Australian celebrity chef Matt Golinski was devastated when the Covid-19 restrictions forced them to temporarily close Noosa’s View Restaurant, but he was also able to find the positives in that break.
Mr Golinski said the best thing to come from the lockdown was he could spend quality time with his three-year-old daughter.
“I’ve also had plenty of time to master the fine art of sourdough making and brewing beer, and I’ve been able to do a lot of piano practice and running the Noosa trail network to keep my brain and body active,” he said.
“It was devastating to have to close down so suddenly, especially while we were really starting to build some momentum as a great kitchen team and producing some excellent food.”
He said receiving a chef’s hat from Australian Good Food Guide (AGFG) in January really put a spring in everyone’s step, and then Covid-19 sucked some of that joy out of it.
“It’ll take some time to build that team back to where it was, but every restaurant is in the same boat,” Mr Golinski said.
“Most of our staff were able to go onto Job Keeper, and now we’re able to slowly trickle them back in to working in the resort.”
With the restrictions easing, the restaurant has reopened and Mr Golinski said he missed seeing everyone’s faces.
“Opening back up is great from the point of view that we can feed our guests who are staying in house and there’s a nice buzz around the resort again,” he said.
“We can also get back to supporting all our fantastic local producers who have struggled through all of this too.
“It’ll be nice to have the family back together and get back to creating some nice food again.”
Mr Golinski said the industry was relying on the community to show support.
“If all goes well and we don’t suddenly get hit with new restrictions things should continue to get busier all the time,” he said.
“It’s nice to see Queenslanders getting stuck into holidaying in their own state as well.
“The industry is really relying on that. Why would you want to be anywhere else really.”
