In this week’s Echo printed newspaper, and online at echo.net.au, you’ll find Eat Drink Magazine, The Echo’s celebration of the amazing food, drinks and delights available around our area. Here Eve Jeffery picks out a few great local spots, and local suppliers to make a meal of it.
Ahhh to be outdoors – dining in the fresh, cool air and enjoying the spring and summer months is one of the reasons we love the Northern Rivers – and it’s not just for visitors!
If you truly want OUT, outdoors, a fun way to make any celebration truly your own is to take it to a location of your choice. Starting with the most important dish of the century (or any century really)… pizza. You can find so many delicious options in the area – as I am an expert on pizza I can recommend Lennox Pizza – (try their Ozzi Vego or Organic Orgasmic at the very least); Bay Pizza Lab; or bring the pizza to you with Wicked Woodfired Pizza and have hot, fresh pizza made at your event – what could be more dreamy?
If you need a sweet treat to end your alfresco experience, you can’t go past choosing chocolate! Both The Mullum Chocolate Shop and the Byron Bay Chocolate Co have something delicious and unashamedly romantic, to send you into a state of bliss.
If you are wanting to recline and do zip, zilch, nada, apart from sipping and chewing, having the dishes of your desire delivered to you is something you can’t go past – having your paddock bash catered to will mean you don’t have to think about a thing – luxury!
Maria’s Byron Bay, A Chef’s Pocket, Lisken and The Larder Byron Bay are the best bet for making it an event to remember with exciting menus full of delicious options, or ask for your own dish from these wonderful foodmakers on the hop.
If you are looking for an apéritif there are plenty of wonderful options to visit for pre-lunch/dinner. For the eat-in-take-home experience, Seven Mile Brewing, Wandana, and Stone & Wood can set you on the path to becoming a beer aficionado while the purely stop on-the-way-to-the-beach options are Azteca Margarita and the Caldera Brewing & Blending Co.
For those who like to make their own, the Lord Byron Distillery has a DYI that will blow your mind.
If it is healthy options you want, or you like your drinks to taste like drinks without having to think or worry about alcohol, there is Savvy Beverage and Hiatus Beers and if you’re an animal lover and want to eat anything and everything on the menu, your first stop needs to be No Bones in Byron Bay, where dinner is not just a meal, it’s an experience.
But, for the tried and true outdoor date, one of the many pubs and clubs and cafes in the area will get you into the spring and summer mode – favourites include the Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club (the refurb is awesome); The Byron Bay General Store; the Australian Hotel, Ballina – who also serve great music; Combi Byron Bay; Paseyo; Roseafina’s Place; and the Shakshuka Bar.
Your back deck is the best? Be the hero at your place when you bring home something that means you can dig in to something yum, without having to bother showering, dressing up, or even brushing your hair – truly wonderful takeaway options are included.
And for dessert, you can’t go past Yoflo or Benilato for something sweet or tangy, but always dreamy.
By the end of summer you’ll be reminded why the Rainbow Region is paradise and why you love living in the area so much. There are almost unlimited options to make your belly happy and your spirit sated – we have everything we need here in our own little corner of the world to make us smile. Though we are a holiday destination, it’s great to remember that it’s not only visitors to the area who get to enjoy all the incredible offerings, and spring and summer are a great time to explore a truly wonderful kaleidoscope of food and drink options in our little neck of the woods.
Be adventurous and hit the great outdoors with gusto!
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
