Diners lining up for a meal in Federation Square got more than lunch on Friday, with many getting an unexpected encounter with one of the world's biggest rock legends.
Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl put on lunch for 450 people experiencing food insecurity in Melbourne.
Dave Grohl did not just show up to serve some meals, he funded the whole event and oversaw the preparation of the slow cooked barbecue meats. Source: Instagram / The Big Umbrella
He not only joined volunteers to s
, but he paid for the American-style feast, tended to the meat and hung around to sign autographs after people realised who the guy with the tongs and the cap was.
In Australia as part of his band's latest tour, Grohl, through his catering company Back Beat BBQ, supported The Big Umbrella Foundation (TBU,) which serves meals to people experiencing food insecurity and homelessness.
TBU operations manager Victoria Wilson said while the fact that the former Nirvana drummer would be there had to be kept "top secret" the musician was keen to oversee "every part of the process to make sure our friends on the street enjoyed all of his efforts."
The event had been promoted to those the organisation works with as a 'once-off American-style barbecue.'
Wilson said it was "an added bonus" when some of the people in the line for food looked up and realised who was serving them.
"The whole process of tending to the meat was an 18-hour process, he was cooking overnight, he did that and then he rocked up at MG's kitchen in the morning having not slept at all, the guy's an absolute legend.
"He came to our kitchen to make sure that the meat was exactly how it should be to be able to serve it and present it in the most optimum way, so [he is a] complete 'chef,' chef."
"He was still signing autographs and being kind and amongst our friends when he was literally dragged away to get on a flight to Sydney," Wilson said.
Dave Grohl spent hours at the event serving and chatting with diners after having spent time in the kitchen the night before. Source: Instagram / The Big Umbrella
The Foo Fighters performed in Sydney the following night.
While the organisation usually caps lunches to a maximum of 250 patrons and due to financial constraints can usually only offer small servings of meat, the band member's backing of the event meant it was able to be much grander.
"We have a real problem trying to get enough protein to serve our friends on the street, so normally we have to really restrict the amount of meat we give," Wilson said.
She said there was no holding back with servings on Friday, with people able to come back for extra helpings and take home containers of leftovers.
With the current increased cost of living, some Australians are finding it difficult to cover the cost of everyday meals.
The 2023 Foodbank Hunger Report found 3.7 million households experienced food insecurity in the past year which was a 3 per cent increase on last year
It also revealed 48 per cent of the general population was anxious or worried about getting consistent access to adequate food.
Helping those in need was not a once off for Grohl, who has been involved in providing American style barbecue meals to communities in the United States.
Frontier Touring, which connected Grohl with TBU had staff helping out on the day as well as part of a corporate group volunteering.
Wilson said while not everyone was working on a rock-star budget, any assistance that people could provide to assist those in need over Christmas was welcome.
TBU is preparing Chistmas hampers with food donations to be distributed in the coming week.
Wilson said demand this year was much higher than previous years with more people requiring food support.
Nat, from the YouTube channel Nat's what I reckon was also serving at the event with Dave Grohl, the pair had plenty of people doing a double take. Source: Instagram / The Big Umbrella
"Donations for them have been quite low this year compared to previous years, so we could definitely use some donations of food and just financial contributions," she said.
"All funds go straight to feeding our friends on the street, so if someone has a spare $5 and they want to send it our way, that will literally feed someone and give them a really wonderful Christmas meal."
