Kitchen Confidential: Brisbane dining news and gossip
The quirky culinary lineup at this new Brisbane restaurant promises a dining experience unlike anything the city has seen before.
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BEETROOT pastrami, octopus with camel nduja, and fried goat’s cheese pretzels with lamb bacon are just some of the exotic dishes set to get mouths watering at Fortitude Valley’s new Za Za Ta when it opens at the end of the week.
The Mideast-inspired restaurant, at the Ovolo Hotel on Ann St, promises to deliver a dining experience unlike anything Brisbane has seen before with its quirky culinary lineup.
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“We’re taking a bit of Asian techniques, Japanese and French techniques and blending that with Middle Eastern flavours, and then taking humble Middle Eastern techniques and applying that to different dishes, so it’s a bit of everything,” says executive chef Roy Ner.
“There is a lot of things we’re doing for this that haven’t been done before.”
The menu will be broken into raw and cured, nibbles, pickles and snacks, small plates, larger plates, vegies and dessert, with 40 per cent of the offerings vegetarian, including specially grown baby cauliflower that are marinated in spices, roasted in a wood-fired oven and served as a shawarma.
Ner has been developing the menu with head chef Darlo Manca (ex-Motorwagen, Brisbane) with the pair creating interesting dishes such as chickpea French fries and a mushroom dish using abalone mushrooms, which weigh about 400g each.
The fit-out also promises something special, says Ner with six different spaces ranging from a chef’s table experience, to a lounge area for enjoying casual drinks and share plates.
“With all the spaces you can come and eat and get a different vibe every single time,” Ner says.
“It’s soulful, dynamic, Middle Eastern food in a humble, homely dining room.”
Drinks are also a huge focus of the offering, with Middle Eastern wines, and an exciting cocktail line-up that employs the help of the kitchen team in making infusions, ferments and syrups to create blends with a difference.
Think the Vegan Kumquat Fizz with orange blossom gin, cumquat liqueur, lemon, lime, sachlav, aquafaba, soda and dehydrated cumquats; or the Cafe Babylon with date syrup, Turkish coffee, carob-infused vodka, all spice bitters, coffee liqueur and cardamom.
GOOD TIMES COMING
RENOWNED chef Braden White has returned from Bali to launch the Gold Coast’s new $8 million dining precinct at the base of the five-star Avani apartment tower at Broadbeach.
The 1900sq m precinct from Ben Walsh’s The Good Time Group includes a sister venue to his hugely popular Noosa eatery Miss Moneypenny’s, as well as a new American-style sports bar, Fat Freddy’s Beach Bar & Diner, and new private dining space, The Rimini Room.
White (ex-The Apo, Stokehouse Q and Ricky’s River Bar) has been in Indonesia for the past few years working as group executive chef for 8 Degree Projects, looking after venues such as Sisterfields, BO$$ Man and Bikini.
“I am ready and super stoked to be back in Australia,” says White, who will act as group executive chef.
“When Ben approached me about the project, I knew straight away that it was going to be an awesome opportunity and one I couldn’t turn down.”
The three eateries have been brought to life by Sydney hospitality company, Paul Kelly Design, with Fat Freddy’s featuring indoor and outdoor seating for 165, a luxury gaming lounge and a cheeky “wall of infamy”, that’s said to set the tone for the mischief to come. The venue will be focused on live sport, with multiple TVs, as well as rock and electro, playing hits from the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.
As for the food, expect American diner classics reinvented with a modern twist, alongside a strong booze focus driven by American whisky and bourbon and beers.
Freddy’s is due to open mid-August, with Miss Moneypenny’s and The Rimini Room to follow in September. Stay tuned for more details closer to launch on those.
A BREWED AWAKENING
BRISBANE coffee institution Jamie’s Espresso Bar will once again be providing caffeine hits to the city’s brew lovers when it reopens on August 7 in a new location.
The icon of James St in Fortitude Valley closed its doors in April after more than 20 years, following the end of its lease.
But after a three-month break to be home with his young family, owner Jamie Bellas has moved just across the road from his old digs, in the retail precinct encompassing bar and eatery Sixes & Sevens.
The reincarnation of the original coffee shop includes furniture made using timber from the old store and will have a vibe that’s distinctly “Jamie’s”.
“It feels like Jamie’s,” says Bellas.
“There’ll be lots of areas for people to sit and be by themselves if they want, but the design also encourages connections between people.”
In keeping with tradition, Seven Miles coffee will again be on pour, while a new simple breakfast and lunch menu will be in play, including freshly made salads at affordable prices and the cafe’s signature avo toast.
“I’ve been enjoying some family time but it will be nice to reacquaint with all my old customers and meet some new ones too,” Bellas says.
SKY’S THE LIMIT
The eagerly awaited new rooftop bar at Fortitude Valley’s swanky FV development is primed to open its doors this Friday.
Set on level six of the third tower on Brunswick St, Altitude at Foresters features views over the Valley to the Story Bridge, with a retractable roof, plus custom-made, cabana-style seating with table service to give the full VIP experience.
Described by developer Tim Gurner as Brisbane’s answer to Sydney’s hugely popular Ivy, the 250sq m space will hold up to 200 people, targeted at the over-25 demographic.
Beer and cocktails will be the main focus at the bar, with a combination of craft-style and mainstream brews on tap and by the bottle, including XXXX, Stone & Wood, Pirate Life and Furphy.
While the cocktail offering includes mostly classics and twists on classics, such as a bushfire negroni using North Queensland’s Mt Uncle Bushfire Smoked Gin, or a dragonfruit daiquiri.
A small share-style menu will also be in play from executive chef Peter Popow, including cheese and meat platters, wallaby carpaccio, chicken stuffing croquettes, beetroot arancini and stone-baked pizza.
“It’s trying to get people who want to sit here for two or three hours and really experience it. It’s not a quick drink and leave (place), it’s a destination venue,” says Gurner.
SWEET VICTORY
Big congratulations to Toowoomba’s Metiisto Artisan Chocolate, which took out three medals at the prestigious Academy of Chocolate Awards in London last week.
Competing against 1600 chocolate factories from across the world, the family-run business scored a gold medal for its Tenauru 67 per cent dark chocolate, a silver for its 58 per cent Tenaru milk, and bronze gongs for both its Black Post Dark Milk and Patovaki 72 per cent.
Even more exciting was that the tiny Queensland operation, which uses cocoa from the Solomon Islands, took out the Rising Star Award.
“Beating many of Europe’s and the world’s best chocolate factories is very satisfying,” said owner Trevor Smith.
Metiisto is available online and from selected retailers and restaurants.
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