NORTH STARS
The lure of great PRODUCE, abundant SUNSHINE and a relaxed COASTAL pace of life is proving IRRESISTIBLE for an increasing roster of BIG-NAME chefs who are CHARTING a course NORTH, writes Tricia Welsh.
QUALITY RESTAURANTS HAVE HISTORICALLY been a little thin on the ground along Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. But things have been looking up in recent years as chefs from the southern states have been won over by the abundant local seafood and quality produce available, as well as the relaxed coastal lifestyle and enviable climate that virtually knows no winter.
Peter Kuruvita saw the light in 2013 when he moved from his Flying Fish restaurant in Sydney to run the tropical kitchens of the Noosa Beach House in partnership with Starwood/Marriott hotels in Hastings Street. With his then young family, it was a lifestyle choice that he has never regretted – in fact, he has made Noosa his own. “Within six months of being here, I did a TV show (Peter Kuruvita’s
Coastal Kitchen on SBS) and discovered the hinterland – macadamias, marrons, honey, cheese – and everything you could possibly need from the ocean. I couldn’t see me moving back to the city,” he says.
Having always wanted to operate his own dining establishment and cooking school, Peter recently opened Alba by Kuruvita at Parkridge Noosa. His fragrant snapper curry has been his signature dish since the very beginning – it accounts for 50 per cent of all main courses – but he’s excited that his new Sri Lankan bento box dish featuring three curries served with sambal and pappadams is fast catching up: “People love it.”
FAMILY MATTERS
Another chef who decided to follow the sun is Stuart Bell. After 30 years’ experience working for the likes of industry heavyweights Paul Bocuse, Philippe Mouchel, Jacques Reymond, and as head chef at the highly acclaimed Mornington Peninsula vineyard restaurant Ten Minutes by Tractor (where he earned two hats in The Age Good Food
Guide, which he retained over a six-year period), Bell moved to the
Sunshine Coast in 2018 with his wife, Lisa, and their three children to take over the reins of the long-established Harry’s on Buderim.
“We just loved living in the country on the peninsula and it was a no-brainer when the opportunity to move to the Sunshine Coast came along,” he says. When he isn’t sussing out new producers at small farmers markets such as “the vanilla bean lady and the fresh asparagus lady”, Bell spends time with family at the beach. “We’ve recently taken up surfing – Melbourne was always too cold – and fishing.”
In his tropical surrounds, Bell appreciates the exceptional local produce and seafood and prides himself on his crispy-skinned barramundi, paired with salsa verde, confit tomatoes and charred leeks, and his marinated Brisbane Valley quail.
CITY TO SURF
A little over a year ago, the doors opened on Market Bistro in Maroochydore’s fast-developing CBD, with Harry Lilai, formerly of the two-hatted Melbourne institution Cecconi’s, installed as executive chef, and Luke Stringer, the former maître d’ of Ezard in Flinders Lane, taking on the role of restaurant manager.
Stringer, who had been running restaurants in Indonesia, returned to Australia when the COVID-19 pandemic hit to be close to family on the Sunshine Coast. When local restaurant supremo Tony Kelly reached out to him about his then new project, he signed on as co-owner. Lilai had made the move north four years ago with no job lined up. He began working in the kitchens at Greca in Brisbane but was travelling 130 kilometres from his home in Tewantin each week. “When Luke asked me to come work for him, it was like a dream come true. We had known each other’s work from Melbourne, so it was an easy fit.”
Drawing on his Italian heritage and his love for creating homemade pasta – “that’s where my heart is” – Lilai’s porcini and duck tortelloni has quickly become legendary, and he revels in the quality of the local seafood. “The swordfish and tuna is world-class, and getting first pick off the boat is even better. It blows me away. You can’t get any fresher than that. It’s exciting!”
Building on their success, the trio are about to open a new Italian venture, Bocca, in the seaside residential suburb of Bokarina with a menu made up, not surprisingly, of “fresh pasta and beautiful pizza”.
THE COAST WITH THE MOST
Having closed his 11 patisseries in Sydney and Melbourne, celebrity pâtissier and TV presenter Adriano Zumbo flew north to make the coast his home some three years ago. Known for his exceptional macarons and challenging desserts on MasterChef Australia, Zumbo took up residency at Rick’s Artisan Pies and Sourdough in Noosaville for 18 months before deciding to go it alone again. His Zumbo Test, “a test kitchen where I can try things, change things”, has started as an online order business, with the idea to evolve into a small retail outlet in the future.
“I want to make limited-edition items and work with different producers growing great local produce such as ginger, vanilla, passionfruit. It’s endless up here,” Zumbo explains. “I want to go back to where I started and have fun. It’s a great place to start ideas.”
Indian-born, Australian-raised, UK-trained chef Neale White (he helped Gordon Ramsay set up the Michelin-starred Aubergine in London) is thrilling locals with his unique twist on traditional southern Indian food at his restaurant, Pucca, in Noosa Junction. Eschewing the modern British food of his Papa Goose restaurant days in Melbourne, he has instead embraced much-loved family dishes from his childhood.
“I was inspired to do this sort of food in my father’s honour, based on our heritage and his knowledge of food,” explains White. “He used to like the fresher flavours of southern Indian food around Kerala on
the Malabar Coast and Goa, where coconut cream and butter are used instead of ghee. It’s a lighter style of curry and suits my idea of cooking.”
Popular Pucca dishes include the traditional street food pani puri (puffed semolina balls filled with potato chickpea masala), gin-cured hiramasa kingfish and White’s personal favourite, pork vindaloo. “My father’s recipe is based around the traditional recipe introduced by the Portuguese in the 1600s with white wine and garlic. They used to bring pork over in vats of white wine that turned into vinegar. When they got to India, they introduced chilli. It’s a really beautiful curry.”
Another Noosa transplant is Jason Jones, the former owner/chef of the popular Melbourne Mexican diner Mamasita, where a three-hour wait was the norm. Following a six-year stint in Singapore, where he still operates four similar Mexican restaurants, he’s firing up to open yet another overlooking the river on Gympie Terrace. This time the focus is on wood-fired ingredients such as barbecued seafood in a taco, quesadilla filled with wood-fired field mushrooms or barbecued Mooloolaba prawns with spicy salsa. “We all love an Aussie barbecue,” says Jones. “We’re on the coast, so some nice fish on the barbecue is really beautiful.”
A ROOM WITH A (WATER) VIEW
And in one of the most exciting ventures on the coast, Lucio’s Marina opened just before Christmas on Noosa Marina. The incarnation of the iconic Sydney restaurant Lucio’s, which closed its doors in 2020 after 40 years serving a devoted clientele with authentic Italian fare and homely service, this new northern venture sees Lucio and Sally Galletto’s daughter Michela, son Matteo and his wife Dieuwke, who met when the Dutch-born chef came to cook at Lucio’s, continuing the family legacy.
The new waterfront trattoria enjoys one of the best locations anywhere with uninterrupted views over the Noosa River and its quiet water traffic. Shades of the original dining experience include selected artworks on the walls, Lucio’s signature tagliolini alla granseola reinvented locally with spanner crab from the waters of K’gari (Fraser Island) and its legendary personal, attentive service.
“What I like about what’s happening here, is it’s not just about Noosa anymore,” says Market Bistro’s Harry Lilai, summing up the current buzz along the Sunshine Coast. “The dining scene is growing, there’s so much more [on offer]. And Brisbane is going off too with so many great restaurants and chefs. It’s a great scene!”