Rome cartoonist joins restaurant solidarity project in Garbatella.

Zerocalcare, the Italian cartoonist known for his hit animated series on Netflix, is backing a new Rome restaurant that will offer support to women who survived domestic violence.

The Roman cartoonist, whose real name is Michele Rech, is one of four partners behind Osteria Sauli which is set to open in the capital's Garbatella district in mid-September.

The news, first reported by restaurant guide Gambero Rosso, will see Zerocalcare join forces with restaurateur Antonello Magliari and chefs Stefania Pinto and Francesco Cianciarelli who will serve up traditional Roman fare as well as dishes from the Abruzzo and Puglia regions.

“We wanted to do something together and Michele's idea, which we immediately accepted and shared, was to open a real Roman osteria in one of the most authentic neighbourhoods of Rome" - Magliari told Gambero Rosso - "but also to create a setting in which to be useful from a social point of view.”

The new restaurant will collaborate with Lucha Y Siesta, a group of feminists and women’s rights activists which has been offering shelter as well as legal and psychological support to victims of gender-based violence in Rome since 2008.

As part of the agreement with Lucha Y Siesta, Osteria Sauli will provide the women with employment and training, offering them the opportunity of a fresh start in life.

Magliari clarified that Zerocalcare - best known for his offbeat animated shows This World Can't Tear Me Down and Tear Along the Dotted Line - is a financing partner and that diners who come with the hope of seeing him wait at tables or eating in the restaurant are likely to be disappointed.

Zerocalcare made the same point in an Instragram post on Wednesday, saying that he wasn't the one opening an osteria, "due to obvious gastro-entrepreneurial shortcomings" but that he has taken a share in the restaurant "because I felt like contributing and lending a hand to a project that involves friends of mine and people I trust."

Magliari said that all going to plan the osteria will open in mid-September at a former stationery shop in Piazza Sauli.