Nari Lundra Restaurant: agro-tourism and responsible agriculture

Context

In 1992, Ardian Tufa started producing wine and raki (aniseed brandy) and distributing it to bars and restaurants around Lundër, a village on the outskirts of Tirana. Realising that he could sell his wine directly to his customers, he opened an inn where he began to serve a small selection of dishes to accompany his spirits. Making changes to his small inn year after year, all the while respecting the desire to produce his own food and to use products from his territory. This small hostel would later become the Nari Lundra restaurant, promoting local agriculture, trade and food.

The project

Nari Lundra is a restaurant that offers regional recipes, based on organic, local, fresh products. The principle of the restaurant is to serve products that have not travelled more than a few kilometres. The aim is to allow people who come to the restaurant to discover where the different foods we serve every day were produced, by showing them around the restaurant's farm. Located 1.5 kilometres from the restaurant, the farm is home to chickens, goats and ducks, and allows visitors to engage in a variety of activities to experience part of the daily life of local farmers. Visitors can participate in activities such as picking fruit and vegetables, making cheese and olive oil, milking cows, preparing traditional dishes and learning about the local culture.

Most of the products served at Nari Lundra have been produced in the surrounding area, an agricultural region with olive groves, vineyards, farms and dairy products. The restaurant's farm produces its own butter, cheese, butter, yoghurt and meat. The rest of the dairy products needed for the restaurant come from the neighbouring farm, while vegetables and meat are also purchased locally from farmers.

The restaurant is surrounded by 200,000 m2 of vineyards managed by the Tufa family, allowing the production of wine, red and white, muscatel and cognac. The olive oil is also partly produced by the family's olive trees, and the rest of the food needed for the restaurant's activity comes from neighbouring farmers.

With a view to local and stable employment, the restaurant's team is made up of forty local employees, the majority of whom have been working there for fifteen years now. Nari Lundra also offers catering services and in 2015 launched a canteen food distribution project under the name "Healthy Food School Catering" dedicated to providing healthy food for children in schools, offering balanced menus made up of local and quality products to ensure a healthy diet for students in the region.

Results

Nari Lundra is part of a global dynamic of local production and territorial food anchoring. Through the use of ecological agricultural practices and the proximity of its production, it provides healthy and nutritious food with a low environmental impact. It also guarantees a regular income for local farmers and invites people who come to eat at Nari Lundra to discover where the food on their plate comes from, allowing them to have a direct relationship between food and production. Through its catering service for school canteens, it also provides students with balanced local dishes.

Little extra

Nari Lundra now has guest rooms for people who would like to immerse themselves in the local way of life over several days, and also allows people who have fed the goats and taken part in the farm's activities to leave with their fresh goat cheese.

This initiative sheet was written by Mathis Kugel, in civic service at Let's Food in May 2023.

Last modification : 23 May 2023.