LIFESTYLE FOOD
GOURMET WITH KERRY HEANEY
FIND YOUR FAVOURITE FOOD FIX ON THE ROAD AS YOU TRAVEL AROUND QUEENSLAND. JUST LIKE GRANDMA’S Remember ice cream made by hand using fresh milk, cream and free range eggs like your grandmother used to make? If you’ve never tasted original recipe ice cream, Mister Fitz’s will change your life with their small-batch recipes made in-house. Open seven days a week from 10am till late, Mister Fitz also offers ice-cream sandwiches and brownies. Find it in Fortitude Valley and South Bank, Brisbane. misterfitz.com.au
MARKET MAYHEM NightQuarter is a little bit Istanbul bazaar, a slice of Italian piazza, and a splash of Asian hawker streets, just opposite the train station at Helensvale, on the Gold Coast, every Friday and Saturday from 4pm to 10pm. You’ll find more than 120 food outlets, designers, fashion, live music and craftspeople in eight precincts constructed from recycled shipping containers. Eat your way through Tapas Street, a micro restaurant precinct designed as an incubator for local chefs exploring new tastes, or try one of the six bar concepts. nightquarter.com.au
BEAN BREAK Taste your way around the world with Merlo Coffee’s Bean of the Month program at 14 stores across Brisbane. Merlo showcases new smooth brews every month, selecting different beans from places as diverse as Tanzania, Kenya or Guatemala. Buy it online for your coffee at home, or ask for your next coffee in-store to be made with the Bean of the Month, at no extra cost. merlo.com.au
RACQ Dining Rewards offers RACQ members who register with the program 10 to 20 percent cash back when they use a registered VISA card at hundreds of participating restaurants and cafes. racq.com/diningrewards 22
THE ROAD AHEAD FEB/MAR 2016
RUM BY THE BARREL A new $5 million visitor centre has put Beenleigh Rum, Queensland’s oldest distillery, firmly back on the map. The iconic, red-brick building just off the Pacific Highway at Eagleby, between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, dates to the 1880s and was built partly by convict labour. The rum is made in small batches using copper pot stills and the giant barrel hall is thick with the scent of the ‘angel’s share’, the spirit that evaporates as the rum ages. Centre manager, career bartender, and colourful character Gavin Butler enjoys turning visitor’s moments into memories. What makes Beenleigh Rum a standout? We use Queensland sugarcane from the local area, fresh Queensland rainwater, yeast sourced from a local provider, and people who have decades of experience. I love that the distillery has been supporting the local farmers for the past century. Our master distiller started here more than 35 years ago, when he was 17 years old, and has spent his entire working life perfecting the art of rum-making. You can taste the copper-pot-still method and the small-wood ageing in every sip. What do you enjoy about working as a bartender? Whether I‘m behind the bar or leading a tour of the distillery, I love meeting people, telling stories and having them bring their friends back. Favourite rum drink? I do enjoy a grilled pineapple mojito. That’s two slices of grilled pineapple muddled with fresh lime, mint and ice, 45ml of Beenleigh white rum, and topped with soda water. It’s perfect on a Queensland summer’s day. beenleighrum.com.au
RACQLIVING.COM.AU
LIFESTYLE FOOD
A TOUCH OF TASTE PARADISE A ROAD TRIP THROUGH LUSH, ROLLING GREEN HILLS NOT FAR FROM CAIRNS OFFERS MORE THAN BEAUTIFUL SCENERY.
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AKE THE KENNEDY Highway to the Atherton Tablelands’ high altitudes to discover a food paradise. From Cairns, make the awardwinning Mt Uncle Distillery an early stop and try their premium liqueurs and spirits made with local and Australian ingredients. A seven-metre giant peanut on the side of the highway leads to The Peanut Place and ice cream made with local peanuts, peanut chocolate, and dairy products. Don’t leave without a jar of their chocolate peanut butter. Pop into Tolga Woodworks & Café and discover crafts and wares from around 30 artists made from local and
Australian timbers. Further down the road at Atherton, family-owned Gallo Dairyland is a fully operational dairy farm with a cheese factory, café and handcrafted chocolate, while Nick’s Swiss Italian Restaurant in Yungaburra uses fresh local ingredients and products. Detour to Lake Barrine Tea House, perched on the edge of a crater lake surrounded by lush rainforest, and try one of 400 scones Bill Bayne personally bakes daily using a 100-year-old recipe from his wife’s grandmother. Tarzali Lakes Smokehouse Café serves fresh barramundi, redclaw and eel, plus house-smoked bush pork, kangaroo and boar sausages. It’s also a great place Taste premium liqueurs and spirits at Mt Uncle Distillery.
to spot platypus. The Falls Teahouse in Millaa Millaa is perfect for morning or afternoon tea when you are visiting the five waterfalls on the waterfall circuit. You’ll taste the difference in the cheese and yoghurt and enjoy views to Mt Bartle Frere at Mungalli Creek Biodynamic Dairy. Don’t leave without trying the cheesecake. Make sure you use RACQ Dining Rewards at Nicks Swiss Italian Restaurant, Tarzali Lakes Café & Smokehouse, and The Falls Teahouse. Download an Atherton Tablelands food trail at tasteparadise.com.au. One of five waterfalls on the Millaa Millaa circuit.
Timber wares from Tolga Woodworks & Café.
FOOD FESTIVAL FUN u FEAST OF THE SENSES, March 12-20, Innisfail North Queensland’s premier tropical food event showcases abundant exotic tropical fruits, produce, seafood and meats with farm trails, art, photography, cooking competitions, and a market day. feastofthesenses.com.au u CULLY FEST, March 31-April 3, Cunnamulla Try local Yellow Belly, Murray Cod, yabbies and a whole emu cooked Kup Muri style with cooking demonstrations and tastings at this outback and Aboriginal festival with workshops and shows. cullyfest.com u FELTON FOOD FESTIVAL, April 10, Felton Mingle at the market, take a crop tour, meet a local farmer, and learn more about the paddock-to-plate concept at Felton with special guest chefs Matt Golinski and Glen Barratt, and food consultant Alison Alexander. feltonfoodfestival.org.au
QUEENSLAND’S LARGEST CLUB
FEB/MAR 2016 THE ROAD AHEAD
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