Feast is serving up plant-based, zero-waste excellence that anyone can enjoy.
Just a few years ago, Eileen Sims was a copywriter running a raw vegan cooking school on the side. Now, she’s the full-time owner of one of the most charming cafes in East Geelong.
With entirely plant-based food and zero-waste, Feast is not only providing delicious food but hoping to bring people together to improve how we eat and make the world a better place, one meal at a time.
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“We have such a range of people that come in, from die-hard vegans to people just wanting to eat better to people with severe allergies,” says Eileen. “We deliberately cater to the middle ground because that’s where I see us being able to affect the most change. Of course, we love our vegan customers, but for me, it’s reaching across the barrier to the people who might find vegan messaging a bit too confronting.”
While keeping true to its ideological founding, Feast makes an effort to offer a wide variety of dishes and treats. From burgers to quiche and avocado toast, as well as cakes, wines, and even a fridge of artisanal plant-based cheeses (which are just as diverse and delicious as dairy cheeses in this day and age), there’s really something for everyone.
Think lamingtons, raspberry chocolate ganache raw vegan cake, green goddess soup, croissants, freshly baked cinnamon scrolls, iconic vanilla slice, bagels and superfood smoothies made daily for the fridge.
Eileen recommends the Lasagne or the Feast Burger— which comes with classic cheeseburger toppings— for visitors who may be new to plant-based eating, two hardy alternative versions of the familiar dishes many know and love. Her favourite dish, however, is the Live and Let Live Burger, which comes complete with a lentil, vegetable, and rice patty, and plenty of fresh veg to top it off.
Eileen stresses the value of plant-based eating as not only ethical in the face of destructive factory farming practices, but also a matter of health. Vegetables are necessary for any healthy diet, and when meat and dairy exacerbate certain health conditions, getting “more plants on that plate, mate,” as she might say, can be the simple answer to help someone start to feel better in their everyday life.
Eileen may have initially been the sole brains behind the operation, but nowadays the kitchen is a grand collaborative space where the team works together to get creative and work with what’s in season— you never know when you’re in for something new.
They’re also not joking when they say “zero-waste;” all packaging and food waste is composted and customers are invited to bring their own reusable containers for their food, and though it’s an unusual option for a restaurant to offer, it seems to be working out quite well.
Feast’s journey to today was not without hardship— particularly during the height of Covid, where the team had to work hard to keep going through deliveries and takeaway all while avoiding illness— but they’ve pulled through nonetheless, and maybe even been made stronger.
“We have created a wonderful local community around our space,” Eileen tells us, “Covid really cemented that especially for locals who normally worked in Melbourne, we became the only people they saw in a day full of zoom calls, it became important to them to have a chat, often sharing how they were feeling.”
“We also noticed during and post covid, [there was] a lot of concern from our community about how we were all doing,” she adds. “Over five years we have forged some really important relationships.”
Having survived, grown, and created this community space over the last five years, Eileen envisions a future of growth and resilience for Feast in the years to come, with even more environmentalist and community outreach efforts.
In the meantime, there’s plenty of cheese and cake to go around.
Feast is located at 5 Ormond Rd, East Geelong. It operates Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm, Saturday from 8am to 3pm, and Sunday from 9am to 3pm.
