Lockdowns (one and two) have hit Melbourne's hospitality industry pretty hard this year, leaving many workers without jobs or with drastically cut hours, with I Lost My Hospo Shift reporting that over $2 million in wages have been lost in the last week alone. But for southside hospo and entertainment staff who've been doing it tough, a helping hand is here in the form of a pop-up kitchen doling out free meals.
Taking over Windsor's Neptune Food & Wine tonight, Monday, July 27, The Big Ass Staff Meal is here to remind us all just how good Melbourne's hospo scene is, serving up hundreds of free takeaway feeds for local industry workers. The team has pulled together donations from the likes of Commune Group — including free use of the High Street restaurant — View Hotels, meat suppliers Flinders & Co and distributor Bidfood Wholesale, and is getting busy whipping up the ultimate chef-cooked staff meal — a hospo ritual many of you might've been missing out on lately.
From 6–8pm, there'll be a range of food packs available, complete with sides, dessert and even pre-batched booze-free cocktails courtesy of Lyre's. Expect plenty of vegan and vegetarian options on offer, too.
Hospo folk keen for tonight's staff feed can simply RSVP via Facebook to give organisers an idea of numbers. During pick-up, face masks will be mandatory and social distancing protocols will be in place. Melburnians have been directed to stay as local as they can when leaving the house for an essential reason during lockdown, so The Big Ass Staff Meal team is encouraging only those in Windsor and surrounding suburbs to pick up a meal.