The 250 tickets available for the event sold out in just 72 hours, which certainly shows the popularity of the yearly luncheon.

CEO and co-founder of Hemingway’s Brewery, Tony Fyfe, said that the idea for the new format was to have it run by locals so that any money that is generated flows back into the community.

“I got together with Rhys from Salsa and we said let’s put a group of local restaurants together that might be interested in participating in the Longest Lunch and in giving something back to the community,” Mr Fyfe said.

“The local restaurants involved in delivering the menu on the day were Kai restaurant, La Cucina, Zinc, Salsa and Dining with April. The drinks were provided by Hemingway’s Brewery and Devils Thumb Distillery

“The Longest Lunch used to be held at the marina and over the years the locations have changed so we wanted to bring it back to the original spot at the marina. We arranged a large marquee which we also utilised for a new event called the Gin Fest on Saturday.”

Money raised

Mr Fyfe said that they wanted to raise money during the event and donate this to a local community organisation. “We identified the Mossman Hospital as they required six patient monitors at $10,000 each, used to measure, record, and display various patient parameters.

“We were hoping to raise around $30,000 on the day but above all expectations we secured funds in excess of $55,000. The money was raised with a big raffle and an auction emceed by Darryn Lyons.

“In addition to the raffle and the auction we received cash donations from Bidfood, Salsa, Port Produce, Bolt Burchill Tranter, Hemingways, Port Hospitality, HR Dynamics, Sidcor, Newsport, Choo Choos, Century 21, Raine & Horne, Ray White, Carnivore, Simon George, Tropic Now and Marano’s fuel.

“It was a spectacular day with lots of positive feedback from locals and visitors. I am very proud of what we have achieved.”