Business
8 November, 2024
Iconic eatery turns 70
ICONIC Port Douglas restaurant Nautilus has celebrated its 70th anniversary in style. The night was a special occasion for the unique local dining institution, with the management putting on a lush 1950s-style dinner event.
A surprise guest was Aussie singing legend Glen Shorrock, who treated the diners to an impromptu song.
Tyha Day, granddaughter of long-time Nautilus restaurateur Graham Wearne, helped organise the night.
“Nautilus is such a unique experience. There really is nothing else like it,” she said.
She credits the restaurant’s ongoing success to the hands-on stewardship of her grandfather.
“The passion that Graham puts into it. It’s not an easy business to be in but he has been overwhelmingly passionate and kept it going,” Ms Day said.
“He’s one of those very hands-on people. Even at 90 years of age, you’ll still find him in there most nights, and he’ll be checking that everyone’s happy and having a good experience,” she said.
“He’ll be checking the lights, going into the kitchen and making sure that everything’s just right.”
In a fickle industry, it’s rare for a restaurant to survive 70 years.
“The Nautilus is quite iconic,” Ms Day said.
“It was the first restaurant in Port Douglas and it just encapsulates what the Far North is. Just stepping inside it, it’s so relaxed, it’s lush, it’s beautiful.”
Testament to the quality of Nautilius is the fact that, apart from loyal locals and tourists, the restaurant has hosted such luminaries as former President Bill Clinton and his First Lady Hillary who celebrated an anniversary there.
Movie star Matthew McConaughey once threw down tequila shots with guests on his birthday and Australia’s most famous music export Kylie Minogue dropped in for a meal.
Nautilus has been owned by different families over the years and, as Ms Day said, “it is very much a family affair and always has been.”
Mr Wearne said there was “a certain magic that lies in spending a balmy tropical evening dining under the lofty palm trees and velvet skies of Nautilus ... an otherworldly ambience that embodies the relaxed vibe and natural beauty of Port Douglas”.
“Seventy years is an incredible feat, filled with colourful stories too numerous to recount, dazzling highs and equally challenging times. Still, Nautilus stands,” he said.
And as for the future?
“We are hoping to make it to 100,” Ms Day said.
Read More: Port Douglas
