FIFTY YEARS OF COMBINED EXPERIENCE MEANS THE TALENTED WOMEN BEHIND THE LITTLE PLATE ARE VERY WELL PLACED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A TRULY MEMORABLE GOLD COAST DINING EXPERIENCE.
There’s a restaurant on an unassuming corner of the Gold Coast Highway at Burleigh whose name might have you thinking small, but whose offering is as expansive, impressive and physically global as they come.
The Little Plate is the brainchild of two Gold Coast chefs with a combined 50 years’
experience. Olivia Watson and Gaynor Hunt have worked side by side for 18 years with The Little Plate itself almost five years old. “From the start, our business plan was to offer something different,” Olivia says. “We wanted to deliver fresh, innovative food that was great value – the stuff you get in a fine-dining restaurant but that you can enjoy in a casual setting.”
Gaynor describes The Little Plate as a “fine casual, boutique restaurant with a share plate philosophy”. The menu is eclectic, she says. It’s modern Australian but “repolished”.
“We combine flavours from all over the world and encourage you to try and share amongst each other. We are aiming to bring the conversation back to the table and make the dining experience a memorable one,” Gaynor explains.
Among the girls’ menu items, you’ll find classic French dishes as well as influences from Spain, Asia, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. The quality and authenticity is overtly apparent in their food.
“We’ve worked in many cuisine-specific restaurants throughout our careers but we always said that when we opened our own place, it’d be somewhere for a group of friends to go together and all their different tastes would be satisfied,” Olivia explains.
“We’ve had Singaporeans saying that Gaynor’s curries are just like the ones from the hawkers and we had a guy from Canada call up to make a reservation four weeks in advance.
“Everything is made in-house, and we put a lot of love and energy into our food. We’ve been able to build a level of trust with our customers, to the point where some will come in without looking at the menu and ask us to surprise them. That’s very humbling.”
The Little Plate offers four different dining areas. With a split dining room, functions are a breeze. You can even hire The Little Bar or the private courtyard out back. Alfresco dining in the side street brings another dimension. “Our food is exquisite and the place is cosy – we like to think of ourselves as the friends you haven’t met yet.”
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