We Love Mac ‘n’ Cheese pop-up at Welly On A Plate
A celebration of comfort food that cares for community
We’re bringing a community feast with a purpose to Visa Wellington On a Plate as a finale event for the month-long food festival. Teaming up with our friends at Everybody Eats, we’re aiming to serve up 2,000 bowls of mac ‘n’ cheese in one big day of comfort food and feel-good fundraising.
We Love Mac ‘n’ Cheese is a pop-up event for all on 31 August, the final day of winter. It’s about bringing people together through good food, shared tables, and aroha in action.
The event is a joint effort between Everybody Eats, Wellington’s pay-what-you-can community restaurant, and Kaibosh, Aotearoa’s first food rescue charity. All proceeds will be split evenly between our two charities, to help us both reduce food waste and nourish people across the region.
🧀 Under the guidance of Everybody Eats Head Chef Alicia Mendez, our teams of volunteers will prep and serve mac ‘n’ cheese packed with flavour and goodness — and plenty of love.
For just $10 per bowl, you’ll enjoy a delicious bowl of kai and will be supporting:
- Everybody Eats, innovative, charitable restaurant, transforming rescued food into quality 3-course meals for everyone
- Kaibosh, rescuing over 70,000kg of good kai every month for our local communities
If you’re in a position to be able to help others, pay-it-forward to help us share hearty kai with more people — at this event and in the future.
“We love food. We love community. And this event is about bringing it all together in the most delicious way,” says Kaibosh CE Susie Robertson.
The 2,000 bowls are also a gentle nod to the 208,000 New Zealanders who report feeling lonely “most or all of the time.” Food can be more than a meal — it’s connection.
Food rescue flavours
Chef Alicia and our own Kitchen Coordinator Ange Holtslag are creating a line-up of toppings that showcase food rescue flavour — from crunchy herbed crumbs made with rescued bread, to tangy pickles made from surplus veg. Vegan and gluten-free options will be available too, so everyone’s welcome at the table.
Generous support from Fonterra’s Doing Good Together programme and PAK’n’SAVE Kilbirnie, is helping make this a community-powered feast possible.
“Food is love — and what better way to show love to our city, to Kaibosh and Everybody Eats, than by buying a bowl of mac ‘n’ cheese and supporting their mahi,” says Visa WOAP Festival Director Beth Brash.
Together, we’re turning rescued kai into comfort food that warms hearts and nourishes community. Join us for a bowl — and help make a real difference.
We Love Mac ‘n’ Cheese
When: 🗓 Sunday 31 August | 🕐 1pm–8pm
Where: 📍 Everybody Eats, 60 Dixon Street (upstairs)
Cost: $10 per bowl , with pay-what-you-can options available. Walk-in only, dine in or takeaway
Can you help us make a bigger impact?
You can pay-it-forward to help Everybody Eats and Kaibosh share hearty kai with more people 💚
Donate to support this kaupapa using the form below. Or share this page with your network.
If you have a business and can offer to help Everybody Eats or Kaibosh in another way, please get in touch – we’d love to hear from you.