The old and new Gold Coast collide beguilingly in Burleigh Heads, where tow-headed grommets check the surf beside hybrid-driving techpreneurs. Beachfront yoga classes segue to fire-spinning and drumming circles (turn up on Sundays from 6pm to try your hand at the latter), athleisure-clad parents push strollers along Burleigh National Park's coast-hugging paved walking track.

There's a farmers' market on Saturdays, plus a fortnightly arts and crafts Sunday market. And the 2.2 kilometre pine-tree garlanded surf beach, bookended by picturesque rocky points, is a stunner.

Burleigh's an early-to-bed, early-to-rise place. Coffee shops open at 5.30am, dinner bookings start at 5.30pm. After all, you have to be up early to catch the sunrise over the glittering waves or fit in the before-work surf.

Chef Alex Munoz Labart sums up Burleigh's appeal for food lovers as: "Little pockets of really good people doing interesting things." This surfer's paradise has grown into a food lover's nirvana.

Best destination dining

Alex and Karla Munoz Labart left Sydney for a better lifestyle in 2018, and gifted Burleigh with a bijou restaurant whose open kitchen, sage green walls and toffee-coloured banquettes could be as comfortable in Paris' 11th as a Gold Coast side street. Restaurant Labart's savvy staff deliver warm greetings, appealing wines and top-notch cocktails alongside the small but perfectly honed five-course seasonal and loyally local set menu, which might include chargrilled prawns drizzled with roasted prawn butter or wagyu skewers with vadouvan bearnaise. Take home a jar of their luscious caramelised butter ($14), and be sure to visit wine bar sibling Paloma around the corner in lively James Street.

Best reminder you're in the Sunshine State

The surf break beside Rick Shores' always-jumping dining room laps the restaurant's walls, so it's almost a waste to come here after dark, though the waves are spot-lit. Skip the notoriously hard-to-crack online booking system and try your luck walking in, or sit at the bar or terrace. Expect sophisticated shareable dishes from across Asia, plump lobster dumplings with black vinegar, or red curry of roast duck with a sweet pop of lychee. The bug roll is a menu fixture.

Best breakfasts

Burleigh cafes do breakfast with a gusto and style that will leave southerners swooning. In the heart of Burleigh village, Tarte Bakery and Cafe's tables spill onto the pavement outside its handsome shopfront. Try the bullseye benny: eggs Benedict on a house-made "everything" bagel. The Paddock Bakery has tables in its old Queenslander's gardens, loft, rooftop and barn, and a menu that runs from smashed avo to strawberry doughnut French toast.

Best foodie detour

Take a weekend drive through Currumbin Valley to the delightfully rustic Freeman's Organic Farm, park yourself in a picnic chair with a good coffee on their four mountains lookout, then shop at their farmstand. From there, head down into the NSW canefields and arty Murwillumbah, an attractive town with a fabulous little casual fine diner, Bistro Livi, tucked into the corner of M Arts, a warehouse turned into artists' studios. Don't miss the Tweed Regional Gallery with its pleasant cafe, stunning views and wonderful recreation of painter Margaret Olley's home studio. On the way back north pop into Husk Distillers' handsome family-farm cellar door, where rum and Ink Gin are made. The latter turns from blue to pink when low pH tonic is added – a natural chemical reaction between the gin's botanicals and the tonic. It's quite the party trick. Book ahead for lunch.

Best excuse to Uber

One of the joys of Burleigh is that you can walk almost everywhere. But it's worth heading five kilometres north to tiny Italian diner Piatto, tucked in the back pocket of an uninspiring highway strip mall in Mermaid Beach. The family-run 16 seater offers warm-hearted service, a great drinks list and a concise set menu of Italian classics in its cosy, retro dining room. The family also runs an atmospheric tapas bar Cantina next door.

Best bread

No town is complete without good bread, and Burleigh is blessed. Tarte Bakery and Cafe, the Paddock Bakery and Burleigh Baker all produce quality loaves. Paddock sells its wood-fired bread and take-home sweet treats from a converted horse-float; Tarte does sweet and savoury, plus a line of bagels; and Burleigh Baker turns out everything from quiches to sandwiches (chicken caesar on sourdough is a best-seller). All three offer eat-in or takeaway.

Best provisions

Ten minutes inland, Tasman Star Seafoods stocks the bounty caught by its fleet of four trawlers. Choose from live pipis, bugs, clams, lobsters, prawns and fish rarely seen in big cities. Meat on James Street is a great full-service butcher, while Golosi deli will help you stock a holiday rental with comte, 'nduja and Pepe Saya butter, and make you a picnic for sunset-watching from Burleigh Hill. Justin Lane's puffy-crusted sourdough pizzas are great for beach picnics, too, if you choose not to eat at the rooftop restaurant. New in 2022, Flor dispenses gourmet groceries and top-quality wines from classics to natural.

Best place to show off a spray tan while drinking cocktails

It's hard to know what's more beautiful at The Tropic: the view, the seaside terrace or the crowd. Guillaume Zika's crowd-pleasing, mod-Med menu adds further lustre with bumps of caviar, unmissable puffy pillows of bread, and splurgy seafood platters. Forgot your glad rags? The chef has a side-hustle hot chicken shop, Freddy's, where you can grab takeaway to eat on the beach.

​Best chilli margarita in a Vietnamese restaurant

Jimmy Wah's offers great service with a punchy modern menu that runs the gamut from tempura barramundi on betel leaf to a crisp golden pork and prawn pancake. It's open seven days, too – many other places shut early in the week. Pining for more modern Asian? Tropical tones, cocktail bar, lively flavours and matching soundtrack make Light Years a similarly upbeat choice.

Best reasons to stay another week

Seven days and nights will leave you hungry (and thirsty) for more. These should all be included in your itinerary. Drop in for a drink at secret-squirrel laneway cocktail bar Lockwood, or Australiana-styled Rosella's. Admire the murals by local artist Jai Vasicek over share plates at handsome mod-Med Maman. Go Cantonese at Mr Hizola's, or up-market Lebanese at Rabbath. Try the breakfast tacos at Common Ground. Eat, repeat. You may never leave.

The Burleigh Heads directory

• Burleigh Baker, 13/50 James Street, burleighbaker.com
• Common Ground, 2/2 Hibiscus Haven
• Flor Wine and Grocer, 5/3 Park Avenue, florgrocer.com
• Freddy's, 19 Connor Street, freddyschicken.com.au
• Golosi Food Emporium, 3/45 James Street, golosi.com.au
• Jimmy Wah's, 1724 Gold Coast Highway, jimmywahs.com.au
• Justin Lane, 1708-1710 Gold Coast Highway, justinlane.com.au
• Light Years, 1848 Gold Coast Highway, lightyearsasiandiner.com.au
• Lockwood, 7b Justin Lane
• Maman, 49 James Street, mamanbarkitchen.com
• Meat on James Street, 33 James Street, meatonjamesst.com.au
• Mr Hizola's, 1730 Gold Coast Highway, mrhizolas.com.au
• Paddock Bakery and Cafe, 20 Hibiscus Haven, paddockbakery.com
• Paloma Wine Bar, 1/12 James Street, palomawinebar.com
• Rabbath, 7a/1837 Gold Coast Highway, rabbath.com.au
• Restaurant Labart, 8 West Street, restaurantlabart.com
• Rick Shores, 3/43 Goodwin Terrace, rickshores.com.au
• Rosella's, 1734 Gold Coast Highway, rosellasbar.com.au
• Tarte Bakery & Cafe, 2/2 West Street, tarte.com.au
• The Tropic, 3b/43 Goodwin Terrace, thetropic.com.au

Slightly further afield

• Bistro Livi, 1a/1-3 Brisbane Street, Murwillumbah, NSW, bistrolivi.com
• Freeman's Organic Farm, 618 Tomewin Mountain Road, Currumbin, freemansorganicfarm.org
• Husk Distillery, 1152 Dulguigan Road, North Tumbulgum, NSW, huskdistillers.com
• Piatto and Cantina, 2460 Gold Coast Highway, Mermaid Beach, piatto.restaurant
• Tasman Star Seafoods, 20 Casua Drive, Varsity Lakes, tasmanstarseafoods.com.au