Tranquility near Byron Bay

Having conquered the UK with her fast vegetarian food, this Moroccan-born catering queen has now become a permanent fixture in Byron Bay.

"Before I came to Byron I felt like I was in a a cage. It's been a bit of a fantasy coming to Australia because I can spread out here"

Nadine lives with son Noah in an award-winning house just outside Mullumbimby on the far north coast of New South Wales. Twenty minutes from Byron Bay, it's especially peaceful on weekends, when she usually takes Noah to aikido classes, walks to the lighthouse at Byron, or stops in at cafes and shops. A good slice of her spare time is spent at art galleries and studios. "I love art," she says. "It goes so well with food.

Since buying the property Nadine found many ways to indulge her decorating impulses. There have been beds and bookshelves to build, plus nooks and crannies to fill, yet still the house is "a bit too masculine” for her liking. Importantly though, the place fulfils all of her major criteria. "It's sooo quiet," she admits. "At night, all you can hear are the cows. The view is amazing and I really love spaciousness of this house - it has high ceilings, large rooms and, of course, a good, functional kitchen,"

Though beautiful, Nadine's oiled veneer dining table custom-made by John Madden Furniture, never detracts from the main event, in this case an afternoon tea of rose petal merin and Armagnac tart. Mia chairs from Freedom provide a curvy contrast to the linear beams, while a painting by Byron artist Aesha Kennedy (represented by Barebones Art Space) adds another dimension.

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Extracts from article and photos reprinted with permission from the InsideOut magazine (April 2004 issue)