LENTIL AS ANYTHING WITH PAULA GOMEZ
WORDS BY LAURA FELS
A Melbourne institution, Lentil As Anything is part restaurant, part community, and part experiment with a new, more ethical way of engagement.
When you can walk in somewhere and be greeted by a handshake, and then leave with a hug, you know you’ve found somewhere special. That place is Lentil As Anything, a ‘pay as you feel’ restaurant in Abbotsford. Tucked away on convent grounds, this eatery exudes warmth from its hardwood floors to the spicy aroma.
When I arrive for my chat with restaurant manager Paula Gomez, the waitstaff are starting to set up for their buffet style lunch, so I head outside instead. Mere minutes from Melbourne’s CBD and yet we’re surrounded by trees. I briefly meet Ivy who ran the recent Japanese food themed night, and then wander on down to the garden which has been set up as a source of vegetables and herbs for the restaurant. One of the men tending to the garden remarks that he just looks after the soil and ‘the plants do the rest; they know what they’re doing.’
It’s all part of the Lentil As Anything ethos, finding a slower, gentler way of treating the planet.
I’m lucky enough to watch my breakfast being made while chatting with volunteer chefs Haley Robinson and Jia Hoelzl. As we talk, Jia carefully pours a pancake mixture into a sizzling frying pan and loads it up with a cloud-like mix of mashed potato and onions. All the while Haley is chopping vegetables and talking about how much she loves being able to help.
As quickly as I’ve turned around to delve further into Haley’s line of thought, my breakfast is ready. I take it gratefully and go and sit at one of the communal tables with Paula. She hands me a menu and I finally learn the name of my dish—Sri Lankan Farmer’s Breakfast Dosa. I also remember at this point that the restaurant is completely vegan and, being a carnivore, I’m slightly nervous. These nerves dissipate quickly as I taste how rich and hearty the combination of spicy vegetables and fluffy pancake is.
I turn to Paula to begin my questions, but she insists I eat my breakfast while it’s hot. Paula’s passion makes up for my lack of questioning though—she explains to me how she first came to work for Lentil As Anything when she was travelling through Australia and needed to keep her costs low (she worked for her meals), as well as how it helped her improve her English. Her penchant for gesturing and her love of the community ethos of the restaurant she is so deeply embedded in makes it feel like I’m sitting down with an old friend, rather than someone I’ve just met.
As I’m finishing my meal and we continue chatting about the number of interesting experiences you can find in Melbourne, the restaurant founder Shanaka Fernando strides on over, gives Paula a big hug and introduces himself to me. He can’t stay, but it’s the perfect catalyst for Paula to tell me the story of Lentil As Anything, how it started and what it’s all about.
Almost twenty years ago now, Shanaka had an idea to bring people together as a community, through food. He lived in a tent for two years so he could save up the money for the first restaurant, which opened on Blessington Street in St Kilda in 2000. Shanaka wanted to ensure that the food and community spirit was accessible for everyone, not just those who could afford to eat out. Hence the ‘pay as your feel’ philosophy that asks people to contribute what they can financially, or even to volunteer in the kitchens or on the floor. This inclusive spirit is echoed in the communal tables of the restaurant, the set-up of which ensures that you can sit down next to anyone and strike up a conversation. The desire to remain accessible to everyone led the restaurants to become vegetarian, and later vegan. As Paula explains, there isn’t any religion or belief system which is against eating vegetables.
Eventually, we come back around to the talking-point of the restaurant, the ‘pay as you feel’ model. While I understand that the aim of Lentil As Anything is to be able to provide a meal for anyone, no matter their background or situation, I am also aware that there must be financial practicalities at play in running a restaurant. Paula points out the sign above the EFTPOS machine and cash box, which explains how much money one would need to pay to cover their own meal, as well as how much to pay to cover a meal for a stranger. Paula brings it back to emphasise the community spirit by saying that it isn’t so much about how much money each person can give, but about what they can contribute.
Any contribution—whether it’s money, time, or a helping hand—is always appreciated at Lentil As Anything. Having said this though, Paula notes that the coffee is always at a small charge in order for the restaurant to run barista courses, laughing that while food is a necessity, coffee not so much.
Through its curious story, Lentil has become a Melbourne institution, and now an icon. It’s a venue that has high ideals of social enterprise and community building, but what it really comes down to is the food. It couldn’t last for as long as it has without damn good food and passionate chefs that put their love into their cooking. As Paula tells me ‘you don’t come to Lentil, Lentil grabs you!’