By Marie-Antoinette Issa.
Some restaurants ask to be seen. Others invite you to slow down, settle in and simply listen. Ethos - the first public opening from Alsahwa Estate - falls into the latter.
Set on 30 acres of regenerative farmland in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland, this new dining destination is less money-Monaco, more laid-back Lisbon - a place where the food tells stories, the setting soothes the soul and the pace encourages lingering rather than posing.
Ethos is understated from the outset. A low-slung structure framed by palms and softened by native flora, it feels less like an addition to the landscape and more like a continuation of it.
Designed by Alex Zabotto-Bentley and the team at AZB Creative, the architecture quietly frames the Hinterland - with sandstone floors that catch the changing light, casement windows that pull in the breeze and tactile details that echo the land's rhythms: rough-sawn timber, antique farming tools, Ghanaian pendent lights and sculptural botanicals.
"I imagined a space where nature lead, and design follows,” Alex says. "There’s nothing accidental here. Every material was chosen for its integrity and story.”
This philosophy flows into the food with a Mediterranean-leaning menu shifting with the seasons and the soil. It’s not a place for pomp or performance - it’s a celebration of food grown nearby, treated simply and served with purpose.
The menu changes often, shaped by what’s growing in Alsahwa’s spray-free gardens or sourced from trusted local growers. There’s an emphasis on generosity and restraint - dishes designed to be shared, with flavour leading the way.
You might find wood-fired flatbread with labneh and garden herbs one week; braised local greens and slow-cooked lamb shoulder the next. There’s no excess here, no need for embellishment. Just a steady rhythm of ingredients that speak clearly and confidently of where they came from.
Dining at Ethos doesn’t feel like an escape - it feels like a return. To seasonality, to slowness, to food with a connection to its source. Even the flow of the space has been choreographed with care.
Entry is through a wide timber threshold, into a triple-height void where long timber tables and sun-washed surfaces give way to views of the estate. There’s room to exhale. No need to hurry.
While Alsahwa Estate was founded in 2020 by Jo Walker as a regenerative agritourism destination built around the guiding philosophy of ‘Mind. Body. Planet’, Ethos is just the beginning - and sets the tone for this Sunshine Coast community.
More experiences are coming - garden picnics, long table lunches, workshops and wellness events that invite a deeper connection to land and self - with Ethos leading the way as a dining experience that doesn’t rely on noise or novelty, but simply delivers. In flavour, in feeling and in intent.
In a region already rich with beauty, Ethos adds something quieter. A reminder that luxury isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it’s the simplicity of a meal grown just metres from your table and a space to settle, slow down and savour life’s small pleasures.
