The long tables are laid with watermelon slices, Middle-Eastern dips and orange candles. The kitchen and bar bustle with life. And – dressed immaculately in red – queen Máxima is officially opening an Amsterdam kitchen about far more than food.

A Beautiful Mess, on the ground floor of the multinational Booking, is a social initiative to provide jobs and training for refugees and a melting pot for integration and mutual understanding.

The intention, said founder Fleur Bakker of Refugee Company, is to train 425 people in five years in this 800m2 restaurant as well as offering Amsterdammers authentic flavours of the world.

“What we are doing isn’t just about being humane – it is important for the Netherlands because we need so much labour at the moment,” she said at the official opening on Oosterdokseiland on Thursday.

“At the moment, there are 70,000 people staying in asylum centres. There are 210 emergency shelters in total and 187 normal ones. Your life can be put on hold for five years, but in the meantime, it is important that you can contribute.”

Beautiful

This is the eighth location opened by the initiative. Although five were forced to close during the coronavirus pandemic, there are two others in Utrecht and Arnhem. The space is being given free of charge by Booking, as part of its corporate social responsibility pledge, and it is financed by government funds and social banking initiatives.

Bakker said that the seeds were planted when she did social work in refugee centres 15 years ago. “I was a bit frustrated,” she admitted. “I thought: how can it be that these people are in asylum centres for so long and then move on to benefits?”

She believes that this kind of initiative could offer a highly visible solution. “We are not hidden away – we are right in the centre, next to Nemo science museum, the public library, and every day employees are pinching themselves and asking how they got here,” she added.

Although the name might bring to mind an officers’ mess, it is actually based on the idea of all kinds of nationalities coming together and cooking up a storm. Sarah, one of the employees and a refugee from Uganda who works two days a week, said in a promotional video: “A beautiful mess is about different cultures…Different cultures, different countries, different people. It’s a mess, but it’s a beautiful one!”

Integration

Refugee Company helps refugees and asylum seekers with language learning, cultural integration, establishing a new rhythm and initial training that will help on the road to employment, said spokesman Niels Paauw.

Queen Máxima – one of the Netherlands’ best-known immigrants, from Argentina – did not comment publicly at the opening, but took a tour of the kitchen, met staff and supporters and helped chef Ghaith make flatbread.

The restaurant has had a ‘soft’ opening for the past three weeks and if successful financially, could provide funding for other language and social support programmes. “At the beginning, I thought: does Booking really mean this or is it window dressing?” said Bakker.  “But especially in these times, when asylum is a challenge, I hope that this is a visible good example, raising awareness of what is often hidden at the corners of society.”

A spokesman from Booking said it suited an employer with almost 7,000 employees from 114 nationalities. “It’s our way of doing our bit to contribute,” he said. “A way to bring out hidden talents and make a place where everyone feels at home.”