Lucinda Store: Famed fish-and-chip shop expands beloved menu
An iconic fish-and-chip shop with epic views of Hinchinbrook Island has reinvented itself in a bid to appeal to a broader wine-and-dine market.
Townsville
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An iconic fish-and-chip shop with epic views of Hinchinbrook Island has reinvented itself in a bid to appeal to a broader wine-and-dine market.
The unpretentiously named Lucinda Store overlooking the longest jetty in the Southern Hemisphere was given a million-dollar makeover by new owners Jason Walden and Pat Fortini before reopening in December, 2022.
In a bid to keep the beach-side chippy and café “fresh”, the now fully licenced Store recently employed respected local chef Jamie Egan.
The English-born chef who has catered to the palates of discerning Queenslanders for the more than 15 years has launched an expansive breakfast menu served Wednesday to Sunday, as well as alternating tapas and home-made pizza offerings from 3pm to 5pm on Fridays.
The businessman said the Store was ideally situated with iconic views over the jetty and Coral Sea and adjacent to the Borello Park and playground.
“We’re trying to build something to make it a bit of an outing; you’ve got the park there, there’s great fishing off the beach.”
Mr Egan agreed, saying families, friends or couples could enjoy the ambience of the pristine local environment whilst enjoying great food and drinks.
“With the terrace here we’ve got a nice setting looking out on the beach … people can come and sit here and enjoy some nice food and enjoy a beer or wine.”
He said the menu was purposely not overly complicated.
“It’s good food done well.”
Mr Egan said the Store would continue to provide its North Queensland renowned fish and chips seven days a week.
“Not just for tourists, we want to make sure locals have somewhere good to come, where they know it is going to be decent.”
Mr Fortini and Mr Walden also purchased old Channel Inn a kilometre down the road in Dungeness.
He said the business would open a 24-hour fuel supply operation and boating shop by the end of the year, with a multi-million renovation of the restaurant in the pipeline.
Like the Lucinda Store, the high-end restaurant was not intended to compete with the existing local businesses, the Lucinda Point Hotel Motel and newly opened Slipway Bar and Restaurant at the Lucinda Cove Resort.
“We’ll be doing our own thing,” he said.
The new restaurant – which would take the total to one for every 100 people in the picturesque seaside town – would likely open next year, he said.
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Originally published as Lucinda Store: Famed fish-and-chip shop expands beloved menu
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