A restaurant owner flew to the Polish border to make pizza for people fleeing war in Ukraine. Here's what his job is like now.

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Kate DuffyApr 9, 2022, 15:11 IST
A restaurant owner flew to the Polish border to make pizza for people fleeing war in Ukraine. Here's what his job is like now.

Restaurant owner Ciro Orsini on the Polish border next to Ukraine.Ciro Orsini

  • An Italian restaurant owner in the UK traveled to the Polish border with Ukraine to feed refugees.
  • Ciro Orsini's charity serves pizza to up to 5,000 people a day, he said.
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Meet Ciro Orsini — he's the owner of an Italian restaurant based in the UK and has traveled to Medyka, a town on the Polish border with Ukraine, to help feed people fleeing the war.

Meet Ciro Orsini — he's the owner of an Italian restaurant based in the UK and has traveled to Medyka, a town on the Polish border with Ukraine, to help feed people fleeing the war.
Ciro Orsini.Ciro Orsini

Orsini, 73, owns a London-based Italian restaurant called Ciro's Pizza Pomodoro. He's also the founder of Help Children Now, a charity that provides aid to children impacted by conflict.

In an interview with Insider, Orsini said he traveled to Medyka on the south-east Polish border the day the Ukraine war started to work with his charity which had set up a base there.

Orsini and the volunteers who he recruited are based in a tent next to the border. This is where they make pizzas for the refugees.

Orsini and the volunteers who he recruited are based in a tent next to the border. This is where they make pizzas for the refugees.
Orsini working with volunteers to cook pizza.Ciro Orsini

As soon as the refugees cross the border from Ukraine to Poland, there's an 80-meter long tent that they enter where there are mattresses on the ground, blankets, and pharmaceutical supplies, Orsini said.

Next to a soup stand in the tent, there's Orsini's pizza stand. His volunteers also give out biscuits, chocolates, and coffee, he said.

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The charity serves pizza to up to 5,000 people a day, Orsini said.

The charity serves pizza to up to 5,000 people a day, Orsini said.
Ciro Orsini

Hundreds of people who have fled from Ukraine line up outside the pizza tent every day, Orsini said.

"They're so traumatised, they're scared," he said. "They have no food, they want something hot."

"Pizza is a universal magic word. Every child knows about it. When they hear pizza they start to smile," Orsini said.

"Pizza is a universal magic word. Every child knows about it. When they hear pizza they start to smile," Orsini said.
Orsini cooking pizza.Ciro Orsini

Orsini said there is a proper wood-burning pizza oven at the camp, unlike his electric oven at his restaurant in London. "You can taste the pizza and see what it's like before we take it out," he said.

It takes between three and four minutes to make the pizzas at the camp. Some pizzas are long in shape and around 14 inches big, while others are round-shaped and 10 inches big.

The charity offers whole pizzas, half pizzas, and single slices.

The toppings include margarita, salami, ham, oregano, and other meats, Orsini said.

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Orsini said the charity transports the ingredients for the pizzas from the UK to the camp on the Polish border.

Orsini said the charity transports the ingredients for the pizzas from the UK to the camp on the Polish border.
Orsini working with volunteers to cook pizza.Ciro Orsini

"We wear funny hats when we cook and serve pizza for the kids ... it gives them some happiness," Orsini said.

The charity has trained five local people on the Polish border to help cook pizzas at the camp.

The charity has trained five local people on the Polish border to help cook pizzas at the camp.
Orsini working with volunteers to cook pizza.Ciro Orsini

"We work globally but think locally," Orsini said, adding that the charity tries to source ingredients that are popular with the crowd they're feeding.

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"The families are very stressed and traumatized, it's really bad," Orsini said.

"The families are very stressed and traumatized, it's really bad," Orsini said.
Orsini working for his charity Help Children Now.Ciro Orsini

Orsini said he's been going to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, for 20 years. He also spends time in the Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan, helping the children who need the charity's support.

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