Watego, Way To Go
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday February 7, 1998
There's more to Byron Bay than surf punks. NELL SCHOFIELD wallows in foodie heaven at the ultimate beachside guesthouse.
WITHIN 24 hours of arriving in Byron shire I found myself scrambling around on all fours gathering macadamia nuts on a sprawling sub-tropical plantation. Local mothers routinely warn their daughters against this diabolical fate in the hope that they'll apply themselves at school. In fact, it's considered to be the equivalent of working in the mines.
So what was I doing, breaking my back, heaving buckets of nuts into chaff bags at $4 a pop? After 91/2 bags I still couldn't come up with a satisfactory answer. Immersing myself in the local culture with uncharacteristic enthusiasm was the best I could do. But perhaps it was the water. Or the air. Something made me want to get outdoors and get physical.
With that well and truly out of the way, I headed directly for Rae's on Watego's, the exclusive whitewashed guesthouse snuggled beneath the famous lighthouse on Australia's most easterly point. It had a much-needed civilising effect. After a nice glass of wine in these peaceful surrounds, my muscle tension began to ease and the harrowing macadamia nut experience gradually transformed itself into an amusing joke.
As I tucked into some scrumptious local seafood, the glistening ocean providing a soothing backdrop, I suddenly realised why I had bust a gut out there like some nutty squirrel. It was to truly appreciate this very moment. This rarefied luxury. This food, this wine, this view. This, as they say on TV, is living.
The owner and head chef, Vincent Rae, bought the eccentric beachfront property nearly three years ago. Originally built as a private residence by a local, Ruth Harris, it had been through various incarnations, including the Argentine Ant Cantina, then as La Belle Epoque Restaurant, neither of which were particularly successful. In fact, it was considered something of a white elephant after being on the market for ages.
Then, after a particularly satisfying surf, Rae bit the bullet, marched up the beach and offered Harris a cash deal. A deal was struck that very day.
With the help of his partner, Joanne Leidreiter, Rae has turned the place into an extremely classy establishment. Renovations opened it up to the sun and sea with the addition of French doors leading onto big verandas. From one of these, I looked down on the restaurant staff returning from a surf, their wet suits dripping a trail of salt water behind them.
"It's all about being on the beach," said Rae, explaining his philosophy about food, "Whatever goes with a cold glass of white wine. We don't want to knock ourselves around too much up here."
Still, the menu displays an uncanny understanding of where contemporary palates are at - spicy sweet corn and mud crab soup followed by stir-fry of prawns, fish and scallop with saffron noodles and nam prik are just the sort of dishes people crave in the late '90s.
Rae has been in the business of food for more than 20 years, starting at the age of 16 in his home town of Brisbane. His formative years were spent hanging out in Peter Doyle's kitchen at Reflections on Sydney's Palm Beach, giving him a taste for a refined style of cuisine. David Thompson of Darley Street Thai and Sailor's Thai fame was another huge inspiration.
But his 20 or so trips through Asia were what really helped hone his craft, giving him insights into authentic wok cooking in Vietnam and traditional Thai techniques, among other things. These travels also nurtured in him a certain Asian aesthetic that he has incorporated into the seven rooms that make up this boutique hotel.
We checked into the Batavian, a suite recalling the old Dutch colonial capital (now Jakarta) with its antique teak furniture and floor of sensuous, hand-painted tiles rescued from a demolished Javanese palace.
Another shipment of 13 tonnes of these tiles arrived during our stay, destined to be reassembled into their intricate patterns in a new deluxe suite.
Soon after we'd settled in, Tara, one of the staff, entered the spacious suite in her elegant batik uniform bearing an offering of fresh fruit on an Indonesian wooden pedestal. Before leaving, she lit a stick of incense in front of a big Buddha bust to enhance the Asian atmosphere.
Further adding to the ambience were four fabulously exotic orchids, strategically placed around the room like living sculptures. Every fortnight these plants, along with all the others in the hotel, are sent back to the Mullumbimby nursery to be replaced by fresh specimens so the effect is one of perpetual, luscious fecundity.
To eliminate any trace of macadamia nuttiness, one of the fleet of local masseurs was summoned to the room to work her in-house magic.
After we had been totally blissed out by all this and yet another memorable meal upstairs, our surfie waiter, Andrew, suggested we have our banana fritters with cinnamon, coconut curd and lime ice-cream back in the good old Batavian with a glass of chilled champagne. And what an excellent idea it was.
The Batavian, unlike the wonderfully outrageous Moroccan and Mirabella suites, doesn't have an ocean view. But being on the ground level, one simply strolls outside over the grassy knoll to see the resident pod of dolphins cruise past or, in season, the migrating humpback and southern right whales.
Besides, there is always the restaurant or adjacent outdoor dining area for glorious sweeping vistas. Nor is looking inwards to be dismissed.
The swimming pool is a lush, azure zone with blue ginger flowers cascading all around it - perfect for escaping the feral surfpunk culture that flourishes in nearby Byron Bay.
Recently named by Conde Nast Traveler Magazine as one of the "Top 25 International Hotels for 1997", Rae's on Watego's is the only commercially zoned property on Watego's Beach, a fact which adds to its appeal. And while foodies may be concerned to learn that the restaurant has been reduced to half its former size to accommodate the new suite, an application has been lodged with the council for a Saigon-style rooftop garden where wok-cooking and Thai antipasto plates will be served.
"The reason we spend so much time on getting the food right is that that's where our reputation is," says Rae. "From a restaurateur's point of view, this is the ultimate. You'd never get me back doing a city restaurant again, ever."
VISITOR'S BOOK
The place: Rae's on Watego's Guest House, 8 Marine Parade, Watego's Beach, Byron Bay. Phone (02) 6685 5366.
Prices: Peak rates (from November 1 to April 30) range from $250 a night for The Courtyard Suite to $700 a night for the Ocean View Penthouse, with two double-bedrooms, accommodation only. In the off-peak season, rates range from $220 to $600.
How to get there: Countrylink train to Byron Bay, or fly to Coolangatta, Ballina or Lismore and hire a car.
Vacancies next weekend: No.
Things to do inside: Call in the masseuse, swim in the lagoon pool, enjoy the steam room, eat great food.
Things to do outside: Surf on the hotel's Malibu surfboards, watch for whales and dolphins while taking the coastal walk to the lighthouse, visit the Saturday markets further afield.
Pluses: It serves the best food in the district with a winelist to match. The service is friendly and personal and the fantasy decor actually works.
Minuses: It's expensive. You might not be able to stay as long as you want - that is, forever.
Rating: ***** (out of five)
© 1998 Sydney Morning Herald