Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
How much would you pay for a burger and some fries? What about if you knew it was all made with leftover or rescued food?
One restaurant is taking part in the Burger Wellington festival using food that would otherwise go to waste and is asking diners to pay whatever they can afford.
In the kitchen at Everybody Eats on Dixon Street on Thursday, acting head chef Zac Bassant and volunteer Nick Isles were busy prepping the ingredients for the 'To The Rescue' burger.
Zac Bassant chopping pak choi. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
It was a braised brisket and bacon burger, with sweet and sour pickled carrots and choko, pak choi and orange salad with spiced apple chutney.
Bassant said everyone would get a side of fries, and there was even a Plant Foods hemp patty available as a vegan option.
"It's so like meat, it's really got that texture. We're going to do a really lovely glaze to try and emulate that richness and stickiness that the brisket is going to be bringing."
The meat was donated by Kaibosh and Freedom Farms. The veges were ugly rejects from supermarkets, and the apples were from a volunteer's garden.
Bassant said the assorted bread buns for the burgers were free from New World.
"Some people will be having sesame buns, some people will be having cheese rolls, and some plain.
"It's the bit I like the most. It highlights that "to the rescue" point right, it's all just what we have available."
Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Nick Isles had volunteered at Everybody Eats for a year, and loved the sense of community he found there.
He backed the restaurant's mission to address food waste and bring people together.
"The ethics, provenance and sustainability of food is really what every restaurant should be focusing on right now.
"I think it's really cool that this is a beacon for that in New Zealand and everything that Everybody Eats seeks to do is exactly what the future of food should be.
"It's amazing to be a part of it."
Restaurant manager Jack Rainey said paying what you can, or even nothing, is the norm for meals at Everybody Eats.
The restaurant served the community Sunday-Wednesday with a three course set menu of rescued food.
Rainey said they had some very generous people come through the doors.
"The koha goes straight back into the charity to keep us going, and events like this become integral to that because we use them as mini fundraisers.
"It's hard enough to exist with the cost of living but it's even harder to be a restaurant at the moment."
But did a rescue burger taste as good as it was for the planet and for food waste?
This reporter was delighted to be given both the meat and vegan option to try.
The brisket was flavoursome and juicy, and the hemp patty was soft and sweet, while the pak choi salad and the apple chutney made for a fresh bite to cut through all the richness.
And what did the patrons think?
A regular diner said: "It's got a nice, zingy flavour to it and it's wonderful to eat."
Another woman said: "I like that it's not a big thick, grizzly patty. It's a nice, refreshing burger that feels more like a meal than McDonalds."
One young patron gave it an 11 out of 10.
Everybody Eats had their next Burger Wellington offering up for grabs on Thursday, 24 August.
Except for the meats, the next burger would be made with all-new ingredients, depending on what was available to be rescued then.
