The Gold Coast has seen massive changes in its food culture over the past generation. Transport yourself back to the time of your parents’ youth and the changes are almost unbelievable. A generation ago, evenings were spent around the family dinner table. Beginning to experiment with food other than meat and three veg, dinner party cooks were inspired by Women’s Weekly cookbook recipes introducing exotic international recipes such as cheesecake and fondue. Dining out was not common practice, except perhaps for a special date or celebration.
Today, the Coast is dotted with hospitality venues representing a wide range of cultural origins. While most of the restaurants opened in the ‘80s have now closed, there are still several Gold Coast restaurants that can trace their beginnings to around forty years ago. Each one carries a unique story of people, history, culture and food.
Unsurprisingly, most of the longest standing restaurants are owned by migrant families determined to make the most of life in a new country. Each one of them is, in some way, a trailblazer for the dining culture we now enjoy.
The story of Omeros Bros is one of triumph over the odds. It was the hardship of losing her husband after WWII that forced Helen Omeros to gather up her two eldest sons and relocate from Greece to Australia in 1953. Before long the three youngest boys joined them in Sydney. The brothers all worked in hospitality, with Michael and Con opening their own restaurant in 1968, transforming the Paragon Café and Boat Shed into The Paragon at La Perouse, one of the first seafood restaurants in NSW. This pioneering restaurant marked the beginning of the Omeros family’s long-standing association with seafood restaurants on the east coast of Australia.
Nick and Angelo, Helen’s two youngest sons, moved to the Gold Coast in the 1980s to continue business here. They opened a seafood restaurant in Burleigh, moving to several other locations before settling in Marina Mirage in 1989. After Angelo passed away in 2001, Nick and his son John continued to run Omeros.
“When the Paragon opened on the Gold Coast, there were no international hotels here,” says Omeros’ Restaurant Manager Rob Rank, who has worked in the family business since their Gold Coast beginnings. “We have always been a seafood restaurant first and foremost, using the principles of Greek cooking to show off the freshest produce. Because of our already established contacts and the lack of supply on the Gold Coast, most of our seafood used to be flown up from Sydney,” he adds.
“Over time that has changed, the wine list and menu evolving with the changing dining scene. Dietary concerns may have changed too, but they are not a problem for us. Our formula for success has always been fresh seafood done simply and well, with good service to match. Our signature dish is a good example of this philosophy: Grilled Snapper with lemon butter, salad and chips. It shows off fresh seafood at its best,” Rob tells us. “Moreton Bay Bugs are also a favourite.”
As for the original owners, with his son John now director of the business, although Nick Omeros is now in his 80s, he still comes in every morning and makes all the sauces and soups and checks the seafood for the day. Some things never change!
During the 1980s, several Italian restaurants opened on the Gold Coast, most owned by an extended family group from the Naples area. Many of these venues are still open today, now owned by the second generation of the family. Romanas, opened in 1984, the coast’s earliest Italian restaurant that is still in operation, is owned by siblings from the same family who later opened Valentino’s and George’s Sorrento, cousins to the Velardos of Alfresco Italian.
Alfresco Italian Restaurant’s story is one of migration, hope, dedication, hard work and family. It began with Tony and Silvana Velardo who, because of the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, left their home near Naples with their young son Raffaele to join family already living on the Gold Coast.
Typical of many migrant families, Australia was a land of opportunity for the Velardos. They had a passion for Southern Italian hospitality and food and wanted to share this love with Australians. Even though they spoke no English and had no kitchen experience, they were determined to succeed using all their resources, charisma and, (most of all), sheer determination and hard work.
Tony and Silvana’s first pizza restaurant, Arrivederci, opened in 1985 in Southport. It was the forerunner to Alfresco’s, which Tony and Silvana moved to Surfers Paradise in 1992, relocating to its present location in late 2009. Tony’s bonhomie drew people in. Famous for his singing and entertainment, dining ‘at Tony’s’ Alfresco was like attending a party every night. Its walls lined with photos of diners, including the likes of famous Hollywood star Jerry Lewis, Alfresco was a second home to many locals and a haven to many visitors who returned there on their annual pilgrimage to the Gold Coast.
Tony and Silvana’s son Raff, now the owner of Alfresco, tells us that, “People looked for consistency and simplicity in their dining experience. They wanted comfort food that was homely and familiar rather than trendy.”
Although the dining scene has changed a lot, Raff says that he wants “diners at Alfresco to experience a warm, inviting experience.”
While staffing is a challenge throughout the industry, Raff says, “Some of our staff, such as our Head Chef and Pizza Chef, have been with us for 15 years. The rapport with customers and attention to detail stems from leadership to the rest of the staff. Continual staff training maintains a consistency of product and experience, leading to a more professional atmosphere,” he adds.
As for return customers, one diner who came in years ago, detailed the toppings he wanted on his pizza. Because of his patronage, the pizza was named after him. It soon became the restaurant’s bestseller. Thirty years later, the diner still comes into Alfresco to eat ‘his’ pizza!
The popularity of Japanese food skyrocketed during the 1980s when an influx of Japanese investment increased both the availability and desire to eat Japanese food.
If there’s one single name that epitomises our respect for Japanese culinary practices, it’s ‘Tetsuya’. Tetsuya Wakuda arrived in Sydney in 1982, a 22-year-old student who spoke little English, yet during his lifetime he was to have a massive influence on food culture in Australia. As Tetsuya’s star rose in Sydney, there was a growing popularity of Japanese cuisine on the Gold Coast.
Established for the opening of Daikyo’s Gold Coast International (later to become the QT) in 1987, the hotel’s flagship restaurant, Yamagen, opened with top Japanese chefs Satoru Nagashima and Mitsuo Yoshimo brought to Queensland. The opening was a celebration of the Gold Coast’s flourishing relationship with Japan. An integral part of the city’s first five-star hotel, Gold Coast International heralded a wave of Japanese investment, tourism and goodwill between the nations.
Although there were a few small family-run restaurants on the Coast at that time, Yamagen became our first fine dining Japanese restaurant, its traditional cuisine regarded as innovative by Gold Coast diners. (Satoru was later to open his own eponymous restaurant Satoru’s in Oxenford, operating until 2022, his part in developing Gold Coast food culture unknown to many of the diners who visited his humble restaurant.)
One year after the opening of Yamagen, Itoshin opened its doors in Miami in 1988. Owners Tomoko (Tomi) Ito and her husband Shin who, despite speaking limited English, had made the bold decision to move his family to Australia, had run a restaurant in Kyoto for 10 years. Itoshin Miami was a casual retro-chic izakaya with bench seats and graffitied whitewashed walls. In this humble family-run restaurant where, behind the scenes, Tomy and Shin’s sons Yusuke and Hibiki washed the dishes by hand, surfies, gourmands and celebrities dined side by side.
One year later, Tetsuya’s Restaurant opened in Sydney. Tetsuya himself would visit Itoshin Miami during its heyday, signing the wall after he dined, though the staff were unaware of his presence at the time.
When development of Miami One edged them out in 2003, Itoshin moved to larger, more upmarket premises in Mermaid Beach. It is still there today.
One of the problems faced by early Japanese chefs who founded the industry was procuring Japanese ingredients.
“I remember our family driving to Brisbane every week to buy simple Japanese ingredients such as soy sauce, tofu and bags of rice,” Hibiki tells me. “There was no supplier who delivered these items to the restaurant, so we had to source them ourselves. Now we can buy those same items at the local supermarket.”
In 2017, Yusuke took over his parents’ restaurant Itoshin (recently reopened following a renovation), and Hibiki opened his own restaurant in 2019, naming it Little Itoshin in honour of his parents’ restaurant.
“My approach has been to break rules when I need to, yet to stay within the realm of Japanese cuisine,” Hibiki says of his intimate izakaya on the hill in Miami. It’s a new chapter and a new direction that draws Australians in to enjoy exquisite Japanese food.
As hospitality now battles with issues such as staffing and economic constraints, we can learn so much by looking back at the struggles and triumphs of our pioneers. Sheer determination and hard work helped them survive many obstacles. Yet their vision of bringing their culture to a new land has given us the culinary diversity that we cherish today.