With an emphasis on fresh and local, producer Cafe Le Monde offered a fun, casual and relaxed setting in Hasting Street for the first Slow Food Noosa dining experience since the Covid-19 outbreak.
It was a matter of bringing the farmers to town to showcase the local produce as more and more restaurants highlight it on their menus.
Slow Food Noosa president Jason Lewis said they were looking to host such events every two months.
Prior to the Covid outbreak at the start of 2020, the events were held monthly.
“This was the first for two years and was a fantastic response, outstanding,” Jason said.
“It gives us a lot of hope … there was a mix of old and new supporters which shows people want this sort of thing.
“This is the perfect way to get to know the local farmers and the benefits of ethically-produced products that are locally grown and sourced.’’
Cafe Le Monde’s menu draws heavily on supporting local businesses while combining all of the classics with a modern twist.
The meal options on the day were Phat belli pasture-raised scrambled eggs with the choice of house-smoked salmon or Backa double-smoked bacon with Tanglewood organic sour dough, Noosa Reds, smashed avocado with chilli, red onion and EVOO.
Otherwise, patrons could have chosen a Sunrise bowl with chickpea, black bean and beetroot hummus, ferments, baby broccoli, roast pumpkin, portobello mushrooms, organic hempseeds and a fried egg.
Executive chef Oliver Carruthers and operations manager Lyn Steer both gave quick talks on the produce used as well as the philosophy or how they chose their products.
Slow Food Noosa’s Rod Lees and Jason Lewis presented Eastwell Farms with their Snail of Approval Certificate and signage and welcomed them to the organisation.
Bryant and Susie Ussher were appreciative of being honoured with the Snail of Approval, recognition of the whole Slow Food ethos being about ethical production, care for the environment, and short miles in distributing produce.
As well as mushrooms, they are producing chemical-free beef through regenerative farming at their Kin Kin property.
To be awarded a Snail of Approval, there is an on-site farm visit to ensure key criteria is met in line with it being good, clean and fair.
The same goes with restaurants, cafes and the like.
The intention is to have a breakfast every two months and then, in between that, do a dinner, farm-gate visit or an event that showcases local produce.
The next event will be a Matt Golinski barbecue lunch – five courses showcasing fresh fish, red meat, poultry and vegetables. This will be held at View in Montville on October 29.
At the Cafe Le Monde breakfast Di Seel provided the Welcome to Country – the same that she uses with the children in the School Gardens Projects.
The Good to Grow Slow Food Snail Kids project embraces a unique and vital link between the Australian primary school educational curriculum and the environmentally sensitive and sustainability practices of Slow Food Snails in our local area.
Sunshine Beach State Primary School students were engaged in an outdoor scientific learning experience which bought together an understanding of the life stages and requirements of micro-greens as well as how this knowledge would benefit the everyday lives of themselves and our community.
More than 130 Year 2 children nurtured their highly nutritious microgreens in the school garden, observing and measuring their growth, while discussing health and economic benefits.
The culmination was the presentation and selling of their micro-greens at a Noosa Slow Food luncheon as well as selling their produce to the school community.
This innovative teaching experience is promoting, to our next generation, Slow Food principles and the ideology of eating local, seasonal and fresh food – that is good, clean and fair.
