that will supply meals to 20 municipalities, including Casey.

Another 10 councils could come on board over the next 18 months.

The Community Chef kitchen will make about 1.5 million meals a year, with the first batch due to go out on December 1.

Mr Tesniere, of 3bornes Architectes, said the kitchen had been a dream shared and realised by many people.

"One year ago it was an open field with nothing on it. A year before that, it was just some ideas on a paper. And 10 years before that, it was just a dream."

The building's design has won international awards. It received $9 million federal funding, $6 million from the state and $4.7 million in cash and in-kind support from councils. The rest was borrowed.

The venture is expected to generate a profit in two to three years.

Community Chef patron Gabriel Gate said the menu would feature about 200 dishes. "Some people don't realise that if you are Italian and you have been eating your family food, when you get Meals on Wheels you don't really want to get an Anglo-Saxon meal because it's not you," he said.

"It's OK for us, the newer generation. We have Chinese one night, Italian one night. Once you get older, you probably go back to your roots a bit more and will want familiar foods."

Casey delivers more than 30,000 meals each year. Casey community care manager Jo Smale said

the project would enable meals to be delivered with flexibility to meet individual requirements.

"Recipients will be provided with a menu to make meal selections and be able to pay in the usual way."