Watch the video. It’s a treat that is well worth five minutes of your time. Timely community vibes. You will take something from it.
Here’s the back story as recounted by Remo in his 2014 book General Thinker:
In March 2012 Melanie and I received an invitation from Sydneysiders Darryl Nichols and Andrew Valder to attend: “a community grown dinner … as part of something we’re calling ‘Grow It Local’ - a celebration of backyard, balcony, community-garden and windowsill farmers.”
The dinner was happening on a Sunday night at a restaurant called Three Blue Ducks in Bronte, not far from where we were living in Bondi at the time. I was pretty keen to attend, but Melanie needed some convincing. Things weren’t looking good for REMO. Our newly relaunched and hyper-socially-integrated website was not doing the numbers it needed to be doing to keep us trading for too much longer. We were starting to feel that we were going to have to put the then 24 year old REMO to sleep yet again. It was a stressful time, and the last thing Melanie felt like was to be out there putting on a brave face for other people.
But, I managed to talk her into it, and we went along.
It was a great night with such a cool vibe. A totally cosy community love fest. We both felt nurtured and energised by the experience. It added some perspective.
We also met Jess Miller for the first time at that dinner. She too was working on the Grow It Local campaign. Meanwhile, we had decided to shift TEDxSydney (the event that I had founded in 2010) from Carriageworks to (gulp) the Sydney Opera House, and we were looking to do something special with the food.
Uber foodie Jill Dupleix and I go way back, and she agreed to step up to be the Food Curator for TEDxSydney. I introduced her to Darryl and Andrew from Grow it Local, and a bit later we decided to integrate Grow it Local with TEDxSydney 2013, with Jess Miller at the wheel.
This was the genesis for the big crowd farmed lunch at TEDxSydney 2013, a most ambitious and crazy way to feed 2,500 people in 90 minutes.
The audience grew much of the food eaten that day on their own balconies. ARIA Catering (helmed by a very supportive Matt Moran) only knew 48 hours before the event what they were going to be receiving.
There were a lot of moving parts, and hundreds of people involved. We even made a short film about it, and that was played for the audience, just before the lunch. It’s an epic testament to the momentum that results when a good idea gets taken on by a great community.
ARIA won best catering at the 2013 Australian Event Awards for the part that they played in this homegrown extravaganza; and people in Sydney still talk about that extraordinary food experience in the most glowing terms.
It was pretty awesome … and quite possibly all due to a chance meeting at a small Sunday dinner in Bronte that we nearly didn’t attend.
And that’s why it’s always good to get out amongst the people, even if sometimes it’s the last thing you feel like doing.
People Postscript
Grow it Local has gone on to do bigger things – with Darryl and Andrew still involved. Jess Miller worked with Remo on TEDxSydney (also joining the board) for a number of years and went on to become Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney. She is still a Sydney City Councillor. Jill Dupleix (“eater, drinker, traveller, writer”) has continued her stellar career as a food journalist. See for yourself, subscribe to her Substack HERE.
Tagging: Jill Dupleix, Kirsten Bradley, Jess Miller, Michael Klausen, Kate Dezarnaulds
General Thinker
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LOVE revisiting this epic event! Big shout-out to Opera House/Aria head chef Simon Sandall who pulled it all together as if it wasn't impossible. (And he opens his new restaurant at the Powerhouse Parramatta tomorrow Saturday November 7). And to Remo in his typical role as catalyst for things greater than himself. And to Jess who still makes big things happen xx
Oh lordy me… that was a hoot! Thanks for the memories...