Belinda Tuckwell - Head Chef

Head Chef of Hastings Street’s favourite Italian restaurant Ma’Mensa, Belinda came from Sydney to Noosa seven years ago.  After a stint at Gary Skelton’s “Season” Restaurant, Belinda opened the successful seafood restaurant, “Squid Ink” at Sunshine Beach. Five years later Belinda decided it was time for a break and fled to Sri Lanka on an elephant safari. 

Coming back to the beautiful Sunshine Coast, Belinda worked for a while with one of her best friends, Glen Bowman, the owner/head chef of Sunshine Beach’s “Alegria”.  Now ensconced as Ma’Mensa’s new Head Chef, Belinda is facing new challenges.  Her passion in all things Italian has culminated in a menu that relies heavily on the traditional roots of Italian cooking combined with her own modern twist.  Ma’Mensa’s menu features home made pasta, suckling pigs and saltimbocca as well as more contemporary dishes such as crumbed fontina, prosciutto and white balsamic, risoni with roast mushrooms, truffle and provolone.

As a teenager, after spending hours on a rainy weekend playing with squid and cooking them, Belinda knew that the only career for her would be in the hospitality industry as a chef.

A great fun loving sense of humour and the ultimate passion for food and cooking, Belinda’s only other interest is travel.  Which, she is the first to point out, is really just another way of trying a different plate of food.