22/09/2025
“Mum, there’s a lady who said she looked after me when I was a baby.”
That’s what Chris told us last weekend.
It was 1pm. Six tables full, six empty.
Just the three of us working —
Mum holding the pass, Dad salting the grill, Chris on the floor.
Our family business.
Busy.
“I had two seafood platters on the go — mid-burn on a grill full of prawns,” Andrew laughs.
Lemon juice and olive oil spitting.
Flame licking just long enough to taste.
Bay Lane warming, unwinding.
And at one of those tables sat a retired community nurse —
who cared for Byron families for decades.
Now watching Chris pour her Assyrtiko,
the boy she once held as a baby.
Chris glanced at Mum.
Mum’s eyes softened.
Dad checked the char on the prawns.
That’s the kind of moment you only get in a 28-year family restaurant.
Where our very first customers —
who don’t get out at night much anymore —
are coming back.
For lunch.
And being served by the taekwondo champ
who stopped our lunches at age nine.
Who now sneak-reads Churchill on his break,
studying for his HSC.
Moments like this remind us what The Cyprus Tree really is:
A family table.
Where the memories of a town fold back on themselves,
like lemon squeezed over charred Ballina prawns.
We thought we were reopening lunches for the community.
But what we’ve discovered is that the community is reopening for us.
With haloumi hissing on the grill,
Mythos chilling in the ice bucket,
and Bay Lane stirring again —
Thank you.
We are over the moon.
And looking forward to seeing you all again.
📍 The Cyprus Tree, Byron Bay
🌞 Long weekend lunches are back
PS: We’re looking for more hands — chef, waiter, kitchen hand.
If you’re keen to learn the secrets, please message us on WhatsApp.
