Magdalena Roze says she is trying to keep her children out of the spotlight

Reality TV series Byron Baes is in the spotlight, but it’s the region’s beauty, innovation and creativity that should be celebrated and protected, says local Magdalena Roze.

Byron Bay is more than “influencers”. It’s more than the set of a reality show, or a photo of a beach on social media.

For TV personality-turned-food writer Magdalena Roze and her fiance, celebrity chef Darren Robertson, Byron Bay is home. A special place where people come to heal, connect and create.

Magdalena Roze and partner Darren Robertson relished the extra time they were able to spend together as a family last year. Pictures: Danielle Smith

“There is so much good that’s happening, and there are so many people doing wonderful things in areas of science and particularly in the food industry that we are involved in — it’s a shame that the focus is on a show,” Roze told Insider this week before the pair, along with young sons Archie, 5, and Charlie, 2, travelled to Adelaide for the Tasting Australia
food festival.

The tight-knit Byron community is currently in the spotlight as they fight the filming of Netflix reality series Byron Baes — which Roze says shouldn’t take over the focus of all the good occurring in the region known for its beaches, booming food industry and creative innovation.

“We care deeply about Byron Bay,” she said.

“And I must say that when we moved here, there was a doctor we met early on who gave us some great advice – he said ‘if you come here, Byron gives you so much – not only from its natural beauty, but the community and the place in general – people come for healing, for a good time, for beautiful food, beaches – but it’s up to us to give back to this place that’s given us so much’.

“A lot of the social problems we have as a community would be exacerbated by something like this, and if you live in the community, it’s a big deal.”

The pair are raising their sons in the area. Picture: Danielle Smith

The pair moved from Sydney to Byron to open Three Blue Ducks on The Farm, part of the growing Three Blue Ducks empire, almost seven years ago.

They also run new wine bar Oma, while raising their sons. And the changes the area has experienced in recent years have been significant. “It really does feel like a city trying to squeeze into a small town,” Roze said.

“It’s a double-edged sword because there are some parts of Byron Bay that are no longer the quiet life and there is peak hour traffic, you can’t find a parking spot, sometimes you can’t get a restaurant booking – all of the things that were never the case when we first moved up are starting to be that way now, mainly in town.

“There are still pockets that are pretty untouched and not as crowded and you can still tap into what I think is the heart and soul of Byron – which is a really amazing community and people, and a sense of connection.

“We still very much live the life we came up here for – the farmers’ markets and going to quiet places with our kids and keeping things pretty low key – you can still choose to live that way, which is really nice.

“We still consider ourselves as blow-ins even though we’ve been here for over seven years – only because we know people who have been there forever, and we are very respectful of that.”

Roze says Byron Bay has social problems. Picture: Danielle Smith

It’s the social issues like homelessness that have come with the dramatic increase in popularity that are the true worry, she says.

“Under this layer of glamour in Byron there are huge social issues which have always been there, but never as bad as the last few years where literally people have nowhere to live,” she said.

During COVID, when all six Three Blue Ducks restaurants were forced to close within weeks, she said they came close to losing it all. But through that, the couple clung to family and got perspective on what truly mattered most.

“I just remember all of us sitting in this empty restaurant, just so depressed — and I couldn’t even look at anyone in the eye because I just wanted to burst into tears,” she said.

“And then JobKeeper and Jobseeker came into place and everyone started to navigate their way around it, but it was extremely difficult and for a few weeks, after we put the kids to bed, we would sit on the couch and talk for hours about how on earth we were going to survive this.

“For a short period there, we kind of thought we would lose it all.

“And we very quickly had to come to terms with that, and we were very upset … but then we said ‘that’s fine, as long as we are all healthy we can rebuild again’.

“We grieved and moved on – the fact we were able to deal with the reality of losing it – freed us because we know we can live without it.”

That feeling put everything in perspective, and like many, reshuffled priorities.

Magdalena Roze and Darren Robertson are trying to keep their children out of the public eye. Picture: Danielle Smith

“It made us realise we’ve got our lives, we’ve got our heath and each other and that’s all that matters,” she said. “We had Daz back full-time for the first time ever and honestly, at the beginning of COVID our garden was horrid – it was brown and overgrown … but because we were at home the whole time, it was transformed in weeks.

“The grass is now green.

“We were out there every night putting on a bonfire and cooking dinner, eating in the garden – we saw that before our eyes, the grass is greener where you water it.

“We definitely bonded so much more, all of us – and you hold onto those aspects of family life.”

She and Robertson, who will get married when their family from overseas can join them, do their best to shelter their young sons from the public eye.

“I am quite protective over them – I’m conscious that what we do has a public aspect to them, but it’s not what they signed up for,” she said.

“Social media is a whole other layer and there are aspects that I love – the sharing, the inspiration, and its so helpful for the work that we do, but I’m conscious of that line between public and private.

“I want to protect them from that – anonymity has tremendous value.”

They are all now in Adelaide to spend the next 10 days at Tasting Australia, where Robertson is food curator.

Roze, who is currently working on her second cookbook and still buzzing from the success of Oomite, her all-natural ‘mite’ alternative spread – will also present some talks on family friendly cooking at the popular festival.

She said it was funny where life takes you — and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Ten years ago presenting the weather on Network 10, I never would have thought I’d be making a breakfast spread,” she laughed. “It’s amazing where life takes you.

“If you join the dots to what’s happened in between, it evolved very organically and it completely makes sense.

“I am very quietly and slowly tinkering away at my next book focusing on post natal and family recipes that are easy and I’m just banking
the recipes in my own time, but one of my biggest focuses is Oomite.

“We just released a limited edition Oomite Pepe Saya butter and it sold out so quickly, people just love it, which is really exciting.

“We have such a connection to food and producers and eating real ingredients, but in a no-fuss way.

“I’m not about fads and trends and super foods – it’s about getting good, real food – not being hard on yourself.

“It’s not good or bad, it’s just eating.

“Food is my greatest pleasure – and family is everything.”

“I am very quietly and slowly tinkering away at my next book – focus – post natal and family recipes that are easy and I’m just banking the recipes in my own time, but one of my biggest focuses is Oomite.

“We just released a limited edition Oomite Pepe Saya butter and it sold out so quickly, people just love it, which is really exciting.

“We have such a connection to food and producers and eating real ingredients, but in a no-fuss way.

“I’m not about fads and trends and super foods – it’s about getting good, real food – not being hard on yourself.

“It’s not good or bad, it’s just eating.

“Food is my greatest pleasure – and family is everything.”