WHO
Rusty Miller, former surfing champion and surf legend from Byron Bay
WHERE
The Roadhouse, Byron Bay
WHY
"It's the groovy hipster hangout. When you're my age you can go there and hang out and feel young. It is inter-generational to an extent; it's a whisky bar at night and I'm not into that aspect of it, although I did play music there one night. I play harmonica and drums.
"I go there for chai and breakfast, their coffee is good, their menu is very original and funky. They took a place that never really worked in that location and ... invested a good whack and it just cooked from beginning. It doesn't seem to be overly wifi-ed; it's very social, it's not all people working on laptops. One of their main models for making it work came out of the Top Shop [another Byron cafe].
"They serve things in jars. It's very creative. They serve on timber and boards and enamel tin plates. They use really top-quality stuff and they don't seem to be into food porn; it seems close to earth and honest."
ABOUT
"I was in Sydney last weekend for the 100th anniversary of the day Duke Kohonomoko kindled modern surfing in Australia. The Olympic swimmer and Hawaiian surfer rode a sugar-pine board in Freshwater a century ago and is credited with bringing surf culture in its modern form to Australia. It was a spine-tingling occasion. As they say in Hawaii: the ocean doesn't separate us, the ocean connects us.
"My first book, Turning Point, is about the World Contest in 1970 in Bells Beach. I have just released a second book, Turning Point 2, about Hawaii.
"I teach surfing with my daughter and my wife and I do the annual Rusty's Byron Guide. We're in our 31st year of publishing."
THE ROADHOUSE, 6/142 BANGALOW ROAD, BYRON BAY
0403 355 498, facebook.com/theroadhousebyronbay
Breakfasts, $6-$21; lunches, $10-25; dinners, $4-$25. Lunch for two, $50 plus drinks.
4 OUT OF 5 STARS
5 Big Wednesday
4 Barrelling
3 Hang ten
2 Two-footers
1 Flat as a pancake
It's not a Sydney spot but it is high summer and so, like more than a few of you have done over the holidays, we're heading north this week, to the sun-drenched, zinc-cheeked climes of Byron Bay.
Whisky galore, tattoos, tacos and mountains of greens – the healthiest booze hounds and breakfast hunters in Byron Shire patronise The Roadhouse, an unlikely honey pot on the main road just outside of town. Activated nuts and health-giving elixirs are no rarity in NSW's enclave of calm, festivals, forests, yoga practitioners and over-qualified surfers. But the Roady has taken the organic, wholefood, fermenting, foraging and all-things-homemade movements and made them their own. There's cold-brewed lemon-myrtle spritzer elixir with local honey and camomile tincture; organic coconut water on tap; home-brewed kombucha; lots of edible flowers; things served on chopping boards and, as surf demi-god Rusty Miller says, in jars.
Full of surfers, actresses, band members, hippies and everything in between, the cafe-cum-bar has shot to local fame, partly thanks to the many-tentacled network of founders Ruby Thomas, Adam Coates, Duane Ward and Liam Flanigen, who set up shop two years ago. As good as they look, the herb garden and vege patches out front are underpinned by substance, sustainability and wellbeing.
Come nightfall, slow-cooked dishes trot out alongside seared halloumi, vegan dip and miso lamb ribs from the bar menu as a crowd packs the patio and turns the cafe into an all-singing, all-dancing bar. Cocktails come with herbs and bits of trees. Beer is Byron-brewed, wines are many and well thought out. People are tanned and pretty and in holiday mode – which automatically makes everything taste better, doesn't it?
But we are here for lunch, taking Miller's daytime lead. Fish tacos enjoy a reputation that precedes them. The toasted soft shells filled with reef fish and smoky chilli mayo, barbecued corn, coriander, slaw, salsa, lime and avocado are a messy and moreish winner. A special of green curry with chicken comes with a mound of mint, coriander, fried shallots and shredded red cabbage sitting on top of the soft, fragrant flesh, coconutty broth and al dente green beans. It's as good as it sounds.
Tempeh – fermented soybean cake – makes an appearance in salad form, partnered with pickles, wakame, daikon, radish and greens and oranges and reds; the miso dressing is punchy and zesty and nourishing. It's an edible downward dog.
Bursting at the seams, queues are out of the door in the summer. Yes, it sometimes feels a bit sceney as if part of Bondi decamps and flanks of designer beachwear make it to Byron. But the overall feel is so earthy, so carefully honest and so filled with energy and creativity it feels like a place for anyone and everyone. The hippies and backpackers might be in danger of being priced out of their own backyard, but Roadhouse does it all so well and so consistently that it deserves every high five it gets.
