The hospitality industry may not seem like a likely fit for two veterans of several tours of Afghanistan, but ‘brothers by choice’, Daniel John, Brad Butson, and Maryann (Mez) Butson have built a team with years of experience, and together they had a pretty clear idea of what they wanted when they joined to make a restaurant in Kingscliff where there’s ‘something for everyone’.
In fact, the team listened to exactly what their loyal customers wanted when they merged Byron Gourmet Foods with The Burger Guru to create what the locals thought Kingscliff really needed – a venue with a welcoming and laidback vibe. You can order a coffee and sit there on your computer, enjoy a breakfast or lunch with friends and family, a night of live music with dinner, have drinks with friends and family, or a romantic dinner for two.
Its bar means that it’s perfect for those birthday parties and weddings that go late into the night. Just looking around the beach and foreshore on a beautiful summer day I could see how easy it would be to gather at the restaurant, get married on the foreshore, and then come back across the road for the festivities.
Brothers is fully licensed of course. Brad likes whisky, so they have a whisky for everyone; Dan loves his beers so they offer a range of beers. They have two tap beers, one of which is Stone & Wood, and a feature keg on the second, as well as other local craft beers and your usual suspects. Mez loves her wine and is always bringing in new Australian wines from all around the country. Grace and Cody are the managers and have years of experience, and they bring you a different $10 special every Thursday, as well as an ever-changing cocktail list.
‘We’ve called our place Brothers, in the sense of family’, says Brad, ‘but really our motivation is to be a positive part of, and serve, the Kingscliff community. We live locally and love where we live’. Brad and Mez got married in Kingscliff before they lived here, and Dan and Tayla are soon to be married in Kingscliff as well.
They support the local suppliers, and are involved with the Surf Club, the local chamber of commerce, the Kingscliff RSL (having helped coordinate last year’s Remembrance Day) and they try and help out local groups with fundraising, as well as running their own fundraisers for military groups and other charities.
The menu deliberately offers a great selection of light meals, up to what the ‘brothers’ call ‘eat-your-heart-out’ portions.
And for those who are thinking of having dinner on a summer night on the foreshore at Kingscliff, the menu offers entrees such as polenta fish fingers or calamari with yogurt tartare, warmed olives or woodfired Turkish bread and fresh-made dips. You can follow that with wood-fired pizza, seared salmon; ribs; a delicious eye fillet steak; Balinese satay chicken or chickpea dahl for example, because at night Brothers is a restaurant.
‘We’ve been told that we have the best steaks in the area, but we do still do delicious vegetarian and vegan food too,’ laughs Brad.
Perfect for summer!
Brothers cafe, restaurant and bar,
36 Marine Pde, Kingscliff. Ph 02 6674 8499
Facebook: brotherskingy
Brotherscaferestaurantbar.com
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