Exploring our people, places and produce: The Long Apron

While chatting to Cameron Matthews it's easy to picture the six feet eight tall chef foraging through the kitchen gardens of the Spicer's Clovelly Estate. Matthews is the executive chef and recently appointed general manager at the estate's signature restaurant, The Long Apron in the Sunshine Coast hinterland of Montville, Queensland.

With 17 years of experience up his sleeve, Matthews has helped drive The Long Apron's current award winning status. The gourmet restaurant boasts two chef hats in both the 2014/2015 Queensland and Australian Good Food guides and was ranked in the Top 100 Restaurants in Australia by Australian Gourmet Traveller.

Guests are spoiled for choice from the moment they step from their vehicle. One can choose to sit on French provincial style chairs in a relaxed dining room atmosphere or enjoy overlooking the estate's lush nine-hectare grounds from the restaurant's terrace.

The Long Apron delivers modern Australian cuisine with a menu focused on fresh produce sourced from the estate and local area. Seasonal produce from the property's herb and vegetable gardens features extensively, as do the fruits of an array of lychee, fig, guava, lemon and orange joppa trees on the estate.

Matthews also sources poultry and seafood from close by.
His aim is to create dishes that are recognisable but with a unique twist.

Across the menu, Matthews has created intricate and contemporary cuisine with strong textural elements. He notes that often the dishes which seem quite simple are the most complex. He may meld grains, lemon bark and wild roses freshly picked from the estate's gardens and creatively entwine them with vegetables, fruits and proteins - but it's done in a classical, unobtrusive manner.

Wander the estate and spy lychee and guava trees as well as wild roses, lemon bark and Matthew's prized herb and vegetable garden.

From Mooloolaba spanner crab with barley miso butter; Hervey Bay scallops with fermented rhubarb; and aged wagyu tartare to chocolate truffle, mint sponge for dessert, it's a culinary experience designed to surprise people's palates in a cohesive and intimate one-off culinary experience.

"Desserts are no longer just about mixing berries with chocolate but introducing chocolate rhubarb and more diverse flavours," Matthews says.

"It's all about getting people to stop playing with their phones and starting passing around the plate of wagyu bourguignon instead."

When asked what to expect from The Long Apron in the near future, Matthews says: "We'll keep moving forward, producing dishes that are simpler with lesser ingredients and that integrate more seasonal produce from the locals."

The Long Apron, with its warm atmosphere, innovative menu and elevated backdrop of rolling hills and jacaranda trees, is worthy of a detour.

Sample cuisine with a twist:

Roasted artichoke puree, salted carrots, salmon roe, mandarin, hazelnut milk

Roses from the garden, oyster mushrooms, old beets, macadamias, rose vinegar

Steamed reef fish, grilled lettuce and leek, squid and dill risotto, burnt lemon cream

Apples and artichokes, hay ice-cream, caramel apple skins, apple granita, walnut milk

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