I’m secretly starting to think that I’m a curse. I daren’t whisper it to anyone but the last time I visited the Sunshine Coast the heavens opened and rain poured and soaked us to the bone therefore making a mockery of the name. Now during August, and supposedly during the  best weather season the mist, fog and rain has shrouded pretty Airlie Beach giving the markets a distinctly sodden aspect.

Still there’s nothing quite like food to brighten the enthusiasm. Cupcakes to be specific as Amanda and I coo over sugary delights and butterfly topped cupcakes and the Mars bar topped cupcakes and cake pops. And for good measure and as a gift for my mother some macadamia brittle.

We try some Bowen mango sorbet which is simply frozen mango cheeks from Bowen which is about 80kms away churned up. It’s refreshing but not particularly sweet but comes in a generous serve. There are also a proliferation of jam makers many of whom use fruit from their garden to make passionfruit butters, rosella and mulberry jam.

And of course fruit wine is popular here with the amount of fruit available. At Pacific Blue they tell us that their wines are on the dry side rather than the sweet.

A creative use for cans-and check out the chopping board prices!

We check into Peppers Coral Coast. This is my first time staying at a Peppers resort but I had always heard good things about Peppers. We make our way up the steep winding driveway to the top of the hill where the newest Peppers hotel lies. It’s all open plan with the main restaurant area next to the reception area and next to that is the outdoor pool area and spa. There are 1, 2 and 3 bedroom luxury apartments available.

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It was a trip that just didn’t start well. Mr NQN and I were looking forward to visiting the mid north coast of NSW region including Coffs Harbour where he grew up and when the time rolled around he couldn’t make it due to work commitments. I then asked a friend in his place and when three days before we were about to leave she cancelled on me in a frantic state. Luckily I found someone to come with me! Enter the lovely Julie from Gourmet Getaways who happens to live in Coffs Harbour. Sometimes things just work out nicely

So that’s how I find myself in Julie’s car being picked up from Port Macquarie airport on sunny morning. We’re off to taste what the mid north coast of NSW has to offer and in one day we’ll be sampling from macadamias, avocados, cheese, chocolate, blueberries, strawberries and tomatoes. And somehow trying to still fit in our clothes!

Our first stop is Lorne Valley Macadamias where Jo and Ray Scott grow a variety of macadamia nuts and mixed citrus for the Australian market on their 50 acre property. Out the front is a cafe open four days a week with a lovely lush green view of macadamia trees. They make all of the food in-house (excluding the bread, that proved too troublesome Jo tells us). They are part of the Nambucca Nuts cooperative and here they grow, dehusk, sort and dry their macadamias which are then sent to Macksville to the cooperative to be further dried to 1.5% moisture level, sorted and priced. It’s a family run business that has been here for 15 years and Ray’s 86 year old father even helps out with harvesting while his 83 year old mum helps in the cafe.

Lorne Valley Macadamia Farm

The cafe has a good range of salads and sandwiches mostly featuring macadamias but with some exceptions. And instead of using almond meal for their flourless chocolate cake they use a luxurious macadamia meal which is more buttery than an almond meal (and which I cannot wait to try!). But before lunch Ray shows us around the macadamia trees which are mid harvest at the moment with some in bloom.

They have 1,400 macadamia trees and also use about 20 acres for a mixed citrus orchard where they grow tangelos and blood oranges  They grow several varieties of macadamia and they are all hybrid varieties grown for a combination of taste and harvest. There is a variety called H2 which has a particularly tasty nut but they have a thicker shell and therefore a lower return on the weight so other hybrids are more popular with farmers. Each tree has a long flower raceme which has about 100 flowers on it. From these 100 or so flowers you can get between 1-10 nuts on each raceme and variables such as weather can affect the flowers with temperatures above 30-40C killing off the flowers.

Over the years they have learnt that they need to concentrate on quality nuts rather than quantity as there was a recent influx of macadamia nuts from South Africa which were priced at $6-7 a kilo. However it isn’t possible to grow and harvest them here for under $13 a kilo as our costs of labour are higher. This last year they harvested 10 tonne of macadamia and a good year has 12 tonne of macadamias harvested.

And the best way to package macadamias? Vacuum seal them in foil. But of course the problem with foil is that consumers can’t see the macadamias and they like to see the product.  The “00″ nut is the most expensive nut as it is the largest but these are rare and they concentrate on the middle of the range here. Like many farmers they aren’t certified organic but they use organic practices and don’t spray as they live right near the trees and the cafe is nearby. And if you are curious enough to want to grow a macadamia tree, what kind should you buy? There is one breed which has pink flowers and it is self dehusking with thinner outer shells for easy cracking.

Harvest salad $14.90

Speaking of the cafe we’re headed there for lunch. Jo recommends us some salads and I’m very happy about that as the weather is warm and sunny. There’s a harvest salad which has a lovely sweet macadamia and basil style dressing and a mix of roasted vegetables including pumpkin, mushroom  and red capsicum and little cubes of feta amongst the mixed salad leaves and cucumber as well as three crispy lavosh crackers. And of course chunks of roasted macadamias!

Chicken salad $15.90

Now chicken salad can be a risk if the chicken is tough but this is tender and juicy with four generous pieces of chicken and a slightly sweet but well balanced different dressing which has a distinctly Asian flavour to it. The chicken is marinated in chilli, ginger and macadamia satay and there is a layer of caramelised onion on top of the pieces of fresh tomato and salad leaves.

Carrot cake $7

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What’s the first thing that you think of when you hear the word Huxtable? The Cosby Show family right? I’m not familiar with anyone else with the name so we have Cosby Show episodes on the mind when we walk into Huxtable on Smith Street in Collingwood after a short pleasant fifteen minute stroll from the Park Hyatt. The space is modern although no, it’s not a replica of the set (although a part of me thinks that that might be fun but perhaps taking the theme a bit too far).

And like Central Casting has placed some extras inside from the couple with the retro glasses-thick rimmed enormous white rims for her and Bill Lumbergh style glasses for him. There are three families in the immediate eye view, all with young children. Apparently naming your place after one of televisions most famous families has families coming in early on a Saturday night. The interior is fitted out using a lot of browns-there are brown vinyl swivel chairs and what looks like dad’s garage tool holder which in this case holds cooking tools. And playing in the background are songs such as Marvin Gaye’s “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” and “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher.

Why is it called Huxtable? We ask the waitress. Well it seems that it is called Huxtable as a nod to The Cosby Show. The three guys that head it up are from New Zealand and they thought that it would be a fun name. They are Daniel Wilson in the kitchen (the chef), Dante Ruaime formerly of MoVida (the restaurant manager) and Jeff Wong who owns 19 Squares, a St Kilda cafe (the coffee guy). “And it’s just a coincidence that everyone that works here is from New Zealand” our NZ accented waitress says.

The menu is designed to share. It’s broken up into little bites-and some from bite sized morsels to slightly more substantial entrees, to share plates which are broken up into sea, land and earth.

Huxta bubbles $8

We start with the huxta bubbles which is a sparkling wine made especially for them. We ordered it for the name-who could resist it? Even Mr NQN who doesn’t like sparkling wines quite likes this fizz.

Rice flour crusted oyster po’boy, iceberg, sriracha mayo $6.50

The oyster po’ boy comes a mini crunchy fresh baguette filled with two oysters. The baguette is crunchy, like those Vietnamese baguettes that are earth shatteringly good and give the soft oysters inside an appealing crunch on the outside. There is a shredded iceberg lettuce salad tossed in sriracha mayonnaise, sriracha being that omnipresent Thai hot sauce that you see on tables in large plastic red bottles so there’s a bit of spice along with the creaminess. And I could have eaten lots of these.

Jalapeno & cheddar croquette $3.50 each

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