it was that time of the year again, when we relocate to noosa for a long weekend to attend the spectacular noosa good food & wine festival. as usual i had the task of choosing one ‘special’ restaurant for dinner. i had kept my eye on a few noosa restaurants throughout the year and been watching the development of a newly opened italian restaurant, locale, which was conveniently attached to our apartment block. locale did not disappoint and proved once again to my family that i make great dining decisions. on the friday of the festival i worked with a few of my favourite chefs at an event. both alastair mcleod and philip johnson told me how delicious their meals were at locale the night before which got me really excited for our visit the following night. we made our way downstairs to the restaurant and i was surprised by the dimness of the room owing to the dark brown walls and soft lighting. happily i discovered that the table we were allocated had excellent light in which to take a quick photograph of the dishes. we decided we would share two entrees, have a main each and share a dessert. we started with the roasted barnyard quail, soft polenta, fontina, vermouth infused grapes, upland cress ($25). it was so moreish and i wished i had have had the whole entree to myself. the quail was perfectly cooked and the polenta was delicate, soft and smooth. the grapes added an extra dimension of sweetness to the dish, although i wished there were more. the other entrée was the beef carpaccio, reggiano, lemon, celery, white truffle infused oil ($23). i loved how simple the dish was, letting the beef quality and fresh ingredients speak for themselves. mum and i both agreed that a touch more seasoning would have lifted it to a higher level. i had weighed up a few dishes for my main but finally decided on the porchetta: high country slow roasted pork belly, roasted butternut puree, hazelnut, caramelised baby onion, celery, cress and apple salad ($36). the pork was impeccably co