Somekind Press cookbooks
Somekind Press rapidly launched Project Take Away, a crowdfunded cookbook series, which raised more than $200,000 for local restaurants and businesses. Some of the recipes immortalised in the series came from Australia’s best restaurants, including Lee Ho Fook, Pipit, Lankan Filling Station, Ester and more.
Melbourne Food and Wine Festival
One of the first major food events to be put on hold, the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival maintained a positive presence via online cooking demonstrations, garden tours and discussions. It also celebrated culinary icons through its legends series and hosted an epic celebrity sandwich battle.
Deep In the Weeds podcast
Food writer Anthony Huckstep played the role of host and counsellor in this prolific series, which shared stories from throughout the industry in real time. From initial dismay and despair, to surprise successes, these deep-dive interviews became essential listening.
COVID wasn’t the only cause to mobilise the industry in 2020 to come together for a greater good.
Bar Saracen’s Hummus Le Beirut
Melbourne’s Bar Saracen raised more than $20,000 for Red Cross Lebanon, following the devastating Beirut explosion. Head chef Tom Sarafian made and sold more than 300 kilograms of hummus. Sarafian said: “Beirut is an incredibly special city. It taught me to make the best hummus… I owe a great deal of my career to Beirut’s hospitality and generosity.” The Hummus Le Beirut project went down in the middle of Melbourne’s lockdown, but it turned the humble dip into a symbol of hope and connection.
Nomad’s Cook for the Bush fundraiser
As bushfires ravaged the country at the start of 2020, Nomad executive chef Jacqui Challinor rallied together some of Sydney’s best chefs and restaurants to raise funds for the Red Cross with an epic Sunday brunch and bake sale. Peter Gilmore, Lennox Hastie and Palisa Anderson were just some of the good sorts who donated their time and baked goods, raising more than $140,000 in the process.
Nomad’s Cook for the Bush brunch.
(Photo: Kitti Gould)Kepos & Co’s Brunch for Beirut
Kepos & Co’s Michael Rantissi called upon hospitality friends to host a special brunch series in August, raising $15,000. Pepe Saya’s Pierre Issa and Almond Bar’s Carol and Sharon Salloum joined the cause, while sharing stories of their time spent in Beirut.
