It is no mean feat to feed more than 15,000 athletes and it appears that the main restaurant in the Olympic Village in Paris is not destined to pick up any medals.
Athletes promised Michelin starred dining, including members of Team GB, have complained about both the quality of the produce and the quantity, after the catering staff were forced to ration the breakfast eggs on Wednesday morning.
The official catering partner to the Olympic Village, Sodexo Live!, confirmed to the French sports newspaper L’Équipe that there had been “a very high demand” for certain products, such as grilled meats and eggs, adding that the “volumes will be increased” to “satisfy the needs of the athletes”.
“It was requested to revise upwards the quantities initially planned, which the group will be able to satisfy,” a spokesperson for the Carrefour group, which is in charge of supplying fresh products to the Olympic Village, said.
The main restaurant in the Olympic Village which is subject to the complaints can accommodate 3,300 diners. Its menus have featured input from the Michelin-starred French chefs Amandine Chaignot, Alexandre Mazzia and Akrame Benallal.
Team GB are believed to have brought in their own chefs and hired an entire catering college in Clichy to produce meals for athletes after reports of raw meat being served in the Olympic Village.
There is a strict quality charter for all food being served to athletes at the Paris Games. A quarter of all ingredients are being sourced in a 250km radius from Paris, and 20% will be certified organic. All the meat, milk and eggs served will be from France, and a third of the food will be plant-based.
Nearly two-thirds of the 500 dishes on offer are vegetarian, including beefless bourguignon and “not-dogs”, containing onions and pickled cabbage with honey-mustard sauce.
During the two 15-day periods of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, more than 13 million meals will be served across the various eateries in the compound. Organisers have said that all the leftovers will be redistributed to those in need, and that used coffee grounds will be repurposed for fertilisation.
