Noosa: Tasting the food revolution

Noosa’s long engagement between great food and tourism has gone next level, backed by produce we’ve never even heard of - here’s what’s happening in this coastal town.

Sails, where you can virtually taste the surf spray.

When it comes to produce, the Sunshine Coast is a bit of a show-off. Facing the Pacific Ocean and backed by a verdant hinterland that fosters everything from feijoas to pasture-raised pork, its gourmet pedigree is ripe. But until today, I’d never heard of tastebud teasers such as myoga, mukago, shishito or mitsuba – all thriving in the foothills of Mount Cooroora in the Noosa hinterland.

I’ve been granted a rare visit to Honeysuckle Hill farm, where renowned Wasabi restaurateur Danielle Gjestland grows more than 50 varieties of fruits, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers – including the aforementioned rare Japanese plants that dictate their delicate degustation menu.

“We started the farm out of necessity really,” Danielle says, as she hands me a crunchy shishito pepper to taste. “The restaurant got to a point where we couldn’t do what we wanted to do without access to certain ingredients.”

Occupying a small slope on Danielle’s parents’ property in Pomona, 30 minutes drive from Wasabi’s perch over Noosa River, the farm is a family affair. Danielle and her mum harvest twice weekly, loading up Danielle’s Mini Cooper to shuttle supplies direct to the kitchen.

Although Honeysuckle Hill is less than a decade old, Danielle has always been an advocate for championing Noosa’s food bowl. Even if it confused diners when Wasabi first opened in 2003 and, shock horror, didn’t serve salmon.

“One thing that we really try to achieve is yes, you’re going to eat Japanese food, but you’re also going to come away having experienced the produce from our region and the things that live here and grow here,” explains Danielle.

Few finer places for a food festival, surely. Noosa’s is in May.

BEST LOCAL PRODUCE IN NOOSA

While Honeysuckle Hill isn’t open to the public, Noosa visitors can gauge the strength of its local produce every Sunday at Noosa Farmers Market, where I meet chef Matt Golinski the next morning.

Coffees in hand from Auswana, whose beans are grown on nearby D’Aguilar Range, we chat with Shauna from Cedar Creek Farm Bush Foods, who peels a cooked bunya nut for me to taste. The native nut grows in abundance on their property in Belli Park, halfway between Eumundi and Kenilworth, its roots harking back thousands of years, when Aboriginal clans would make annual pilgrimages to feast on the carb-rich food source.

We stop for finger limes grown in Woombye from Cedar Creek Farm Bushfoods, where Matt stocks up on Gympie Farm matured goats cheese. Two more steps and we buy bags stuffed with Pimientos de Padron, grown by Richard Mohan of Midyim Eco Produce who shunned life as a lawyer about 15 years ago to grow the Spanish peppers and now supplies restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne with 70 per cent of his crop.

“This is where I bring everybody, because it’s a snapshot of what’s grown here,” Matt says. “It’s part of the shopping culture of Noosa.”

Thomas Corner is ideal for lunchtime lingering while gazing at the water.

PADDOCK TO PLATE: BEST RESTAURANTS IN NOOSA

Strong relationships with farmers like these is what translates to such pleasurable dining in Noosa, including lunch overlooking Noosa River at Thomas Corner Eatery or so close to the waves at Main Beach you can feel the spray, at Sails.

Thomas Corner staffers will rise to the challenge set down by visiting chef Christine Manfield for a collaboration dinner during the 2019 Noosa Food and Wine Festival, but head chef Michael Trask says it’s their Sunday lunch during the event that will really showcase what the restaurant is about.

“All of the produce will come from no further south than Caloundra and no further north than Gympie,” he says.

At Sails, certified free-range pork from Rhodavale Pork in Gympie, tuna from the waters off Mooloolaba, and vine-ripened Noosa Reds tomatoes all play a starring role in the seasonal menu, complemented by a highly awarded wine list and affable staff.

Inside artist Peter Phillips' new studio and gallery in Tinbeerwah.

While it’s easy to experience art on a plate, those with broader aesthetic interests will be treated to a cultural coup during the festival when artist Peter Phillips unveils his new gallery.

Birmingham-born Peter, who is credited with being one of pop art’s pioneers, chose the Noosa hinterland town of Tinbeerwah to retreat to in 2017 with daughter Zoe and her family.

In celebration of his 80th birthday, two events are being held at the gallery during the festival with acclaimed chef Josh Lopez directing a menu matched to six decades of Phillips’ work and Noosa’s Land & Sea brewery’s new distillery, Fortune, responsible for the cocktails. The gallery will be open by appointment once the festival wraps.

Thomas Corner’s menu has strong regional connections.

BEST NOOSA NEIGHBOURHOODS

While Hastings St continues to be the epicentre of any Noosa holiday, come nightfall, most of the action is “over the hill” in Noosa Junction as restaurateur Pascal Turschwell tells me during dinner at Bombetta. Pascal opened the slick, split-level Italian eatery in late 2017, after selling well-known Gaston cafe and bar, and quickly won over locals with the everyday aperitivo deals.

Between mouthfuls of crispy skin slow-roasted porchetta and braised beef short rib with goats cheese polenta, Pascal reveals his party plans for the Saturday night of the festival.

“People don’t usually come over the hill but this is where the bars are,” he says. Indeed, the Junction has come of age with new cafes (try Larder & Baked and VanillaFood), bars and boutiques luring visitors.

That’s not to say Hastings St is old hat. Newcomer O-Ren opened in January, providing a taproom for Cooroy’s Copperhead Brewery ales – like miso and rice beer, or dragonfruit sour – paired with a slick Asian menu. It’s here you’ll likely find after-hours action at festival time, too.

But if you ask me, any night of the week would be ideal to pull up a seat at the bar, order a plate of chicken dumplings, and toast Noosa’s indelible flavour-profile.

The writer travelled as a guest of Tourism Noosa and Noosa Crest.

Clean and fresh vegies tempt the palate at Noosa Farmers Market.

See more:

WHAT’S YOUR FOOD IQ?

ARE THESE AUSTRALIA’S BEST FOOD EXPERIENCES?

THIS AMERICAN FOOD WILL SHOCK YOU

HOW TO GET TO NOOSA?

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia fly to Sunshine Coast Airport in Maroochydore from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Rent A Car Noosa can deliver wheels for the 35-minute drive north to Noosa.

WHERE TO STAY IN NOOSA?

Five minutes’ walk from the Junction and 10 minutes to Hastings Street, Crest Noosa offers sweeping views from its one, two, three and four-bedroom apartments and penthouses, many tastefully refurbished.

Want regular travel updates? Follow us on Facebook

 

 

FOOD COURTS WORTH TRAVELLING FOR

 

Originally published as Noosa: Tasting the food revolution