Bar/fly: Gaston, Noosa

There's a decidedly French feel to Gaston. Image / NZH Graphic

A friendly Aussie convinces Eveline Harvey to try out his local, and she likes the vibe

Oh, it's a tough challenge life hands you sometimes: what to do between dining engagements at a food and wine festival?

"Come and have a beer," our new mate Craig suggests as our multi-course lunch in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland draws to a close.

He turns to his other half, outlining his plan: "We can take them to Gaston's, they'll love Gaston's."

"You'll love Gaston's," he reiterates, turning back to us. "It's our local. At last year's food and wine festival everything was really kicking off there. They had a boom box outside and everything ..."

So far, so intriguing.

As our bus pulls up in Noosa and we cross the road to our destination, Craig's face falls: "Oh no. Where's the boom box?"

Never mind. We file into the small bistro and take our positions at the bar. Bottles of Colombian Aguila pilsner are the order of the afternoon because "they go down pretty good", reckons Craig.

Pretty soon the locals start to drop in — each obviously a part of the extended Gaston family.

Waitress Kel comes for a yarn ahead of her shift, pulling out an old comic book to show me as she waxes lyrical about her bosses. As a child, bar owner Pascal was nicknamed Gaston after the French comic's protagonist, she explains. The moniker came to the fore once more when a name for the eatery was required.

Kel tells me how Pascal's father, Luc, "pretty much single-handedly" founded Noosa's food and wine scene after arriving as an immigrant in the 1970s.

There's a decidedly French feel apart from the Gaston comic, with the bar's handful of small tables, hand-written blackboard menu, marble-topped bar and feature wall of red bricks that would sit just as comfortably in a funky Parisian hangout as they do in this beachy Aussie locale.

Pascal's wife and kids pop in as we're cracking into our second round of cervezas and Craig's partner Daryle orders us a round of the house's duck spring rolls. As promised, they're exceptional.

The afternoon wears on and we meet a revolving cast of passionate Sunshine Coasters, each of whom greets the entire restaurant.

A burst of laughter heralds the arrival of another group, loosely connected to those already present, though Craig can't recall where he knows Damian and his mates from.

Daryle hands me another drink which I absent-mindedly accept despite still working on the previous one. It's turning into that kind of night.

As the sun sinks, diners trickle in and beers and conversation flow. I'm quietly relieved at the absence of the boom box — which it transpires was in fact a truck/DJ booth owned by a well-known energy drink brand — though Craig's still trying to ascertain its whereabouts as we finally move on to the festival grounds.

He's remembered where he'd met Damian and his crew before though: it was a year ago, at the last local food and wine festival.

"Oh man, it's all coming back to me now. They were really kicking off ... "

Seems Gaston's is just the place for it.

CHECKLIST

Getting there: Qantas flies from Auckland to Brisbane. The drive from Brisbane to Noosa takes about two hours.

Details: Gaston is at 5/50 Hastings St, Noosa.

The writer travelled courtesy of Qantas, Tourism and Events Queensland and Sunshine Coast Destination.