They call him “Holy,” and “The Saints,” but he thinks we can all become “saints,” so he did not put an apostate before the final “s”. Nassos Rufos, the initiator of the original project “The Saints” in Thessaloniki, has the vision to help people “live in a decent way and put the world to the best, because we all want to do it – no one wants man to do evil, situations make him bad. ”
There are many things that embrace the Saints project and “The Saints’ Store” is only the first step that found its roof at the beginning of Paul Mela, a breath away from the most characteristic monument and point of reference of the co-star – or, of the capital of the food. Entering into the organic vegan restaurant area, one moves into a greener reality and sees in practice a lifestyle that aims at well being, ecology and respect for everyone and everything.
The wooden tables and chairs, carved and worked as the last detail in hand by Brother Mitroulaki, hand-made pumpkins instead of lamps and the space for kids to play under the stairs, make you feel so beautiful that you do not want Go away. In the middle of the high-ceilinged shop, the looks – and the bodies – make up the varied buffet with all the flavors and flavors you can imagine “to have the freedom of time and all the choices to make as you like your dish . What we want is in the fast rhythms we live to be able to take your time and calmly to choose what you eat, quickly, deliciously and homemade. ”
Nassos Rufos in front of the “Tree of Life”.
The menu was edited by the famous green chef Nikos Gaitan. In his buffet you can find traditional Greek dishes such as pastitsio, spetsopa , cannelloni, imam bailti and stuffed, to bolognese, crepes, risotto with vegetables or chickpeas with aubergines and salads inspired from various corners of the world. The Cretan dakos vegan and the moussaka and cannelloni trays are some of the food that disappears in dt time. The “mage” made by The Saints is that it established Mondays as non-weighing days, but you have unlimited consumption (with € 10) and eat until the final drop. Also, students have a 15% discount on what they get except drinks and desserts.
The vegan does not mean immortal and this seems to be known first-hand by Nassos Rufos. ” Vegans are not fed . Most people remain speechless about how delicious someone can eat without animal derivatives.And the reason we did not put a huge label to write “vegan” from the outside is that it’s not just veganism but the whole concept behind it ” comments characteristically. “We want the whole world to enter the shop and try and understand that because we found it that way does not mean we have to go that way.”
Put whatever you want on your plate and weigh it in the end.
The pan and bowl with salads and starters do not fill up.
More specifically, 5% of each market will go to vulnerable groups, to people who need it and will be posted on the page. ” I would like to include people who do not have shelter and work . The next step will be to have our own fields to get the raw materials from there. Then we build a recycling plant and then create an entire village-vegan farm and focus on education. ”
We will also be hanging out for various actions, for example calling to SOS Children’s Village, building a Smile of the Child, cleaning a beach of plastics or helping the homeless. “No donations, I am not the philosophy to make a fundraiser. If I give you two pounds of tomatoes, in a few days you will ask me again, but if I know how to piss you, it can take us longer, but you will not have to ask again, ” says Nasos Rufos.
“In the past three years some pieces have been knocked and the decision has slowly become flesh and bone,” he says. “Appropriate people were found and veganism, who hid behind him many more things than food, came into my life.”
Although Sarakatsanos, born and raised in meat and milk, changed for the better. “They are all based on the dairy, meat and pharmaceutical industry. It is so structured the society that sells us the diseases through the meat and then they give us the medicines to heal us. They can not say at the moment that it is wrong to eat meat, the economy will collapse. ”
It is not just what we put on our body but also how “we are to other living creatures, to the environment, to our relationships, to everything.” The Saints with the self-service buffet wants to promote a healthy lifestyle in all its aspects, in the physical body but also in the energy, as well as in our friendly, family, professional and erotic relationships. That’s why the motto is “The Pure Way of Life”.
Cretan and vegan dakos.
The next goal is to open a zero waste organic market on the lower floor of The Saints’ Store, where you can fill your sack or glassware with bulk legumes, herbs, vegetables, and the top floor will be courses of yoga, reiki, meditation , energy therapies and other events or workshops.
Another proof that Thessaloniki’s most ecofriendly restaurant is that it is plastic free and as Nassos Rufos comments: “The seas are filled with plastic. We have seen from satellites that three plastic reefs have been created and moved. Do we think there is sewerage on the planet? ”
Everything is biodegradable , from cane and corn, which then go for composting. Even the bag in the bucket. “Greece had received a 100 million fine from the European Union because it throws 80% of its garbage into the landfill, while in Sweden 99% of the country’s energy comes from garbage imported from other countries.”
Natural juice in a glass bottle and some cruelty-free sweet for the end?
One can also come with their own utensils , weigh his food, remove the tare of the pot and pay only the net value. Even cold-pressed juices are in a glass bottle. Also, if you go outside and have your freezer, you can get in and fill it with water, completely free of charge, because it is the first Refill Station in Greece. “We pay € 0.50 water due to interests and we charge the planet with extra plastic.”
With simple choices and moves we can help our environment and our lives by extension, why not do it? Such restaurants that respect all living beings and the environment must exist in each city of each country.
