A visit to Palm Beach Ave makes me feel as though spring has arrived. It’s fresh, breezy and beautiful. Palm Beach Ave is Daniel and Ruggie Ridgeway’s tribute to Palm Beach and a coastal lifestyle. The 150-seat venue sits on the corner of the Gold Coast Highway on the ground floor of Village Palm Beach,...

Good food is the ‘spice’ of life. More than physical nourishment alone, great food satiates both the palate and soul. Spice Central Kitchen & Bar on the ground floor of the Novotel, Southbank, is one of Brisbane’s most popular eating spots. It not only has a five star rating from diners, but for months it...

Like its namesake, the exotic saffron flower. Kesari has two colours: the violet hue of modern ‘soulfood’ for breakfast and lunch and the glow of saffron at night when its Indian-infused menu is on offer. After building a bar and undertaking a quick renovation to the venue, in March 2022 co-owner and manager Sunil ‘Sunny’...

If there’s something we never tire of, it’s freshness. The first dedicated poke bar to open in the south-east corner, Finn Poke, opened their second venue upstairs in Pacific Fair exactly a year after the opening of their Byron Bay shop. With a longterm hospitality background in extended family restaurants ‘Fig & Olive’ and the...

“Great coffee, tasty toasties and pastries, and friendly vibes.” The latest hidden gem on the northern Gold Coast is Santa Barbara Specialty Coffee, the small café with lots of heart. After serving coffee in some of the coast’s best cafés for years, barista Kevin Gatti knew what he and his wife Emma would place value...

The Gold Coast, like many places, has long struggled to define its cuisine. There are few places that reflect our relaxed lifestyle, the abundance of produce we enjoy from coast to hinterland, at the same time shining a beacon on the growing sophistication of our dining palate. The Gold Coast’s newest dining destination, the eponymous...

Don’t you love it when a tiny insignificant looking place turns out the best food? Runaway Bay has just scored an absolute pearler, with Ciccio’s Pizzeria opening on Lae Drive. Open since mid-May 2022, it’s all too easy to drive around the corner and not see Ciccio’s discreetly tucked away. But if you do flit...

A potluck meal to me brings back happy memories of a New Zealand childhood, church halls and double-tier sponge cakes brimming with strawberries, jam and cream. I loved those potlucks, as many people cooked far better than my mother, and we were allowed to eat cake! While local church members brought a plate laden with...