New cool Junction shades Sunshine Coast hotspots

A quiet changing of the culinary guard is reshaping Noosa hospitality, and the focus has moved firmly away from beachside Hastings Street to more eclectic centres.

Pizza chef Gianluca Donzelli with waitress Mikayla Shipley at Somedays restaurant in Noosa Junction on Friday. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

It used to be that visitors to Noosa, the jewel in the Sunshine Coast’s many beach communities, would head straight to famed Hastings Street for coffee, lunch or dinner upon arrival. With its upmarket cafes and restaurants, Hastings Street has long been one of Queensland’s most popular dining destinations.

But tourists rediscovering the hotspot after 18 months of stop-start Queensland border closures may be in for a few surprises.

A quiet changing of the culinary guard is reshaping Noosa hospitality, and the focus has moved firmly away from the beachside street to more eclectic centres where the food options are more affordable and, arguably, more interesting.

Over the hill from Hastings Street in the traditionally more suburban Noosa Junction, a ­dynamic food hub has emerged during the lockdown period.

Anchored by excellent new pizzeria Somedays and its neighbour, the energetic pan-Asian eatery, Light Years, the Junction has become a bustling food precinct perfect for families and diners looking for quality casual options over the spit and polish on offer on Hastings Street.

“Noosa Junction is definitely the place to be,” says Light Years manager Sean Duncan. “The focus has gone from Hastings Street. It’s still thumping down there, but the Junction is the new food and wine district of Noosa.”

Light Years opened three years ago in a corner location that for years was a mostly empty Chinese restaurant. Its arrival on the street sparked a boom in streetside eating in the centre.

“I saw a need for this kind of dining in Noosa,” says Somedays co-owner Nathan Ramsay, who noted the success of Light Years, before opening in what used to be a Pizza Hut. “I wanted to be able to come and grab some dinner any night of the week without having to dress up.”

Across the road from Somedays and Light Years, a flashy vegetarian bistro, Herbert, is building a following for its sustainable plant-based menu and killer cocktails. Near to it are boutique newcomers including rotisserie chicken takeaway Bird, Theo’s Social Club, a Melbourne-style wine bar, and the newly launched Flo’s Crêperie. Other relatively fresh venues to the Junction include Pucca, a mod-Indian restaurant, and VanillaFood, a luxe wholefoods cafe.

“I think Noosa is going to be huge this summer, and the Junction in particular,” says Herbert co-owner Alex McKechnie. “Here in the Junction, you have a more creative, underground feel. Noosa has moved away from that more corporate feel of Hastings Street.”

Across the district, other creatives have formed new business away from high-profile tourist areas. In the industrial back streets of Noosaville, several interesting hospitality offerings have opened, including two craft breweries – Heads of Noosa and Boiling Pot – and a gin distiller, Seabourne Gin. Sum Yung Guys, a popular Asian diner co-owned by ex-MasterChef contestant Matt Sinclair, has taken a second location at Noosaville for its sister venue to the original Sunshine Beach outlet.

“There’s a lot of new, cool little boutique bars and restaurants now,” says Seabourne’s Hayden Weir, who agrees the hotspots have moved out of the traditional tourist zones. “I think a lot of people want to avoid Hastings Street because of the carparking issues.”

It’s not all bad news for Hastings Street, though. In December, the beachfront Netanya Hotel will reopen after an $11.5m refurb, while shore-hugging Sails restaurant relaunches on Wednesday after a glamorous refit.