Spice up your weekend on the Sunshine Coast

Some like it hot. They will enjoy The Sunshine Coast Asian Food Festival that is returning to Spicers Tamarind Retreat on the weekend of August 2-3.

Visitors to the sprawling 18-acre property just outside Maleny will be served a spicy blend of flavours from the region’s Asian restaurants, along with live music, chilled drinks and market stalls. 

And visitors are being encouraged to make a weekend of it with Spicers Tamarind Retreat’s ‘Complete Packages’ that include either a one night/one day experience or two nights/two days.

The festival will showcase street-food style dishes from the Spirit House restaurant, as well as local favourites Rice Boi, and the Retreat’s own Tamarind Restaurant led by Sunshine Coast native and  executive chef, Daniel Jarrett.

As a flagship experience of the award-winning Curated Plate Food and Drink Festival, the Sunshine Coast Asian Food Festival will work with the Curated Plate festival’s culinary director, Peter Kuruvita.

“This is not just a celebration of incredible food and drink - it is also a testament to the collaborative spirit of the Sunshine Coast’s leading Asian-inspired restaurants,” Kuruvita said. 

Chef Jarrett (below) says the Sunshine Coast Asian Food Festival is about putting on a feast of local produce for a happy crowd.

 “For all of these chefs, it’s an opportunity to put a spotlight on the amazing produce we get to use every day," he said. 

"We’ll cook for more people in an afternoon than we’d usually see in a week.” 

This year The Tamarind will be serving Dan’s own recipe, barbecued half-shell scallops with roasted chilli jam, a coconut dressing and Asian herbs.

The Tamarind Oyster Bar will also make a return alongside a champagne bar and desserts crafted by locals Maleny Food Co. 

The Tamarind Oyster Bar will showcase fresh oysters with yuzu ponzu while Rice Boi from Mooloolaba is returning to the festival with dishes including black sesame prawn toast with mandarin dashi caramel, dressed with a mayo made with sesame-based goma shabu sauce.

The Spirit House in Yandina will offer Phat Wag wagyu beef sate skewers, with a rich black Indonesian sate sauce and acar pickle.

To match the food on offer, several of the Sunshine Coast’s own beverage producers will be pouring the drinks.

Return buses will run to Spicers Tamarind Retreat from Noosa, Caloundra and Mooloolaba on both Saturday and Sunday. A park-and-ride shuttle will also run between Spicers and Cooke Park in Maleny throughout both days.

The two-day / two-night package begins on Friday, August 1, with dinner at Tamarind Restaurant, breakfast on Saturday morning, tickets to the festival on Saturday, a cheese and charcuterie feasting board on Saturday night, and breakfast on the Sunday. Prices start from $2,516 for two guests. 

Full details are available here: https://spicersretreats.com/events/sunshine-coast-asian-food-festival-2025/

For festival ticket prices and all other details seet: https://thecuratedplate.com.au/page/sunshine-coast-asian-food-festival

Kuruvita pops up on the Gold Coast with Sri Lankan flavours

Star chef Peter Kuruvita will be bringing the flavours of Sri Lanka to the Gold Coast until the end of April. 

JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort and Spa restaurant Citrique has launched a Chef Spotlight series which will highlight the heritage, flavours and ingredients of regions around the world.

The series kicks off with a My Sri Lanka Spice Trail available from now until the end of April. 

Designed by Sri Lankan-Australian chef Kuruvita in collaboration with JW Marriott Gold Coast Resort & Spa executive chef Paul Smart and the Citrique team, the menu will take guests on a culinary journey to the sub continent. 

“Last year we launched the Producer Spotlight series, which celebrated unique ingredients from leading suppliers around the country," Smart said. 

"Following the success of the series, we wanted to continue connecting Citrique diners to experimentative ingredients and flavours in a refreshing format. 

"We’ve now partnered with Australia’s best culinary talent for a Chef Spotlight series which draws on their multicultural culinary backgrounds to bring a taste of the world to Citrique.”

Kuruvita, of Flying Fish fame, is celebrated for his expertise in taking traditional Sri Lankan flavours that draw on his background and family recipes. 

Citrique’s weekend buffet - which features a variety of locally sourced seafood, meats and international favourites - will be complemented by an additional array of bold dishes like spiced roasted chicken, prawn tamarind-glazed barramundi, Lankan black pork tacos, masala potato dumplings, dhal soup and bibikkan coconut cake.

During the week, diners will be able to enjoy the vivid flavours of Sri Lanka as part of the a la carte menu through dishes like Goroka glazed beef short rib with crispy chickpeas; roasted tamarind-glazed toothfish with sugar snap peas and egg curry; and butter-poached king prawns with string hoppers and pol sambol.

A cocktail menu by Dilmah Watte Tea will complement the weekend buffet and a la carte menu, featuring the likes of black tea and Ceylon tea in innovative blends that infuse each drink with the aromas of Sri Lanka. 

My Sri Lanka Spice Trail is available until April 27. 

You can sneakily use the code LOCAL when booking weekday a la carte dining at citriquerestaurant.com to receive 15% off the total bill and complimentary self-parking.

Reservations are essential. 

New role for star chef Kuruvita

 

Veteran chef and cookbook author Peter Kuruvita has been appointed culinary director for The Curated Plate food and drink festival, which will be held from July 25 to August 3, 2025.

The festival celebrates the best of the Sunshine Coast's local produce, restaurants, chefs, and craft brewers and distillers, from the ocean to the Hinterland. 

Launched originally in 2019, The Curated Plate has grown substantially over the years, attracting more than 7000 attendees to 85 events in 2024. 

Former Flying Fish chef Kuruvita has over 40 years of experience as a chef, restaurateur, author, TV presenter, culinary tour leader, and spice merchant. 

He said he was keen to start talking to local operators about their concepts for The Curated Plate.

“I’m excited to become more involved in The Curated Plate in 2025, particularly to provide guidance and share my knowledge and skills with local chefs and producers, if that’s what they would like,” he said.

“I hope to influence and guide the festival program to ensure we curate the best possible festival of events to showcase both local chef talent and produce and promote the Sunshine Coast as a fantastic food and drink destination.”

Sunshine Coast mayor Rosanna Natoli said the festival created opportunities that translated the region’s exceptional produce into memorable food experiences.

“We are looking to create a program full of diverse experiences for locals and visitors with extraordinary events that take place in unique settings, from our farms to beaches, from our breweries to distilleries,” she said.

“Food and agribusiness has been identified as a key high-value industry in our production economy, which is one of the six high value economies identified for growth as we target a $33 billion economy by 2033.’’

The event program is currently being developed with more details to be announced in the new year.

Further information: https://thecuratedplate.com.au/

Celebrity chef has big kitchen plans

Celebrity chef Peter Kuruvita is striking out on his own again with the launch of Alba in Noosa Heads,  Queensland, in late November. 

Kuuvita established his reputation at Sydney's iconic Flying Fish from 2003 to 2011 before launching several venues in Fiji and most recently manning the pans for eight years at  Noosa Beach House at the Sofitel. 

A protegé of the late Tony Bilson, the chef of Sri Lankan heritage has a global reputation and is a well-known TV presenter. 

His new restaurant will be called Alba by Kuruvita and will encompass a café and pizzeria, cocktail bar, restaurant, providore, cooking school and event space. 

His signature dish, snapper curry, will be back on the menu. 

Situated on Alba Close and built on the site of the original Noosa White sand quarry, Alba is the Latin word for ‘white‘. 

The Alba Chefs Kitchen will be a creative space for cooking classes, private chefs‘ tables, and a complete studio kitchen.

Kuruvita's childhood experiences cooking with his grandmother in Sri Lanka inspired him to become a chef and incorporate spice and tradition into modern cuisine.

His three cookbooks, Serendip, My Feast and Lands of the Curry Leaf and five series of TV shows have further expanded his reputation. 

Alba by Kuruvita will be a relaxed all-day bar that offering that evolves into a stylish restaurant and cocktail bar as the day progresses. 

“It is really exciting to be building a new venue again from the ground up," Kuruvita said. "Working with the designers and developers - it is going to be a beautiful destination. 

"I wanted Alba to have a diverse range of offerings – there’s something for everyone! There’s a great opportunity to keep the surrounding community happy with the café, take-away wood-fired pizza and a boutique providore. 

"A stylish bar and all-day menu will draw golfers straight from the 18th hole at the bottom of the road, while the dining room will offer either intimate dinners or open up for large events."

Kuruvita is also excited by the cooking school. 

"I can’t wait to start on a cooking school and chef’s table program," he says. "We’ll even be able to hire the space out as a wired studio kitchen with camera solutions. It’s a chefs dream!”

For full details see www.albanoosa.com.au

Also new in Noosa are an Italian offering, a creperie and a revamped favourite. 

Sydney's Italian institution Lucio's is set to reopen an Aperitivo bar and river views at the Noosa Marina in late November. The restaurant will be run by Lucio Galletto's two children, Michela and Matteo, and Matteo's wife Dieuwke Albertsma, who was a chef at Lucio's for seven years. www.lucios.com.au

Flo's Creperie has recently opened in Noosa Junction with a range of savoury and sweet crapes and some vegan offerings. There is also a  cocktail menu. https://floscreperie.com/menu/

Long-time favourite Rickys Noosa, meanwhile, has recently completed an extension of its restaurant, creating more space and even more absolute Noosa River frontage. www.rickys.com.au/

For more Noosa info visit https://tourismnoosa.com/