Roots is a restaurant in Modena, Italy, with a mission that extends beyond the dining room. Founded in 2022 by chef Jessica Rosval and Caroline Caporossi, it combines a fixed-price dinner menu with a paid, four-month training programme for migrant women looking to work in professional kitchens. Five trainees complete each quarterly intake before moving into restaurant jobs across the city.
The €38 menu draws on the cooks’ own food traditions, with dishes influenced by cuisines including Bengali and Nigerian. Revenue from the restaurant is reinvested in the project, while regional government support covers trainees’ wages, allowing participants to gain experience without taking on the usual costs of training.
Roots reports an 85% job placement rate, connecting graduates with Modena kitchens that need more trained staff. By combining restaurant income with paid training and public support, the project gives migrant women a route into the industry while bringing a wider range of culinary traditions to the table.
Image Credit: Jessica and Bernd Jungbauer
What's Driving This Trend
- Paid Workforce Training
- Hybrid service models that compensate trainees while teaching job-ready skills can reduce barriers to entry and create more inclusive talent pipelines.
- Cultural Menu Integration
- Restaurants incorporating migrant and diasporic food traditions into fixed-price concepts can differentiate dining experiences while broadening culinary representation.
- Social Enterprise Dining
- Revenue-generating hospitality ventures tied to measurable employment outcomes can blend commercial viability with community impact.
Who This Affects Most
- Hospitality
- Staffing shortages in kitchens create space for training-led restaurant models that prepare underrepresented workers for immediate employment.
- Workforce Development
- Publicly supported programs connected directly to operating businesses can make vocational training more practical, paid, and placement-focused.
- Food Services
- Fixed-menu dining concepts with embedded social missions can introduce new customer value through authenticity, impact, and culinary diversity.
