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This month diners in Toronto were treated to a four-course meal at a pop-up restaurant called June's. The menu included Northern Thai leek and potato soup with a hint of curry, a pasta served with smoked arctic char followed by garlic rapini and flank steak. The entire meal was topped off with a boozy tiramisu for dessert.

In addition to a mouthwatering meal, the chefs at June's also served a message which they wore on their shirts: "Break bread. Smash stigma."

Worldwide there are more than 30 million people living with HIV/AIDs, including more than a million in the U.S. The two-day event was a fundraiser put on by Casey House, Canada's only stand-alone hospital for HIV/AIDS treatment. Everyone in the kitchen was HIV-positive.

After running a survey in which 50 percent of Canadians said they wouldn't eat a meal knowingly prepared by someone with HIV, the hospital decided to put on the project.

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Casey House's CEO Joanne Simons says the point of the project was to get people talking about the stigmas that still surrounds HIV/AIDS. June's event was a success and Simons says they plan to do another run in Toronto. Simons says they've also had interest globally and are "starting to work on a plan to roll this out elsewhere."

On how the experience was for the HIV-positive staff

There were 14 people who are HIV-positive. They were led by head chef Matt Basile, who is very popular in Toronto — owns a restaurant, has food trucks. And he worked with the chefs to co-create the menu. I think that they felt very empowered to be able to speak up and to be able to offer a meal that was absolutely divine.

On questions diners had about HIV/AIDS

We were receiving many questions about, "Well, can I get HIV through food? What happens if a chef cuts their finger in the kitchen?" I mean the answer is absolutely not. There is no way to contract HIV through the preparation of food and if a chef did cut themselves during the preparation of a meal we would treat it just like we would anybody whether they were HIV-positive or not. You obviously apply first aid, you sanitize the area, you throw out any food that may have had blood on it. And also the virus has a very limited lifespan outside of the body and with the heat and the light within a kitchen environment, the virus would not survive.

On how stigmas about HIV/AIDS have changed

Because the treatment and medication support over the past decade has become a lot more effective, people can live well with this disease and live into very ripe old age. But there's still a lot of myth and education is required. Unfortunately, for our clients, who are some of the most vulnerable in the community, they experience stigma on a day-to-day basis from their friends, family, coworkers, other health care professionals, so it's still a very real issue.

Thomas Lu produced the audio version of this story. Wynne Davis adapted it for Web.

Copyright 2017 NPR.

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How One Pop-Up Restaurant Is Fighting Stigma Against HIV/AIDS