A trial of a ‘pay as you feel’ dining concept using food diverted from landfills has patrons in Auckland queueing around the block.
Last Monday, a team from Mudbrick restaurant and the vineyard’s Archive Bar and Bistro headed to the city to offer their services.
The pop up venture called Everybody Eats operates out of K Road Lebanese eatery Gemmayze Street on Mondays (a day the restaurant would otherwise be closed).
Though similar concepts have been tried in the city before, the latest version is the brainchild of Nick Loosley, owner of The Gables restaurant and Hone’s Garden in Russell.
The trial will determine whether Everybody Eats gains a permanent space in Auckland.
The Mudbrick contingent included Veronica Sant, Gina Lewington, Lukas Heer and Cyndia Hardouin, who worked front-of-house, and, in the kitchen, Logan Cloath, Eammon Rebello, Chris Kyle, Enzo Grande and Susann Pischel.
For Logan, head chef at The Archive, the evening was a real eye opener.
“First of all, to see all the food that was going to be wasted was frightening. We managed to create over 160 three-course meals from rescued food.
“The next thing to strike me was how many people showed up, it was very humbling to hear that for some people this was the first hot meal they had eaten in a month and the queue to be seated must have been more than 50 people deep.
“Two weeks ago I didn’t know about Everybody Eats. Then to be invited along surrounded by our amazing team from Mudbrick and all the volunteers was really special.
“To have such a positive impact on someone else’s day was an amazing feeling. It’s really got me thinking of what more I can do locally in our community as well.” • Kelly Bouzaid
