Take a well-known restaurateur, an iconic beach location, a young chef with a modern fresh take on classic Italian cuisine, and chances are that an exciting new dining venue will emerge.
After twenty years of waiting, when the opportunity finally arose for Sydney restaurateur Maurice Terzini (founder of Icebergs Dining Room and Bar, CicciaBella and bar RE) to set up a restaurant on his beloved Belongil Beach with business partner Dave Owen, Terzini had clear ideas about what he wanted: “A simple everyday beach restaurant…working with local producers and providing folks with laughter, food and wine.”
Opening late in 2021with Danny Rossi as Head Chef, Belongil Beach Italian Food is true to both its name and its founder’s vision.
We were recently invited in to taste their new summer menu of Italian classics, dishes that showcased their maturity after just one year in operation.
Sheltered just behind the dunes of the sleepy Belongil Beach, the township of Byron Bay is just far enough away to ignore until the tourist double decker buses glide on past the restaurant. The restaurant itself is open and peachy, its coastal tones more shell than sand, beachside foliage blowing in as messages of love from the surrounding paperbarks. It’s a lazy spring day full of promise. As onshore breezes spring up, clear blinds are lowered to protect the alfresco area but the beach is never far away.
There’s a freshness to summer dining that’s worth celebrating, especially in subtropical climates. Mention ‘Italian’ and many diners think pizza and pasta, however, being situated in one of the richest food bowls in Australia was too good an opportunity to miss. The menu is brimming with ‘local heroes’, an ode to small artisanal producers in the Northern Rivers and the top-quality products they create. It’s history and future tied together, anchoring the Italian menu to the restaurant’s surroundings, the volcano-rich soil of the New World and a forward-looking sustainable approach to food and wine.
In a menu made to share as a casual dining experience, there are so many items of interest that missing out on any at all seems a travesty! With help from our waiter, however, we traverse the tempting territory, choosing a seafood-rich collection of dishes.
Our starters include Byron Bay Mozzarella burrata with an heirloom tomato salad, Yellowfin tuna tartare, and Kingfish crudo, with Bread Social sourdough.
Of course, the ‘the devil is in the detail’, as they say, and no more so than in these dishes. The eclectic but subtle use of native and oriental spices piques the interest, yet nothing is overdone. What it achieves is a value adding of intrigue to Italian classics. A modern touch.
Capers, chives and a hint of chilli add layers of complexity to the tuna, its rich oils offset by the crisp airy seaweed chips. As for the kingfish, it’s the best we’ve eaten, not just for its freshness, but also for its accompaniments of lemon myrtle, verjus and pink fingerlime, a smear of chillied mayo giving an optional addition of bolder flavours.
We could easily dine on starters alone, propping up local seafood with a witlof, blood orange and pistachio salad served alongside crisp polenta chips, or a signature Moreton Bay bug roll.
Instead, we move on to Secondi, generous larger plates of perfectly cooked and seasoned Grilled John Dory fillet and Charcoal Roasted Spatchcock which we share, served with sides of salads and charred brown butter asparagus.
Our ‘Dolci’ to share is the chef’s summer take on tiramisu, a Raspberry, limoncello and mascarpone cake topped with pistachio, the sweet treat gone in no time.
After viewing the well-curated wine list from Mediterranean and small Australian minimal intervention producers, we forego aperitifs and cocktails in favour of a craft beer and an Italian pinot grigio, its bright citrus notes pairing well with the richness of seafood.
With attentive, informed service, a relaxed, ambient location and top-quality food, it would be oh so easy to while away an afternoon at Belongil Beach Italian without putting a foot on the sand.
It’s worthy of a celebration on any day you choose. The beach walk can come later.
Belongil Beach Italian Food, 35 Childe St, 2481, Byron Bay Ph: 02 8090 6962
Open: Wed – Fri 3pm – late, Sat – Sun 12pm – 3pm & 5pm – late
NOTE: Coming up to Christmas, Belongil Beach Italian Food offers several options to celebrate your year:
Group bookings are available: 3-course $90 / 4-course $120
Welcome the new year at the NYE Dinner Party on Saturday 31st December – 6pm to midnight, followed by a NYD Recovery Lunch on Sunday 1st January – 11am to 8pm.
Good Food Gold Coast dined as guests of Belongil Beach Italian Food.