I wish I had the panache and finesse to plop a bunch of delicious snacks on a plate and have it turn into artwork, but I am an impatient snacker and would simply shovel the food directly into my waiting gob like a heathen. There’s no beauty in this action. When it comes to making plates and grazing platters of decadent snacks full of colour and life, I am bereft of skill.
I admire (and drool) from afar, knowing that anyone who has their shit together enough to be able to put one together and still resist the urge to pull the old “one for the platter, one for me” trick (which is far too often the “one for the platter, seven for me” trick) is a human of far greater resolve than I.
One such human who has managed to create a legitimate business out of the beauty of a good platter is Georgia Bunt, from the Central Coast. As a burgeoning entrepreneur, Georgia was lucky enough to win a $5K grant from Greater Bank, as well as money-can’t-buy mentoring from the one and only Charlie Ercan (founder of Unique Muscle).
Georgia is the owner and operator of Get Grazey, a catering service that creates seriously premium and seriously colourful grazing tables that would literally be taller than I am if I stretched out end to end (in fairness, not a challenge).
We’re talking donuts, grapes, antipasto, cheese, breads, dips, meats… All your favourite snack foods delivered to you on a long boi platter or board that looks so good that you will hesitate to even eat it because it looks so damn good.
But of course you will eat it, because (like me) you are a human being that craves the consumption of all things good and wonderful in this world. Shovel it into me like a food slide better than all your childhood jungle gyms.
I want.
The cheese.
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Seriously look at this beast
“Get Grazey was born out of a passion for delicious food, colour and bringing people together,” says Georgia. “I was creating them for friends and family before starting up a Facebook and Instagram account and it all just went from there!”
And it’s clear to see why it’s been so successful online, with the colourful platters making a splash on your feed – I challenge you not to get hungry every time one pops up. They really are pieces of edible art, so it fits right in – and the scale of them is insane.
“I have a bit of a formula for each table, starting with certain ingredients like fresh bread, crackers and then adding fruit for colour and finally cheese and meat last! Just when you think it’s finished, there’s always room for more.”
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long boi
As part of the program with Greater Bank, Georgia now has the capacity and knowhow to take her business to even greater heights – both in terms of scale, experience and understanding.
“I found the mentorship with Charlie invaluable,” she said. “It was so nice to hear her experience as a young female entrepreneur and the bits of wisdom she has gained along the way. She was so relatable and supportive to our vision and goals.”
So when you’re already creating massive scale artworks that are almost more impressive because of their impermanence (because you know that the people chomping on them won’t take long to demolish a whole platter), the way up is to increase scale in other capacities.
According to Georgia, “The $5000 grant from Greater Bank is beyond amazing – I can now afford to do things like buy uniforms and take my business to the next level!”
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Personally I am all for more food art in my life. I can’t pretend I haven’t been tempted to whack a few things on a plate now and then, but I can safely say that there’s an inherent artistry to it. To get the colours right, to have the right balance of food, to make sure every scrap of the board is covered in decadence. No matter how massive the board is.
“The bigger the better,” says Georgia. “I love a challenge.”
