Meet Nick Loosley from Everybody Eats  

A community-driven space offering pay-as-you-feel dining.

In the latest edition of People Behind the Space, we catch up with Nick Loosley , from Everybody Eats. We chat to Nick about his inspiring flagship space in Onehunga,  created with a social cause in mind, to help tackle food waste and food poverty. We discuss the warm community vibe at Everybody Eats, and Nick's drive behind its creation.

Everybody Eats offers a freshly renovated space, now available to hire on Friday and Saturday nights (4.30pm - late) for zero-waste private and corporate functions. The venue hire goes directly to Everybody Eats charity to help Feed Bellies Not Bins. Book this sustainable space here!

What inspired you to set up your space?

Everybody Eats was ready to set up our first permanent restaurant after operating successful pop-ups elsewhere. We chose Onehunga for its community and diversity, and our space because it is open and dining in it feels very communal.

What is your favourite part of the space and why?

 The high ceiling. We try to create a warm, open and inclusive atmosphere, more like a dining hall than a cosy restaurant and the high ceilings which slope up the mezzanine floor are perfect for that.

Please tell us a bit about what other ventures you are also involved with.

 I also own The Gables Restaurant and Hone’s Garden in Russell. The Gables is NZ’s oldest restaurant (built in 1847); it’s a relaxed bistro serving fresh local produce, including the beautiful seafood and interesting wines from the area. Hone’s is a busy beer garden serving woodfired pizzas, craft beer and local wines in a laid back, tropical setting.

Who is the most interesting person to dine (or donate) at Everybody Eats? 

 We like to think all of our diners are equally interesting. They are all treated the same regardless of their situation. What we’ve learnt is that by giving everyone a chance, you find out some really interesting things. We serve a  lot of people experiencing homelessness and what has been fascinating for myself and our volunteers is learning what some of these people have done in their lives. We have people who were once surgeons now needing access to free food because of unfortunate circumstances they’ve faced. 

Describe the community and vibe at Everybody Eats.

Because of the number of meals we serve it can be quite fast paced. There is a real communal vibe, lots of smiles and gratitude as people from all walks of life enjoy a good meal with people they might not have met before.  Almost everyone working in our restaurants are volunteers, who generally love to spend time getting to know our guests and making sure they feel well looked after.

If you could pick any three people in the world to work in your space, who would it be and why? 

Yayoi Kusama - I really love her work and think she would be fun to watch

Tariq Trotter (Black Thought) - In my opinion the greatest rapper and lyricist of all time. I’d love to watch him write, his head must be erupting with content.

Michael Pollan - The way he looks at the world is considered yet playful which I appreciate. I think he’d find the two above quite interesting too.

As an event space listed on Sharedspace, what makes you unique for a great function?

 A lot of people want to have functions with us because we are a charity and they want to support us, which is awesome. But we can also create menus utilising surplus and rescued food, which can be appealing for some people or events that are focussed on sustainability or zero waste.

What are the most played songs at Everybody Eats?

We like to play music that isn't too polarizing and everyone appreciates:

Bob Marley

Fleetwood Mac

Paul Simon

Steely Dan

Find out more about how you can volunteer, or help out Everybody Eats in other ways here.

Everybody Eats is available to hire as an event space  Friday and Saturday nights (4.30pm - late) for zero-waste private and corporate functions. The venue hire goes directly to Everybody Eats charity to help Feed Bellies Not Bins. See more and book this space here.

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