© Roelof Kleis
The takeaway, which is run by Iranian Dutchman Masood Eslami, has already been selling evening meals for nearly a year in Forum, between five and seven on Mondays to Thursdays. That service is now being extended to lunches.
Until now, international lunches in the canteens usually boiled down to Chinese food. Chinese dishes are on sale every day in both Forum and Orion. Cormet hopes that by bringing in Food of Cultures, it can offer the many international students and staff in particular a wider choice. According to Cormet’s site manager Ron Nagtegaal, they turned to Food of Cultures because of the local aspect and because of owner Eslami’s socially responsible approach to business.
We are a company, but we’re also a social enterprise. That is the essence of our business
Masood Eslami
Eslami started his takeaway on Churchillweg over three years ago. His business explicitly aims to take on former refugees and people with a weak position in the labour market. ‘We are a company, but we’re also a social enterprise. That is the essence of our business. We have Lebanese, Syrian and Afghan chefs. It’s so lovely to see that collaboration between cultures.’
The food in Forum isn’t just Iranian. ‘We serve food from all over the world,’ says his daughter Mahan Eslami. ‘That means vegetarian on Mondays, African on Tuesdays, Middle Eastern on Wednesdays and South American on Thursdays. There’s no fixed schedule for the lunches.’ The lunches cost 4.95 euros. ‘And the food is halal, gluten-free and lactose-free.’ The lunch pilot will continue until the end of the year at least.
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