Shop. Visit. Do.
Less than 100m from Byron’s Main Beach sits Frankies Gelato, a brand new traditional Italian gelateria with blue and white terrazzo adorning the floor and bar, rustic hand-rendered walls, and silver-lidded pozzetti tubs containing the tastiest gelato we’ve ever experienced on Australian shores.
Owner and gelato maker, Franco Giordano, spent several years in Italy, travelling, tasting and learning from the best makers in the country. The result is a taste of his experiences exploring the Italian coastline with a guarantee of no added colours, preservatives, additives or any other nasties.
The menu is 40% vegan, with highlight flavours including ‘Golden Milk’ made with house made almond butter, almond milk and turmeric and the incredibly refreshing sorbet combination of ‘Strawberry, Hibiscus Tea & Mint’. Dairy-based flavours include ‘Ricotta, Figs & Honey’, ‘Earl Grey Tea’ which tastes not too dissimilar to a Bubble Cup, and a decadent ‘Banoffee’ with caramelised toffee bananas and a butter biscuit crumble.
It’s all natural, and all downright delicious.
From the team behind Sydney’s Icebergs comes a fabulous new restaurant in Belongil Beach, aptly named Belongil Beach Italian Food. We fell in love with the venue the moment we walked through the doors – the pink-hued interiors and terracotta walls boast an abundance of artwork by local artist Marty Baptist.
The service is laidback but they don’t miss a beat, creating a warm and welcoming relaxed environment for diners to spend long lazy afternoons grazing through modern Italian cuisine. A holiday-esque playlist which lends itself to European summers bops along in the background, and on occasion, DJs will step up to raise the roof ever so slightly higher without imposing on your ability to hear your fellow diners (a big tick in our books).
For those indecisive souls, we highly recommend the feed me menu. It’s very good value for money and they serve all the hits! For the pasta lovers, the Rigatoni Ragu and Pipi Spaghetti are ‘must haves’, we sincerely hope they don’t rotate these off the menu any time soon.
The long-awaited Easy Street has finally opened in Byron’s Industrial Estate. Located in the Habitat Precinct, Easy Street is your new go-to for all things home. Here you’ll find Byron Hanging Chairs in their brand new (not to mention humongous) showroom. MCM House has also made a grand entrance in to Byron with their coveted armchairs, deep sofas, bedroom furniture and more. We’re very excited to be welcoming some of these new pieces to The Bower very soon.
Yet another world-class newcomer has welcomed their first Byron store. Mud Australia, known for their understated elegance and timeless design has also swung open their doors on Easy Street.
Here for a good time but most definitely not for a long time is Little Harvest, a pop-up restaurant in the Harvest Bakery which is set to launch this Thursday, 9 June.
Guests will be treated to a three-course dining experience with the main course showcasing a local protein roasted in the wood-fired oven, served family-style.
To dine at Little Harvest, make a reservation here on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from June 9 – June 25. The dinner menu is $95 pp; the drinks-menu features Australian wine and locally-focused cocktails available on the night.
Last but most definitely not least is the long-awaited Bistro Livi. Set in the Art Deco building of Murwillumbah’s Art Precinct, Livi is a small neighbourhood restaurant run by a passionate and dynamic team who all share a mutual love of food, wine and good times. With a delicious fit-out by Melbourne Architectural Designers, Flack Studio it’s worth the 45-minute drive out to Murwillumbah just to get a glimpse of the décor.
But while you’re out there, you may as well stay and enjoy the food. The elements are simple and sourced locally from the region’s bounty of wonderful offerings. These are put to good use in a series of small share plates that are pure magic from each bite to the next.
