination, enthusiasm, hands-on and ‘actions speak louder than words’ approach my father taught me, and I wanted to get this across to others, especially those interested in food, " says Jamie Oliver on the Fifteen website. Fifteen’s apprenticeship program, and its successful restaurants show us that we can all envision a different future for ourselves, the people around us and the world as a whole.
Contact Information:
Fifteen Restaurant Website
Fifteen Restaurant on Twitter
Fifteen Restaurant on Facebook
Pioneering Apprenticeship Programs
Fifteen Restaurant Offers Opportunities to Disadvantaged Youth
Trend Themes
1. Youth Apprenticeship Programs - Creating apprenticeship programs for disadvantaged youth in various industries to provide them with opportunities for success.
2. Socially Responsible Business Models - Developing commercial enterprises with a social aim to make a positive impact on society while still being profitable.
3. Celebrity Endorsement in Social Enterprises - Using the influence and popularity of celebrities to promote and support social enterprises.
Industry Implications
1. Restaurant Industry - Integrating apprenticeship programs and social responsibility into the restaurant industry to empower disadvantaged youth and provide them with career opportunities.
2. Cookbook Publishing Industry - Using proceeds from cookbook sales to fund social initiatives and support disadvantaged youth.
3. Food and Beverage Industry - Creating socially responsible restaurants that serve high-quality, sustainable food and inspire positive change in the industry.