Coffee hero
For some it is beer that comes to mind, for others it is coffee. With The Curated Plate’s Destination Series, the joy is in how the story is shared and whom the story is shared with.
Perfectly blended coffee, carefully crafted cocktails, and specialty craft beers paired with fabulous locally sourced food; Green Valley Fingerlimes, Strawberry Fields strawberries, Woombye Cheese, Mooloolaba prawns, Shambhala Farm herbs all amongst a stellar mix, and of course, all those local brews!
Shaking up your coffee world with Liquid Gastronomy at Groundskeeper Willie’s
For many of us coffee is the elixir with which we begin our day and then fuels us as the day goes on. But there is ‘coffee’ and there is ‘coffee’, and to truly appreciate ‘good coffee’ is to understand the complexity of the humble little coffee bean.
Attie O’Rourke and Will Kemp have spent many years exploring the origin of the coffee bean and how best to manipulate and amplify the intricate aromas and flavours that can make a regular cup of coffee shine. It’s exciting and new, and happening in a somewhat hidden industrial space among the backstreets of Moffat Beach. It is where Groundskeeper Willie was born and has evolved into an eclectic community hub for all things coffee, and dogs.
Groundskeeper Willie warmly welcomes you to their unique workshop-style events where you explore and understand coffee in its various guises. The first, the daytime version, is their Liquid Gastronomy, and the second, Liquid Gastronomy 'Uppers and Downers’, sparkling with a little alcohol bling, a choice of afternoon or evening workshops.
For the Liquid Gastonomy workshop, flavour guru and namesake, Willie, will lead you through a four course beverage degustation that allows you to explore the various coffee flavour profiles of their single origin coffees as well as their cold brew nitro infused tea. Roasting skills and techniques are shared – and so is their love for their handcrafted Joper coffee roaster, procured (and couldn’t bear to part with) along the way.
The Liquid Gastronomy ‘Uppers and Downers’ workshop takes coffee that step further in the way of some kick-ass brew-based cocktails. Drawing on some wonderful local ingredients, the cocktail list includes a unique twist on the espresso martini, a fresh and zesty cold brew tonic and gin, and a delicious nitro hibiscus tea cocktail. And yes, while you learn how to make them, you do get to enjoy them too.
These workshops are fun and interactive and paired with a range of locally sourced and produced food, designed to demonstrate how suitable pairings of flavour profiles can totally alter the base flavour. Attie and Will are all about ‘shaking’ people’s perception of coffee while celebrating community and their passion for all things local. Along with the workshops they are inviting locals to join them on the Friday night for a Curated Plate coffee cocktail celebration that eventually will have all roads lead to The Curated Plate Food Fair.
From Land to Sea, to your happy place with The Pocket Espresso Bar
Continue the community vibe at The Pocket Espresso Bar, a gorgeous little space at Moffat Beach. Pocket Espresso oozes ambience and atmosphere, with Esther Bundellu extending a welcome like no other to her, and what will become your, happy place.
The focus is on the welcome; you, your friends, the whole family. Pocket Espresso nurtures a sense of belonging, harmonising with great food that supports its local community in return.
Introductions are made with one of Pocket’s divine signature cocktails while providing an opportunity to mingle. Delicious morsels created by Chef Amy Fulton, using predominantly local ingredients, from land to sea, are the order of the afternoon. A decadent grazing board filled with Woombye Cheese and Golden Beach honeycomb the ultimate initiation.
With each dish, is shared the origin and story of the region’s fabulous produce, and the connections the café has forged with its producers to cultivate a community cycle that is all-embracing.
Linger a little longer and listen to the sweet tunes of Luke Anthony and Scott Mellis who will entertain Pocket’s new family throughout the afternoon. A seated banquet will see a sensational spread of fresh seafood sourced from Mooloolaba’s docks, or wander out to the venue’s private garden, and grab a local Your Mates craft beer at the pop-up bar. And finally an indulgent dessert selection, Guru coffee or perhaps another cocktail… no need to rush…
Locally Crafted and Local Flavours – behind-the-scenes of the Sunshine Coast’s foodie favourites
Finally, sit back and allow Joshua Donohoe, the passion behind Sunshine Coast Craft Beer Tours, to narrate the inside story of the Sunshine Coast and its innovative producers with his exclusive Locally Crafted and Local Flavours Tour.
Beginning the tour at Mooloolah River Fisheries, you get a behind-the-scenes visit to what has become the largest fishery on the Sunshine Coast, supplying fresh quality seafood to restaurants around the Sunshine Coast and distribution centres around the world. Trawlers, tuna long liners and fishing boats line the wharf behind the processing facility, where fishermen are unloading harvests caught from the pristine waters that mantle our beautiful Sunshine Coast coastline.
Next, experience a little gold dust at Kokopod, watching Brigid Woolnough create her exquisite handmade chocolates in her Buderim chocolate studio. Kokopod Chocolate is deliciously divine, complete with shimmering gold and silver. Ruby red raspberries and clusters of golden honeycomb glimmer from shards of quality handcrafted chocolate – a feast to senses and a total delight to the tummy! Try one of their amazing Macnuts, fabulously coated with a thick layer of the smoothest, creamiest couverture chocolate. Leaving may prove difficult!
Fortunately, your palate will have been perfectly primed to try some specialty-roasted coffee at the Sunshine Coast Coffee Roastery. Tour the facility and breathe in the aromas of freshly roasted coffee, while you are guided on a coffee roasting journey of discovery and what it is to make a premium quality roast.
Next is a stopover at the iconic Big Pineapple, also FAN – Food and Agribusiness Network HQ, to discover more about the Big Pineapple’s master plan to become the food innovation and production hub of the Sunshine Coast as well as its place in the Sunshine Coast’s food history.
Discovering the region’s producer gold, is thirsty work, but Josh has you covered by finishing the tour at Forest Glen’s Glass House Brewery.
Affirming that craft beer brings people together, owners Simon Michelangeli and brewer, Paul Sanders, invite you to celebrate great beer, wonderful food and friendships forged, after a tour of the brewery and the story that everyone loves to hear – how it all began.
In the great tradition of Simon and Paul’s Italian heritage, an Italian festa is waiting for you to sate your morning of food discovery and travel. Focus is on fresh Mooloolaba prawns graciously topping pizzas, organic beef the star of the spezzatino and Woombye Cheese the hero of a skilfully created cheeseboard, all uniting with Glass House premium craft beers in a menu designed to complement the flavour profile of each unique brew. The Coyo Parfait, a local showstopper and ode to the Glass House Old’n’Rough, will reluctantly bring your visit to an enjoyable close.
The Curated Plate’s exciting Destination Series is only days away. Tickets are selling out fast, so get those bookings sorted and share in this sensational collection of foodie experiences that so brilliantly shines the light on the food and beverage industries of the Sunshine Coast.