Bailey leaves Berardo's for The Boathouse

Chef Shane Bailey has left Berardo's in Noosa. In what seems like a radical move, he has taken up an executive chef position at The Boathouse; the restaurant moored on the water at Noosaville.

“Noosa has a lot of hidden treasures and The Boathouse is one of them. You can sit literally right on top of the water on a deck over the river,” Bailey says.

The chef, who has been at the Hasting Street restaurant for nine years, said he felt it was time to move on.

“The nine-year itch perhaps. The Boathouse has had a renovation and the owners, who have been there five years feel they're ready to take the next step. With a young family I also loved the flexibility that came with the job.”

An early adopter of the "use local" philosophy, Bailey says he will continue to utilise produce from the Sunshine Coast farmers and producers, as he did at Berardo's.

“I believe in using Queensland produce when possible; if not, Australian produce. I'll buy in a small percentage from overseas only if it's something we don't make here.”

In a nod of respect to the restaurant's location, he'll also put some river fish on the menu in addition to the famous local spanner crab.

“There's great flathead, and of course mud crab as well as mullet. I'm looking forward to dropping a line in and seeing what comes up."

The menu will be "produce driven", Bailey says.

“It's a cliche, I know, but I don't believe in messing with good produce too much. My menu will be simple and use quality ingredients. Yes, I'm happy to do fish and chips. But it will be good fish and chips and I will never use imported fish, it will be all local.”

Bailey says he'll also be handing on his role in the Noosa Food and Wine Festival.

“I'll certainly miss it, but at the same time it will be great to actually get the opportunity to sit down and watch. In eight years, that's never happened.”

Berardo's owner Jim Berardo said while he was sad to see Bailey go, the parting of ways was completely amicable.

“He's really done the hard yards and deserves a rest hours-wise. We love him to death but he has a young family and he really needs to be free to spend more time with them.”

Berardo added that he'd been "bowled over" by the interest in the executive chef position left by Bailey's impending departure. “We wish Shane the very best,” he said. Bailey is due to take up his new position in two weeks.