By Rama Gaind.
Celebrated chef Danielle Alvarez of Fred’s leads a gourmet weekend at Halcyon House from Friday, 17 August to Sunday, 19 August 2018.
Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti described food so well: “One of the very best things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating”.
Here’s your opportunity to partake of an epicurean experience by being present when celebrated chef Danielle Alvarez of Fred’s leads a gourmet weekend at Halcyon House next month. It is one of Australia’s most unique beachside boutique hotels, under a two-hour drive from Brisbane.
Halcyon House—a former surf shack turned luxury hotel in northern NSW’s Cabarita Beach—will host the weekend with Alvarez from Friday, 17 August to Sunday, 19 August 2018. The connoisseur getaway will allow guests to experience an intimate master class with Alvarez, daily an a la carte breakfast at Paper Daisy (helmed by ex-Noma chef Ben Devlin), cocktails and canapés poolside and a four-course dinner and paired wines presented by Alvarez, Devlin and the Paper Daisy team.
Much like Alvarez, Paper Daisy’s Ben Devlin has been creating a stir among industry critics and diners alike and has well and truly smashed outdated prejudices relating to regional hotel dining. Paper Daisy has received two hats and Regional Restaurant of the Year in the coveted Sydney Morning Herald 2017 Good Food Guide Awards, so the coming together of two of Australia’s hottest chefs will no doubt result in a truly memorable gourmet experience.
Halcyon House in Cabarita Beach, on the stunning coastline of northern NSW, is a scenic drive from Brisbane, just 15 minutes south of Gold Coast Airport.
With its dinners and master classes, Alvarez’s weekend agenda may sound a little frantic for a languid coastal weekender. Fear not. The atmosphere, as with Fred’s—her wonderfully simple and seasonal farm-to-table kitchen—is designed to put you at ease: it’s cosy and casual with a focus on celebrating quality food in the company of good people.
Gourmet talent
The head chef of acclaimed Paddington restaurant Fred’s, Alvarex herself is a master, both to eat with and to learn from. Before taking the helm at her Paddington restaurant’s all-female kitchen, she worked at the world’s best: Napa Valley’s three Michelin-starred French Laundry, Berkley’s illustrious Chez Panisse. Gourmet Traveller, impressed by her wholesome approach to sourcing and treating each ingredient, sang her praises in a perfect refrain: “Chef Danielle Alvarez is a precise poet, and the sweet science of her cooking at Fred’s will capture your imagination”.
Alvarez is eager to bring her city kitchen to the seaside. “I can’t think of anywhere more wonderful to cook, a short walk from pristine sands and blue waters, in the company of people who enjoy locally and ethically sourced food.”
Danielle Alvarez’s weekend agenda is designed to put you at ease: it’s cosy and causal with a focus on celebrating quality food.
Mauro De Riso, the general manager of Halcyon House agrees. “There are few chefs in Australia like Danielle—and Fred’s is widely hailed as one of the country’s best places to eat in Australia,” he said. “This is a rare and special opportunity for people to experience cooking brilliance up-close, to not only taste Danielle’s dishes in a completely new context, but to learn skills they can take home and use in their own kitchens.”
The hotel may be new to some foodies, but travel buffs already know Halcyon House well. The hotel is steeped in hyper-saturated visuals: cool, mismatched rooms brimming with textiles, art and antiques, every suite wall upholstered in a different printed textile.
Gourmet weekends are increasingly popular at the Cabarita Beach hideaway: communal, joyous reveling in food and wine is an effortless match with the surrounding coastal environs.
According to De Rison, “We’re bringing together the country’s best and brightest to a tiny, long-overlooked beach. There’s something so easy, open and quintessentially Australian about that.”
Weekend packages start at $890 per person, twin-share in a classic room stay. For locals, limited Saturday, August 18 master class and showpiece dinner tickets are available from $195 per person.
Best-kept secret
Weekend packages for this gourmet weekend at Halcyon House in August 2018 start at $890 per person twin share in a classic room stay.
Halcyon House is nestled in an extraordinary region that remains one of the country’s best-kept secrets. Located at 21 Cypress Crescent, Cabarita Beach, it’s on the stunning coastline of northern NSW. It’s a scenic drive from Brisbane, just 15 minutes south of Gold Coast Airport with Qantas, Virgin Australia and Jetstar flying daily and 30 minutes north from Byron Bay. Return airport transfers can be arranged when booking, alternatively, you may prefer to hire a car from Gold Coast Airport or self-drive.
Halcyon House consists of 19 rooms and two luxury, two-bedroom suites individually designed by Anna Spiro, a beachfront pool and terrace area and Paper Daisy, a destination restaurant headed by one of Australia’s most promising chefs, Ben Devlin.
Acclaimed design, professional yet personal service and industry leading food and drink combine to offer the ideal setting for luxurious, five-star beachside holidays, romantic getaways, corporate meetings, celebrations and memorable weddings.
Whether it’s the ‘Halcyon days of youth’ that conjure up happy, joyful and carefree memories or ‘Halcyon weather’ that’s calm, peaceful and tranquil … your stay here will signify a period of your life that’s going to be idyllically happy and peaceful.
DETAILS BOX
Halcyon House
21 Cypress Crescent
Cabarita Beach
T: 02 6676 1444
W: https://halcyonhouse.com.au/upcoming-events/
Specials
Weekend packages start at $890 per person twin share in a classic room stay.
For locals, limited Saturday, August 18 master class and showpiece dinner tickets are available from $195 per person.
