On the banks of the palm-tree lined Noosa River, not far from the bustling hub of Noosa’s main shopping and resort area, sits a cosy restaurant called Little Humid.
The Sunshine Coast business is run by two entrepreneurial women: Michelle Gordon-Smith and Mary Morrison.
“We’re called Little Humid because it’s Queensland and it’s humid, so that’s it,” says Mary relaxing on a chair on the paved terrace, overlooking the river.
The Noosaville business opened in 2013 and has since gained a loyal, local following.
“We have christenings and then we have weddings and then, unfortunately, we also have wakes. So we are very much that family local restaurant, where people come to and experience their special moments in life, and we love it,” Mary explains.
Both Mary and Michelle previously worked at leading restaurants in Melbourne, but returned to the Sunshine Coast for its warmer climate.
“Mary is the manager - front of house - and I am the head chef back of house, so we have covered the two most massive costs of running a restaurant apart from rent, obviously," says Michelle.
From the start, they wanted Little Humid to be a warm, inviting place where locals could feel at home.
“It’s almost like the show Cheers, you come in and everyone knows your name. That’s what we’ve created,” Mary says.
“A lot of Noosa can be pretentious and we’re so not that - we’re very down to earth. There’s no dress standard and everyone is treated equally, and we try to have as much fun as we can with them."
Mary started her hospitality career 25 years ago as a dishwasher in a small restaurant in Buderim.
“I eventually made it onto the floor, as a waiter, and loved it and kept going ever since. And here we are today,” she says.
The restaurant’s most popular dishes include local Mooloolaba prawns in a light tempura batter with a hint of wasabi. The batter is made fresh every few hours and kept chilled, to ensure a crisp finish after frying.
Duck is another featured dish and, in winter, is served on a bed of Irish colcannon - a mix of sautéed cabbage, bacon, potato, shallot, and garlic.
Mooloolaba prawns are another popular dish at Little Humid. Source: Supplied
“Noosa has mild winters so when the tourists come, it’s still warm and you can’t make everything too robust and heavy. But the locals feel cold, so they want heavy food and duck is something I can’t take off the menu,” Michelle says.
Michelle has been cooking for 31 years, and has faced the odd supplier who’s surprised to find a woman in charge of the kitchen.
“When people want to talk to the head chef, at times they walk right past, it doesn’t matter if I’m the oldest person in the kitchen or if I’m standing next to the stove cooking. They’d walk up to any male in the kitchen, even the apprentices, and get them to sign for deliveries,” she says laughing.
Having proven themselves previously with another busy local restaurant, both agree it’s a shared commitment to quality that‘s key to Little Humid’s longevity.
“Even when customers order bread with oil and balsamic, we serve really good balsamic and really good oil,” Michelle says.
The Noosa region hosts for the 880,000 annual tourists. Source: Supplied
“And we sacrifice probably part of our earnings to continually give people top quality. So we’re never going to make a million dollars but that’s not what it’s about for us,” Mary adds.
“The locals in this town are fantastic and that’s our market. Locals are who we get up every day to serve. We love them they’re great and obviously we get the tourists and we love them too but we’re definitely all about our locals.”
Noosa hosts more than 880,000 annual visitors, and tourists spent more than $463 million there in 2017.
Despite those healthy numbers, Mary and Michelle agree they could not survive on the tourist trade alone, and would have closed after 6 months.
“If it rains, and the start of this year was very wet, it’ll affect our turnover,” says Michelle.
“Brisbane weekenders don’t come up, cos you’re not going to spend a weekend in a rainy town which is a beach town after all. If it’s not sunny, there’s not a lot else to do.”
However, trade remains brisk despite the fact that they do almost no advertising and have a limited internet presence.
Mary Morrison (left) and Michelle Gordon-Smith, owners of Little Humid. Source: Supplied
“We’re definitely not tech savvy by any stretch. Luckily there’s TripAdvisor and Facebook and they do it for us. Word of mouth is huge and I think the best advertising you can ever get,” says Mary.
“We probably do need to come into 21st century at some time but we’d need someone to do it for us."
“And while our business is going well, we don’t want to get too big, because it’s also about our lifestyle, and we have two days off a week and many friends in this town, and we all have a lot of fun."
But there can be challenges to running a restaurant with a significant other.
“And the only downside to being a couple and working together, is that when we shut for two days a week we don’t have separate days off, which I think every couple needs,” she adds.
“But if every day we come in and do our best and have great service and everyone’s happy, then we’ve succeeded.”
