Cost $24 million big ones

‘Meals on Wheels’ is a 50 year service in Melbourne delivered by local governments. The Community Chef project combines twenty local governments to centralise the production. It pushes new boundaries in community service and large scale meal production.

Jill and her team unrelentingly tested and tried over 300 recipes tabled down to the micrograms with menus catering to several requirements including those without teeth to chew!

We were honoured to be invited to the opening of the $24 million (just a few dollars less than what we spent at Cooking Space) facility in Altona – probably the only French designed facility in Melbourne. Somehow the recipes tested in our kitchen in West Melbourne translated into thousands of meals in a very futuristic looking facility in Altona.

It is with regret that this phase of the project is complete and Jill and her team leaves us. They have left an impression not only with us but with our other users too. They were kind enough to lend a hand, give advice and probably some eggs too. We wish them all the best.

Digging out quality food from the freezer

Sometimes, to maintain a high level of quality means a lot good food and ingredients go to waste. In preparation, we quickly established a relationship with Secondbite.org. Not only to reduce waste but to help feed the less fortunate and Melbourne like all major cities have plenty of the less fortunate.

The Community Chef team have been a definite strong contributor to the Secondbite cause whilst working in our facility. Jill and Kathy is pictured doing the usual clean out of frozen samples no longer required. We have been told that there have been days where Community Chef were the only donater.

It would’ve amounted to several hundred kilos of fresh ingredients that have been donated. It always makes us proud to see the Secondbite van parked to collect food. Because we know quality food will be given a second chance, or more accurately a second bite.

Are those birds chirping?

Well we brought it to Cooking Space, actually more like the two dimensional version. We started the facelift of the dining area with a mural.

Then it got out of hand and we installed down lights, low hanging dining lights, 12 seat table and…well, see the inset picture, it tells a better story.

The dining area now matches the warmth and personality that our users bring. But there will be more. In response to the need for more space to cater for large groups, like those trendy Masterchef students, Kitchen Spencer has undergone major demolition. It is not completed yet, so more on this in the next update.