overtures of romance and style
Mark Wilson, Lia Mason and Lee Middendorf all met when the three of them were working in hospitality jobs at The Sandbar Grill in Casuarina in 2005. A lot has happened since those early days of friendship: Mark and Lia are now married, and along with their good friend Lee, they now own the restaurant.
“In 2009, Lia and I were travelling through Italy when we heard the restaurant was for sale,” Mark says. “We called Lee, who’d moved to Adelaide, and within days the three of us had put an offer in.” They called the restaurant Osteria – the Italian name for a simple style restaurant, in ode to their European holiday.
It’s a romantic story and one that attributes much of its success to romance. In the next 18 months, Osteria will host more then 250 weddings, bringing 19,000 guests to the Tweed Coast. The business now employs 135 staff, with 45 of them full-time, and 13 apprentices developing trade skills.
The success of Osteria has enabled Mark, Lia and Lee to open three other venues in the area in the past two years – Taverna in Kingscliff inspired by holidays in Greece, Ancora their function centre on Tweed River which will soon also be a cafe, and Indian restaurant The Bombay Cricketers Club at Salt in Kingscliff.
Patience and persistence are the foundation of this success story, with things moving very slowly in Osteria’s early days.
“The restaurant was built in the new suburb of Casuarina that probably only had 100 homes in it at the time, but the function centre space held 400 people and the restaurant could serve 150,” Mark says.
The rebuild was gradual: they opened a café with the basics and only opened the restaurant two nights a week.
“We were struggling to survive in such a small marketplace with such a large venue,” Mark says.
It was weddings and events that changed everything. “This allowed us to stabilise our business and continue to invest in it and develop the diverse and successful venues that we have today.”
Despite Osteria’s large-scale success being driven by drawing people from outside the region, Mark, Lia and Lee’s hearts are with their connection to local community.
“This region is a living, breathing, connected thing,” Mark says, adding that organisations like Destination Tweed bring a vital collaborative approach to business in the region.
“If we want a sustainable and successful region then we must co-operate and develop it together in the best way we can.”
Share this story
Read more stories
A walk on the wild side
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fix-Vision-Walks.jpg 1245 933 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Fix-Vision-Walks.jpgVision Walks Eco Tours
Wendy Bithell has built her multi-award-winning eco-tourism business, Vision Walks – Eco Tours, by combining her two areas of expertise: ecology and technology. Her Byron hinterland adventures are as diverse as nature walks with night vision goggles, Indigenous bush tucker tours, and three-day women’s indulgence escapes.
From trauma to business transformation
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Our-Cow.jpg 1620 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Our-Cow.jpgOur Cow
For Casino-based meat providers Our Cow, the last three years have seen remarkable, game-changing growth.
A fighting spirit … and great networks
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Five-Sixty.webp 768 1024 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Five-Sixty.webpFive Sixty Farms
Stranded on the roof of his house with his wife and their eight children, Pepe Fassos watched helplessly as his beloved greenhouses smashed and floated away in a tsunami of floodwater.
spirit of the rainforest
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cape-byron-distellery-002.jpg 960 540 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cape-byron-distellery-002.jpgCape Byron Distillery
Let’s forget the beaches for a moment, as the true lifeblood of the Northern Rivers landscape is surely its rainforests, some of the most botanically…
flying high, with a helicopter view
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/air-tg-ballina-helicpoters-002.jpg 800 531 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/air-tg-ballina-helicpoters-002.jpgAir T&G
Northern Rivers is well known for its breathtaking natural beauty, and imagine if your day at the office involved enjoying these views from the air…
reinventing a special highway town
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/rod-n-reel-woodburn-northern-rivers-002.jpg 1920 1080 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/rod-n-reel-woodburn-northern-rivers-002.jpgRod n Reel Hotel
Woodburn NSW is a charming riverside town with which is about to embark on a transformation. When the Pacific Highway bypass is completed…
making history, creating culture
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SPAR-Staff.jpg 1535 1025 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/SPAR-Staff.jpgSpar Maclean
SPAR Maclean’s claim to fame is a doozy. Indeed, it’s something only one supermarket in the whole of Australia can say: that it is the longest…
carefully crafted business success
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Evans-Head-Cabinetry-001.jpg 2000 1041 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Evans-Head-Cabinetry-001.jpgEvans Head Cabinet Making
“People often say, ‘They don’t build things like they used to’,” says fine furniture and cabinet maker Justin Crisp. “But I can confidently say…”
It was time the level the paying field
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Zepto-image-e1669713021167.jpg 1500 562 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Zepto-image-e1669713021167.jpgZepto
What do you do next after more than a decade building up a Byron Bay skydiving business to become a national success and then stepping back after listing it on the Australian Stock Exchange?
overtures of romance and style
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Osteria-Tweed-Coast.jpg 1000 667 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Osteria-Tweed-Coast.jpgOsteria
Mark Wilson, Lia Mason and Lee Middendorf all met when the three of them were working in hospitality jobs at The Sandbar …
our kitchen rules in the heart of beef country
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/all-the-best-fine-foods-casino-001.jpg 1000 664 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/all-the-best-fine-foods-casino-001.jpgAll The Best Fine Foods
From little things big thing grow, goes the saying, and Casino-based business All The Best Fine Foods is certainly proof that humble….
Step back in time for ‘reel’
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Yamba-Cinema-Debbie-scaled.jpg 2560 1920 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Yamba-Cinema-Debbie-scaled.jpgYamba Cinema
Yamba Cinema is not just a popular venue to see the latest movie in an idyllic Northern Rivers town.
let there be light
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/northern_lights-_ballina_northern_rivers_001.jpg 2000 1333 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/northern_lights-_ballina_northern_rivers_001.jpgNorthern Light
“I eat a pot of honey every day and I’ve been stung more than 70,000 times,” says Jeffrey Gibbs, founder of Northern Light, an organic beeswax…
Dance call for Kyogle
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Ascent-Dance_group-dancers.jpg 1473 828 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Ascent-Dance_group-dancers.jpgAscent Dance
Starting a dance school just five weeks before the onset of a pandemic might have dampened the spirits of some new business owners, but Haylee Holliday took it as a sign that Ascent Dance Studio had to succeed.
Spoiled stays for special pets
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AdobeStock_108062461-scaled.jpg 2560 1600 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AdobeStock_108062461-scaled.jpgSkye Park Pet Resort
In 2014, a long-held aspiration finally came to fruition for Helen and Ian MacGregor when they purchased an existing pet boarding facility in bucolic Clarenza, with the dream of making it their own.
all fired up for global attention
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Aurora-Suspended-Fires_Ballina-in-good-company-image-4.jpg 960 600 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Aurora-Suspended-Fires_Ballina-in-good-company-image-4.jpgAurora Suspended Fires
Aurora Suspended Fires arose from the perfect marriage of Chloe Allan’s creative talents with Neil’s engineering background. But building a successful…
the power of the win-win-win sustainability approach
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ENV-Solutions_James-scaled.jpg 2560 1707 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ENV-Solutions_James-scaled.jpgENV Solutions
In less than seven years environmental consultancy ENV Solutions has grown from a one-man band in Ballina to a multi-award winning business with more than 25 staff across three locations…
when opportunity knocks…
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/horizon-motorhomes-ballina-002.jpeg 1600 1067 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/horizon-motorhomes-ballina-002.jpegHorizon Motorhomes
When a campervan arrived on Clayton Kearney’s used car yard in 1995, and sold in seconds flat, he realised there was a gap in the market…
following her art’s desires
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Bingara_Angela-Parr-scaled.jpg 2560 2198 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Bingara_Angela-Parr-scaled.jpgBingara Gallery
If she wasn’t painting wild animals and birds, artist Angela Parr, 62, would most likely be rescuing them, healing them, or advocating for them…
from generation to generation
https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/brookfarm-byron-006.jpg 850 565 In Good Company | Northern Rivers In Good Company | Northern Rivers https://ingoodcompanynorthernrivers.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/brookfarm-byron-006.jpgBrookfarm
After buying a rundown dairy farm in the Byron hinterland in 1989, it was another ten years before Pam and Martin Brook made their shift to the…