Launch of the world's largest restaurant

The Olympic and Paralympic Games in France are a sporting event of superlatives. But it's not just the 15,000 or so athletes from 208 nations and regions who are giving their all. Top performance is also required behind the scenes - especially when it comes to catering: 200 employees will prepare more than 13 million meals according to 500 recipes over four weeks. The main restaurant in the Olympic Village is the largest restaurant in the world with 3,200 seats.

French cuisine is a world heritage site. The Grande Nation, the birthplace of haute cuisine, has therefore undertaken nothing less than to revolutionise the catering around sporting events such as this one - and has commissioned catering specialist ‘Sodexo Live!’, among others, to turn this vision into reality.

Founded in Marseille in 1966 as a catering service for public authorities, companies, schools and hospitals, ‘Sodexo Live!’ employs around 430,000 people who cater for 80 million people in 45 countries every day. They already have expertise in major sporting events, including the Super Bowl, the Rugby World Cup and the Tour de France. As an official Olympic partner, the company is responsible for catering for the athletes, volunteers, spectators and media representatives in France - in the Olympic Village and at twelve competition venues.

The challenge could hardly be greater. On the one hand, there are the different preferences and religious and culinary restrictions of guests from all over the world that need to be taken into account. On the other hand, the meals have to be affordable. What's more, France has attached numerous conditions to the catering for the Olympic Games, which have been expressed in the ‘Food Vision’, among other things.

Together with hundreds of experts from top gastronomy, farmers' associations, nutritional science, etc., those responsible have developed clear guidelines for food supply as part of the so-called “Food Vision”, which are binding for partners such as “Sodexo Live!”.

‘The aim for the Games is to use the knowledge and creativity of French cuisine to promote responsible eating habits in the stadiums and at sporting events,’ says the Olympic organisers. ‘In the land of gastronomy and in view of the major climate and environmental challenges in the world today, it is an operational, cultural and ecological task that all those involved in the Games will take on.’ Everyone should be catered for in a high-quality, creative and sustainable way: That is the aspiration of the host nation.

The organisers of these Olympic Games want to do better than their predecessors, especially from an environmental perspective. In order to optimise the carbon footprint, the ‘Food Vision’ therefore provides for numerous measures, including

It is a first in Olympic history to offer the athletes gourmet meals. ‘Sodexo Live!’ will rely on the menu planning of the three officially appointed Olympic chefs Alexandre Mazzia, Akrame Benallal and Amandine Chaignot for the food supply. “For an original gourmet offer, our own chefs will work together with three chefs who represent the French culinary tradition,” says Franck Chanevas, Managing Director of “Sodexo Live!” for France and Spain.

But what is on the menu for the athletes? Akrame Benallal focuses on dishes such as steamed cod or tandir chicken, Alexandre Mazzia prepares bulgur and quinoa as well as mackerel in his typical way with lots of roasting, spices and chilli, and Amandine Chaignot treats the athletes to an artichoke and truffle croissant or poultry with langoustines. As a general rule, raw and fried foods are prohibited.

Each of the chefs will be present in person two days a week. In ‘La Scène des Chefs’, the gastronomic corner in the athletes' village, there will be an open, fully equipped kitchen and a pass-through unit. ‘Sodexo Live! is doing the mise en place itself,’ reveals Amandine Chaignot. ’We validated everything together during the test phases.’

But beyond the Olympic Village, the host country is also going big on the culinary front. Around 80 pop-up restaurants have opened at sports venues and central locations (sometimes only temporarily for a selected athletic event) - including ‘Gustave 24’ on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower and a food hall in the ‘Palais de Tokyo’ art museum. Another special feature of these Olympic Games: Guests also purchase tickets for the corresponding sporting event with their meal. The future hosts Milan and Los Angeles have already shown interest in this concept.

Tradition, sustainability, flavours and needs from all over the world - ‘Sodexo Live!’ has the task of harmonising these. ‘We are very proud that ‘Sodexo Live! is part of this exceptional event for Paris and France,’ emphasises Nathalie Bellon-Szabo, Managing Director of the company. ‘All our teams are working hard to offer the Olympic and Paralympic athletes a unique and unforgettable experience.’