In the glorious hinterland that is Noosa’s leafy back yard, Bask at Eumundi is quite unlike anywhere else.

At an old timber bakery on this pretty town’s main street, chef-owner Jack Madden takes a deliberate “produce is first” approach. He works alone in the kitchen with his partner in life, Jess Coolican, running front of house.

They know where every leaf, slice of beef, chicken and vegetable comes from and recognise each farmer and grower as the real MVPs. Jack met Jess about 15 years ago when he was an apprentice in the kitchen at Noosa’s Bistro C, and according to Jess, she was “filling in my gap year waitressing and having a good time”.

After living the chef’s life in the UK, they returned to Melbourne, where Jess studied interior architecture and design and Jack worked in some of the city’s best restaurants.

After, they returned to the Sunshine Coast, where Jack cheffed at Sails for a time. Last year, the pair renovated the 1900s property to accommodate Bask and Jess’s interior design practice.

While considered one of the hinterland’s top lunch spots, we arrived on a Thursday night instead. The welcoming deck dining space is swathed in sheer white curtains and lush greenery. Tables are clothed, linen napkins sit atop stoneware plates, and lights are low, courtesy of the brass mushroom table lamps. The deck opens to more tables that, on Saturdays, are filled with diners shaded by striped market umbrellas.

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The restaurant is named for what Jack and Jess want their guests to feel while dining – a chance to sit back, relax and revel in the experience. With many local farmers on speed dial, Bask’s menu changes weekly. Sometimes daily. Instead of a traditional three-course or share plates, it’s divided into Tempt, Taste, Savour and Linger.

We selected a Mornington Peninsula 2019 Scorpo Pinot Gris from the impressive wine list, which miraculously worked with all our choices. Sparkling-fresh seafood doesn’t need much adornment, but a complex Limoncello mignonette ratchets up Boomer Bay oysters. A warm, house-baked loaf is always on the menu, and this week it comes with almond cream. Silky tempura zucchini flowers with parsley and manchego are served with a fire-engine red romesco whoosh.

Our whipped feta topped with radish and tiny tomatoes makes an argument for flower garnishing with deep red edible petals outdoing the cress for colour. For our main attractions, creamy potatoes sidle up to a beef short-rib glistening with dark pan jus, local mushrooms and pancetta. And the wild barramundi gets a roasted fioretto, anchovy crumb, sweet corn puree treatment.

We couldn’t make room for dessert but we noticed the coffee cake with banana caramel and vanilla bean ice cream was a big hit on surrounding tables. Jack’s trim menu is resourceful and does a delicate balancing act between the rustic and classic. Bask is a relaxed but precise restaurant that can show some of the big-city restaurants that less is always more.

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