Food, we believe, is supposed to bring people together. Both of our childhoods are filled with memories of a table, full of food, surrounded by family and friends sharing laughter, tears, joy, sadness and everything in between. And, of course, a meal. It was a love of food and feeding that helped bring us together, our relationship was born kneading bread and blossomed over the kitchen stove.
Omni started as a game, “create a menu”, a simple idea that was supposed to take up half an hour or so of a long-haul flight with no working entertainment. The next 3 hours passed quickly in thought, debate and animated conversation about the restaurants that we’d both had in our heads for a life-time without ever knowing.
Food is also a journey, a vapid expression, but nevertheless true. Neither of us were vegan when we began what we decided to call Pesky’s. The same name that Jess used on that flight, months before, for her restaurant. We started serving, as the name would suggest, pescatarian food. It was, however, not long before we realised that due to budget restrictions we couldn’t find sustainable fish. We decided that if we couldn’t do it right then we wouldn’t do it. Under the same name we continued to serve vegetarian food. George had always eaten everything up to that point, having an attitude of “if I haven’t had it, I should” from nose to tail, seed to sprout, he
would try whatever food he came across. After a 40 day vegan challenge he realised there was nothing he missed;he decided that he could have a meal that was every bit as satisfying without any animal products. And on that basis he decided he was not going to eat anything that came from an animal anymore. As long as the food was delicious, filling and interesting then why would you need animal products? Why go vegan? Why not go vegan?
For many, Omni means omnivore, those who eat meat and vegetables, those who eat everything. We decided to call ourselves Omni because instead of eating everything, we feed everyone. Our aim is to bring people together, to sit around the table as we did, sharing a meal. We believe that whether or not you are vegan, whether you are muslim, kosher, halal or whether you are omnivorous, for one meal we encourage everyone to sit down and share.
We can cater for any cuisine or dietary requirement. We are available to hire for private events, from weddings, parties, retreats or work events, please feel free to contact us on info@theomnicollective.com.
We would love to hear any comments, thoughts, ideas or suggestions.