Sunshine Beach’s Humble on Duke hosts Rose Adam for Noosa Eat and Drink

A Middle Eastern-inspired feast showed that set menus push taste buds to exciting realms. SEE WHO WAS THERE.

Jade Tareha and Stacey Conner opened Humble on Duke in 2020. Picture: Its Jac Lee Media

I was staring down at a yoghurt soup wondering if this was something I was going to enjoy.

The welcome was a warm one in Sunshine Beach because my dear friend and plus-one for the Noosa Eat and Drink Rose Adam X Humble on Duke Takeover is one of the restaurant’s biggest devotees.

It was my first time at the Duke St establishment and, after stretching my taste buds at Humble on Duke into delightful Middle Eastern dishes, it will not be my last.

The Sunshine Beach restaurant was opened in 2020 by Jade Tareha in the front of house and partner Stacey Conner in the kitchen.

Rose Adam, standing, talks with, from left, Camilla Lyttle, Claire Mitchell, Cassi Aubry and Jasmine Mallaburn.

The pair invited Masterchef-famous Adam, of Lebanese heritage, to cook with them for Noosa Eat and Drink after they met when visiting Adam’s establishment in Adelaide, where Tareha has roots.

The Sunday night event was the second time the trio had collaborated, with the set menu showing off dishes from Adam and Conner.

“I think when we did it the first year it was this real raw, sort of authentic side of (Adam’s) food, and then you’ve got Stacey who’s obviously had 25 years in the kitchen so it’s a beautiful mesh of this history and this elevated dining that we normally do,” Tareha said.

“Rose’s food has this beautiful story of her making that food on Sundays with her mum.”

Conner said working with Adam was a fun experience.

“We’re excited and inspired by Middle Eastern food, but she just brings that authenticity to it all and it’s a really beautiful thing and it keeps us honest, and it makes me think about being true to recipes and doing my research,” Conner said.

Some of the dishes offered at Humble on Duke. Picture: Its Jac Lee Media

Eating at the Sunshine Beach restaurant is like like having dinner at a long-lost friends’ home.

But the friends can really cook, and really know their wine.

Back to Adam’s warm shish barak soup, served warm with mint, chickpeas and delicious pine nuts sprinkled on top.

It was like nothing I would order and it was delightful. Other delights from Adam and Conner included a flavour-packed fried cauliflower and a melt-in-the-mouth S Kidman rib eye on the bone.

The regular Humble on Duke offering, sans Adam, is a set menu and tiered for different budgets and appetites.

As an exhausted mum-of-one, I appreciate someone else choosing food for me, but even Adam and Conner acknowledge it is not everyone’s cup of tea.

“We’re a women-led restaurant that offers a set menu and whilst we don’t have any pushback with that set menu, not everyone is privy to it,” Tareha said.

“So often, and I get it a few times a week, I hear ‘we’ve heard about you, we’ve heard all these amazing things and we just haven’t come because you’ve got a set menu, but now we feel a bit stupid because this is some of the best food we’ve ever eaten’.”

If one is open to the concept, Humble on Duke is the perfect place to stretch taste buds possibly into new realms.

The writer was a guest of Noosa Eat and Drink.

See the photos:

Vince and Kathy Evans.

Tina Marcoionni and Glenn Bowman.

Giselle and Christophe Massieu.

Dayan and Christine Jayasekera.

Tim Styring and Sarah Brockhoff.

Rose Adam with Ian Sparkes at Humble on Duke on June 1.

Originally published as Sunshine Beach’s Humble on Duke hosts Rose Adam for Noosa Eat and Drink