Port Douglas’ most unique and renowned restaurant, Nautilus, has celebrated 70 incredible years of dining beneath the palm trees, marking the significant milestone with a lavish 1950s-style dinner soirée.
Opened in 1954, Nautilus was the first restaurant in Port Douglas and has been welcoming guests to dine in its beautiful open-air dining room from the same site since its inception.
In a period where we have witnessed the sad closure of many leading and well-loved Australian restaurants, reaching 70 years of operation is a feat almost unheard of and certainly worthy of celebrating - and celebrate they did!
Tribute to the restaurant’s place in many hearts, the tables were quickly filled by long-standing guests and local Port Douglas residents who have shared many a night in the high-backed palm leaf chairs instantly recognisable as ‘Nautilus’. Guests gathered in the beautiful open-air dining room on Monday, October 21, donning their tropical finest to dine under a star-lit sky.
They sipped on Australia’s most awarded sparkling wine, House of Arras Blanc de Blancs from Tasmania, alongside nostalgic retro cocktails such as the Harvey Wallbanger, Brandy Alexander, Classic Martini and Pina Colada. It’s fair to say no kitsch cocktail umbrella was spared in the making.
The degustation-style menu was an elegant and delicious showcase of the dishes Nautilus has become known for – hiramasa kingfish and yellowfin tuna, pan-seared scallops, a melt-in-your-mouth eye fillet and decadent desserts. Just missing from the line-up was the infamous Nautilus mango soufflé.
Stealing the show, however, was the Chef’s selection of hors d'oeuvres which threw it back to the glory days with modernised classics such as crumbed camembert with cranberry and cucumber, devilled eggs with caviar and a prawn cocktail with Rose Marie pearls.
In honour of the year the venue was born, guests partied like it was 1954 - 1950s tunes filled the air with live music by award-winning Cairns-based vocalist Andrea Allumay and Ian ‘Louie’ Lewerissa on guitar. Later in the evening, the dance floor came alive as Australian music legend Glenn Shorrock rose from his table and took to the mic, treating guests to a surprise, impromptu performance.
The Champagne tower flowed and guests toasted to a restaurant that sits firmly in their hearts and memories. Owner, Grahame Wearne, regaled the crowd with anecdotes of times gone by. From the long boozy Sunday lunches that somehow defied liquor licensing laws of the time, to the surprise Presidential visit that saw the street shut down by Secret Service to host Bill Clinton’s anniversary dinner and the time actor Matthew McConaughey did tequila shots with guests on his birthday, Nautilus has 70 years of colourful stories under its belt.
Perhaps the most meaningful memories, however, are those of the guests who return time after time; couples who were engaged over a romantic dinner at Nautilus some 30 years ago, who return for anniversary dinners to revisit those fond memories and who eventually share the magic of Nautilus with their children.
Here’s hoping there are many more years to come and many more memories to be made beneath the swaying palm trees of this iconic restaurant.
