Nomadic Meal in Bologna, the workshop that delivers lunch to the Dabba
Nomadic Meal in Bologna. "Food is a powerful language of unity, listening, and care, a balance between humanity and the environment. Nourishment means existence; it's a primal instinct, and we do so through all our senses."
Pasto Nomade in Bologna is the result of the 2020 lockdown, when the experience of cooking together virtually, with people connected from different parts of the world, sparked the desire to create a takeout service based on respect, transparency, and the urgent need to preserve biodiversity and the ecosystem. Pasto Nomade is a plant-based and vegan cooking laboratory born in February 2022 from the life journeys of its three founders: Pina Siotto, a Sardinian and Bolognese by adoption with twenty years of experience in the world of natural cuisine, approaching it through a blend of tradition and innovation; Victoria Brandan, born in Buenos Aires, who believes in mindful eating as a way to care for one's energy levels; and Cristina Fiorese, from Bassano del Grappa, who pursues her idea of "fair food" by improving the quality of service in Bologna's school cafeterias. These three journeys led to this laboratory after numerous travels, and they continue to do so here. Pasto Nomade is in fact a place where plant-based recipes from different cultures are reinterpreted through the sensitivity of Pina, Victoria and Cristina.
The starting raw materials are plant-based, organic, seasonal, and come mostly from the surrounding plains and Apennines and from a network of select Italian producers.
But Pasto Nomade is also, and above all, sustainability. On the one hand, sustainability is evident in the production process, minimizing ingredient waste, thanks in part to weekly menu planning; on the other, in the use of reusable and compostable containers. Meals prepared in the laboratory are delivered in a Dabba: a multi-tiered stainless steel container used since around 1890 for home-cooked meal delivery services for Mumbai's workers. After more than 130 years, the Dabba remains an excellent choice for sustainable packaging.
Pasto Nomade's Dabbas are available in two or four tiers (€10 and €15) and contain one dish per tier, depending on the weekly menu, which offers a different cuisine each day—from Italian to Greek, Indian to French—accompanied by a selection of baked goods, vegan desserts, and Frui's Kombucha, produced in Bologna.
Orders can be placed by phone, online, or via the app to pick up your takeaway Dabba from the lab or one of the participating hubs, have it delivered directly to your home by ubm Bologna's bike messengers, or reserve it and enjoy lunch in the lab garden, season permitting. Each Dabba is sanitized and reused after use. To continue this virtuous and sustainable cycle, home-delivered Dabba must be returned to the lab or picked up by the Pasto Nomade team.
Pasto Nomade. Via Lanzarini 8/EFG, Bologna. Tel. 349 9806510. Instagram, Facebook, Website. Open Monday to Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
