The Good Life

S Haslam For those of us who work hard, or even just feel like we do, an alternative life of pleasure and simple luxury can...

The Northern Rivers may not be traditional sheep country, yet local farmer Warren Wiggins has established a successful stud on his 80 acre farm...

Just when we thought Nimbin Valley Dairy couldn’t get any more sumptuous, owners Paul and Kerry Wilson have brought out a truffle brie! The fifth-generation...

S Haslam While the Northern Rivers is well known for its exceptional restaurants that showcase our locally grown produce, agriculture and food production are also...

For any youngsters around the Northern Rivers keen on exploring a potential career in the fertile field of agriculture, then Norco Primex Field Days...

There are times when water just doesn’t cut it. And luckily, for those times, there is Jungle Juice.

Early morning starts are not a usual routine for chefs at the Ballina RSL Club. March was an exception when Chef Halie Welsh rallied some staff and friends together to take part in Ian Thorpe’s Laps For Life charity. A team of ten hit the Ballina Pool at 7am every day during March to raise funds For ReachOut’s Laps For Life challenge. 

I’m often asked about Yamba, one of our favourite holiday spots over the last 20 years. With a great range of beaches, walks, tennis courts, skate parks and accommodation etc it’s been great for the kids growing up, and they still love it. Plus, it’s now only 90 minutes’ drive from Mullumbimby.

It’s easy to get excited about Byron’s new MVP restaurant in Lawson St – it’s not only got standout dishes such as Blue Spirulina Linguine with blue swimmer crab and Yamba prawns, and Fettuccine al Ragù with Hayters Hill beef ragù sauce, feta and baby peas, but it’s also all sustainably sourced from local growers, available in takeaway (even delivered if you’re close to town) and more than half of the menu is plant-based.

Sprouts can sometimes be overlooked on the weekly grocery list… except for those in the know, of course!

The Northern Rivers Food Harvest Food Trail, to be held on the weekend of 1–2 May 2021, is guaranteed to be a very Northern Rivers experience, reflecting and celebrating the distinctive provenance of our region’s food. The Trail will offer lots of wonderful eating and drinking experiences; being jam-packed with our most-acclaimed restaurants, producers, farmers and growers.

Breakfast is now a whole lot more luxurious with the recent launch of Le Petit Brekkie in the Byron Shire. Changing how we enjoy breakfast, Emma and Kevin, the team behind the business, curate fresh, locally sourced breakfast boxes to be delivered directly to their clients’ doors. With the tagline ‘breakfast in bed, delivered’, Le Petit Brekkie hopes to make the indulgence of a lazy lie-in even more tempting.

Story & photo Lisa Machin  Scratch Patisserie is a household name in the Northern Rivers, and it’s a rare individual who can walk past one...

Husk founder, Paul Messenger, introduces his new Husk Botanic – a fresh cane spirit, designed to be mixed with tonic water to woo the...

There’s a reason everyone wants to live in the Northern Rivers, and a big part of that is the fresh food that’s made locally and the sustainable principles that many businesses make sure are underpinning that food.

Easter is the busiest time of year for Kathy Quinn and the crew at the Mullumbimby Chocolate Shop, which has a great range of Easter deliciousness, but it’s hard to go past the unique chocolate bunnies and eggs.  

Pepe Fassos grew up in Athena Taverna – a once-iconic Greek restaurant that thrived in the heart of Byron Bay, in Lawson Street, for 21 years. He was making coffees at the age of five and was a qualified chef at 18. However, years later a twist of fate led him to farming.

Born in Israel to Moroccan parents – mother from Casablanca and a father from Marrakech – it’s not surprising that Ronit Robbaz’s upbringing revolved around food culture.

A tricky year of health public restrictions meant that Woody’s 10th birthday party was a little low key, but the milestone delivered a great...

Story & photo Lisa Machin For Gary Miller, being in the forest instead of being in front of a computer screen was a no-brainer. Five...