Food Human Connection

Culinary Roots

human connection

Culinary Roots is about more than preserving recipes or
celebrating regional cuisines. Increasingly, diners are
looking to understand the people, cultures and lived
experiences behind the food they eat. Few Australian
hospitality businesses embody this shift more
powerfully than Plate It Forward, where culturally led
food, personal storytelling and social impact come
together around the dining table.

For founder Shaun Christie-David, the evolution of Plate
It Forward has been ‘really magical’. Without question,
the impact of the foodsharing enterprise he established
in 2020 has been remarkable.

Since its launch in 2020, Plate It Forward has employed
nearly 300 people from marginalised communities, paid
$9.5m in wages to its staff, donated more than 650,000
meals to assist the fight against food insecurity and
provided 280,000 hours of paid training and employment.

Plate It Forward owns and operates three restaurants—
Colombo Social, Kyiv Social and Kabul Social—alongside
catering and event offerings. Every dish served by the
organisation helps to provide meaningful employment,
fund meals for people facing food insecurity and bring
communities together.

Yet Plate It Forward’s success isn’t built on social purpose
alone. Sydney diners have embraced the restaurants
because the food tells authentic stories of migration,
heritage and identity that are rarely represented in
mainstream hospitality.

“Traditionally we’ve seen storytelling being about the
decadence of the produce, but what we’re seeing now is
who made the food, and the glorification of the chef, is
becoming less important,” says Christie-David. “Here, we
give people an experience to meet a person who they
might never cross paths with—a First Nations person, an
asylum seeker woman from Afghanistan.” Christie-David
points to the ideas of trailblazing chef Asma Kahn as a
powerful example of the gap between domestic food
culture and professional kitchens.

“The great Asma Kahn, who I deeply admire, says ‘walk
into any migrant kitchen, and the woman is cooking. The
matriarch of that family is the only person they would
trust to cook. And then you go into commercial kitchens
and they’re not there.’ “What we’re trying to drive is a shift
that recognises there are cultures that have not been
represented fairly and equally.” Plate It Forward
demonstrates how a positive social outlook and trendled
dining can successfully co-exist. Christie-David sees the
growing influence of Gen Z as a major factor behind this
change.

“I think this generation is the most connected but also the
most socially conscious and responsible. And I think
they’ve got a worldview on things that is amazing. I’m
really glad that the future is in their hands.”

So, has Plate It Forward reached the point where its
ambitions have been met? Not even close, says Christie-
David. “There is no relenting until everybody gets a job
that deserves one from communities that are
underrepresented and underestimated, and until no one
goes hungry. “So, I wish we could stop. I wish I didn’t have
a job. I wish we were redundant! But we will keep fighting
the fight until that isn’t the case.”

Plate It Forward shows us how Culinary Roots extends
beyond provenance and regional recipes. When food
becomes a vehicle for sharing culture, preserving
traditions and creating opportunity, it builds a deeper
connection between chef and diner. It’s a reminder that
some of hospitality’s most memorable experiences begin
not just with what’s on the plate, but with the story
behind it.

To learn more about Plate It Forward, visit
plateitforward.org.au