Dining out on a ‘celebrity feast’

It’s not just your average epicures counting down the days to the 2026 Noosa Food and Wine Festival, to be held from June 11-14.

Restaurateurs, chefs and winemakers from around Australia and closer to home can’t wait for the line-up of Signature Events, Restaurant Series experiences and the ever-popular Festival Village – all plated up against glorious coastal and hinterland backdrops.

ANDREA RAVEZZANI

“It’s like Schoolies for chefs.”

Andrea Ravezzani, head chef at Park&Cove in Peppers Noosa Resort & Villas, is describing the electric atmosphere on stage and behind the scenes at Noosa Food and Wine Festival (NF&W). Just like annual graduation celebrations for Year 12s on ‘that other coast to the south’, NF&W brings together the crème de la crème of Australian celebrity chefs, restaurateurs and food influencers for one massive, four-day party we’re all invited to.

This is their playground, on the cutting edge of hospitality.

So, while we’re being entertained by the skills and banter of the PorkStar Live Cooking Battles in the Festival Village, or floating on the Noosa River aboard MV Catalina with a Florcita Tequila in one hand and Latin-inspired canape in the other, these food stars are trying to keep a lid on their own excitement.

“Working with all the chefs – that’s the fun part,” enthuses Italian-born Andrea, who has worked in leading restaurants in Varese, Florence and Milan, and has spent the past 16 years immersed in the Noosa restaurant scene.

“It’s Schoolies for us,” he adds, with a hearty laugh.

“The thing for us is more collaborating with the other chefs – to see what people outside Noosa are doing different to us.

“And working with ‘big’ chefs is always challenging. You are working with top chefs from Australia, like Ben Williamson, who’s got seven restaurants.”

At NF&W’s Le Bistro, La Plage: French Beachside Lunch on Sunday, June 14, Andrea will be working shoulder to shoulder with Ben, the Anyday hospitality group founding director, who is culinary maestro at celebrated Brisbane venues – the Parisian-style bistro The French Exit, Biànca Italian restaurant, Japanese eatery hôntô, and the South-East Asian cuisine of sAme sAme.

Joining them will be co-founder and culinary director of the Masonry Group, Ben Cross, who was mentored by acclaimed chefs Janni Kyritsis (MG Garage) and Neil Perry (Rockpool Dining Group), and has worked in kitchens from Byron Bay to New York and Spain. Ben and the Masonry Group have spent the past eight years reshaping Bali’s dining scene, including Bar Vera, and more recently opened MASONRY. Japan: a ski-in, ski-out restaurant in the Niseko Kyo hotel, Hirafu.

Andrea, a Federation of Italian Cooks member, has his own impressive kitchen credentials, including a bronze medal in the Italian Cup culinary competition and silver medal at the Gastronomia Expo regional contest.

His passion and respect for the culinary arts and championing seasonal ingredients have seen him make his mark at other beloved Noosa eateries, including Lindoni’s, Berardo’s and his own Noosa Waterfront Restaurant and Bar (which he sold in the lead-up to the 2025 NF&W).

Andrea has a fair bit on his plate for this edition of NF&W, overseeing the smooth workings of the Noosa Main Beach kitchen for Signature Events.

As well as Le Bistro, La Plage: French Beachside Lunch, he will have all hands on deck for the Official Opening Party on the Friday afternoon, June 12, and for The Italian Long Lunch on Saturday, June 13, where he teams up with Guy Grossi – legendary Melbourne chef and owner of Garum Perth and Settimo Brisbane, and master pâtissier Adriano Zumbo.

Andrea takes the lead when he hosts the Restaurant Series’ Park & Cove: Global Pairings lunch on Friday, June 12: billed as “Five Chefs. Five Countries. Five Perfect Pairings”.

He says guests will be taken for a gastronomic tour “around the world”, with each course matched with a wine that reflects its regional influence.

After a classic Aperol aperitivo on the terrazza, guests will savour five courses, each created by Andrea and four other distinguished chefs:

• Spencer Patrick, of Harrisons in Port Douglas
• Louis Tikaram, of Brisbane’s Stanley Restaurant
• Telina Menzies, of Hotel Esplanade, and Australian Venue Co executive chef
• Darren Purchese, of Love Studio Kitchen, and The Great Australian Bake Off TV show judge.

And you can be sure each culinary master will be vying to out-do the other with their designated course.

The 2026 NF&W marks Andrea’s 16 years of involvement with the event.

“As per usual, five days and no sleep but, you know …” he chuckles.

NATHAN RAMSAY

It is such a small gesture, but one from the heart.

Every night at his Somedays Pizza restaurant in Noosa Junction, Nathan Ramsay and business partner Shane Newton light a candle in an empty Ochota Barrels wine bottle.

The candle illuminates the space around it – in honour of a man who shone brightly through his passion for winemaking, zest for life and generosity of spirit.

Since Nathan and Shane opened Somedays in January 2022, Ochota Barrels – Taras and Amber Ochota’s Adelaide Hills wine label – has always featured, showcasing their cult-status, minimal-intervention organic wines.

Wine Business Magazine described Taras as “a much-loved member of the Australian and international wine community” and one of the first winemakers, along with Amber, to pursue low-intervention winemaking in Australia.

The Somedays crew never knew him: he passed at the age of 49 in October 2020, after battling an illness for several years.

But their working relationship with Amber and the label soon led to collaborations, trips between Noosa and Adelaide, friendship and a deep respect for the husband she lost nearly six years ago.

Amber will again make the trip north from Basket Range for the Somedays x Ochota Barrels special collaboration dinner – part of the NF&W Restaurant Series – on Saturday night, June 13.

Nathan reveals that instead of the very capable Somedays staff making the usual “250 pizzas for the night”, the festival event promises a generous wood-fired banquet menu, bringing bold flavours and seasonal produce together in a shared feast.

After speaking at an intimate media lunch at Sabrosa Dim Sum House, his other Noosa Junction venue, Nathan tells Your Time: “At Somedays … we are going to do an Italian wood-fired banquet, antipasti and traditional porchetta and fish, rather than pizzas. I’ve actually got my hands on a lot of (Amber’s) premium wines which are very small batch – I’m talking a few hundred bottles made each year.

“It’s a really nice opportunity for me as well to try those wines with the guests and Amber.

“It will be a celebration of food, wine and the people that make this industryso special.”

Amber will guide guests through the curated progression of estate wines thoughtfully paired with each course.

Nathan says Gareth and Rainbo Belton – the winemakers behind Amber’s Adelaide Hills ‘neighbour’, Gentle Folk – has become another firm friend, brought about through their working relationship.

The Beltons will bring their estate wine pairings to life through stories behind the scenes at the Sabrosa Dim Sum House x Gentle Folk lunch on Friday, June 12. The NF&W Restaurant Series event aims to elevate the humble dim sum to rock-star status.

Guests can expect 13-courses on the dim sum journey, including Sabrosa diners’ favourites and new taste treats developed specially for the festival.

 For remaining festival tickets, head to noosafoodandwine.com.au