Celebrity chef Guy Grossi to open Brisbane CBD restaurant

He’s a star chef on TV with a plethora of cookbooks and restaurants to his name, now the Melburnian is heading north to launch his first Queensland restaurant.

Cookbook author and TV chef Guy Grossi is joining the growing legion of interstate culinary stars coming to Queensland, with the restaurateur set to open his own eatery in Brisbane later this year.

Grossi, behind six food establishments across Australia, including Melbourne institution Florentino, will launch Italian restaurant Settimo – meaning “seventh” – in the Brisbane CBD.

Positioned within The Westin hotel on Mary St, the venue will be inspired by the Amalfi Coast, with a strong focus on seafood, pasta and top-notch Queensland produce.

“I’m really excited about joining the Brisbane food scene,” Grossi said.

“It has just developed so much and at a rapid rate, you just can’t help but want to be part of that.”

Chef Guy Grossi at The Westin Brisbane, where he will open Settimo. Picture: Richard Walker

While Settimo will be the hotel’s signature restaurant, and a second eatery for Grossi with The Westin brand alongside Garum in Perth, it will also be a stand-alone venue.

It will feature its own kitchen garden entry from the street, blooming with rosemary and olive and lemon trees, providing diners the scent of Italy before they even walk in the door.

Grossi said he saw great potential in the site, which was currently operating as Eden’s Table, as it would allow him to tap into the terrific range of Queensland seafood, which he already used in his Melbourne restaurants.

The current Eden's Table restaurant at The Westin Brisbane, which will be completely rebuilt into Settimo.

“The coastal fishers and all of that along the Queensland coast is not that far removed the Amalfi Coast – it’s a similar type of thing, so I think it matches really well to the produce we’ll be able to source up here,” he said.

Diners can expect the likes of swordfish, tuna or coral trout cooked simply with lots of olive oil and lemon juice or an Italian fish sauce made from anchovies; his signature octopus with potatoes, a strong range of pasta, including gnocchi sorrentina featuring gnocchi in a tomato sauce with buffalo mozzarella melted over the top, a steak section with Queensland beef, and a beautiful array of vegetable dishes that can work as sides or stand on their own as entrees and mains, perhaps like an eggplant parmigiana given a lighter twist.

The drinks list will also celebrate both Queensland and Italy, with a few Sunshine State wines mixed with vino from the south of Italy and Italian styles of wine from across Australia.

Cocktails and aperitivo will dominate too, with the likes of a limoncello spritz, plus grappa and amari to finish the night.

Settimo is pushing for a mid-November opening.