Kitchen Confidential: Surf’s up at new South Bank eatery

AUSSIE barbecue fare and laid-back vibes will be on offer at South Bank’s newest eatery Southbeach Social.

Venue manager Rob Ives at the new South Beach Social Restaurant.

SOUTH Bank’s South Bank Surf Club has called it a day, packed up its boardies and mothballed the Sex Wax to make way for Southbeach Social, a new ’70s beach shack inspired venture by the same owner, Bevan Bickle.

Bickle, who also has the nearby Southbank Beer Garden, says he wants Southbeach Social to have the same laid-back atmosphere as its beery sibling but instead of a meat-heavy menu, Southbeach will take the freewheeling Aussie beach barbecue as its starting point, with share-plates front and centre.

“Come in and share a chook or a slow-cooked shoulder of lamb, or maybe a bucket of prawns,” says Bickle. “Anything you might enjoy at an Aussie barbecue — that’s what this menu is all about.”

He’s transplanted former Melbourne-based chef Aaran Wyeth (The Cherry Tree Hotel, Richmond) to head up the kitchen at Southbeach. Rob Ives is venue manager and Michael Fallon has taken the reins as general manager.

A revamped function room located upstairs is almost a third larger than pre-renovation, extending out to provide more shelter for the downstairs alfresco dining space.

“It’s now a fully enclosed air-conditioned space with state-of-the-art audio visual for celebrations and presentations,” says Bickle.

The upstairs space will be geared to cater for sit-down parties of 80, and for stand-up functions of 120. The lower section seats about 250.

Interiors, like the menu, are holiday beach shack-inspired, featuring pastel tones, the whole set-up designed to create a relaxed casual atmosphere suited to a venue overlooking the Parklands and Streets Beach.

STOKED FOR FISH AND CHIPS

Staying at South Bank, the precinct is also set to reel in a tasty new fish and chippery, just in time for summer. The project is the latest foray by the Van Haandel Group, owners of River Quay’s Stokehouse Q.

Paper Fish will be a sibling to the group’s existing St Kilda kiosk of the same name in Melbourne, and the new 80-90-seater will occupy the former home of Corcorz Hair, overlooking South Bank Parklands.

The venue will be fast-casual, with orders placed at the counter, and takeaways available, with the bulk of the seating al fresco in style.

It’s billed as a modern version of the quintessential Aussie fish and chipper, updated with ethical sourcing and a keen eye to being environmentally friendly. The plan is to use just local fish, with the whole catch coming from Queensland and nothing frozen on the menu apart from prawns.

Paper Fish, St Kilda operates as a six month regular pop-up affair but the Brisbane site will run year-round. The group’s existing partnership with Currumbin’s Balter Brewing stays in play, with beers on pour from the Gold Coast brewery, as well as a tight line-up of wines by-the-glass and bottle. The venture is expected to fire up late November.

The bar at Lock 'n Load bistro at West End — which is set for a makeover and rebranding.

LOCKED & LOADED FOR CHANGE

West End’s Lock n Load Bistro is taking more of a leafier turn and is set to emerge next month, revamped and rebranded, as Covent Garden — a venue designed to showcase Australian craft spirits.

The drinks list will focus on local gins in particular, in tandem with a bistro-style menu featuring native botanicals.

Co-owner Lachlan Bird, who also has Woolly Mammoth, Fortitude Valley together with fellow partners Sue, Duncan and Andrea Bird, says the transformation of Lock n Load was prompted by the changing demographic in the inner-city suburb.

WINE TIME FOR VALLEY

The Valley Wine Bar, a fresh new venture on Alfred St located at the base of the FV development has quietly started pouring.

The space is the first Queensland outing for a Melbourne-based group (a project by Renton Carlyle-Taylor, Mark Hopkinson and Lyndon Kubis) which has several wine-centric venues in the Victorian capital including Toorak Cellars, The Moon, The Alps and Milton Wine Shop.

At The Valley Wine Bar a globetrotting line-up of intriguing mainly low-intervention wines is bolstered by a cool selection of tinned beers. Snacks range from the likes of vitello tonnato, meatballs and pickled octopus to light bites like smoked almonds and olives. Lawrence Scanlon, a Toowoomba local formerly in charge of The Alps, Prahran, has relocated to take charge of The Valley.

FAMILY AFFAIR AT FRANCIE’S

Coolangatta is close to scoring a new 40-seat wood-fired neo-Neapolitan pizzeria called Francie’s which, in addition to a range of staple and seasonal pizze, will also offer a separate dedicated vegan menu featuring five starters, five vegan pizze and salads.

The owners are Tony Pattinson and Claudia Oswin, with Riley Fergus sharing the kitchen with Pattinson.

Pattinson, a former owner of Restaurant Red at Deloraine, Tasmania says everything on the menu, from pizze and house-baked ciabatta to slow-roast porchetta and seasonal veg, will emerge from their imported Stefano Ferrara oven.

“Francie was my grandmother and she had a big influence on my cooking,” says Pattinson. “I used her name because I wanted to invoke the idea of a place that felt comfortable, wholesome, natural and honest.”

New Zealand expat Pattinson’s family own Whistling Buoy vineyard at Lyttleton and a selection of their wines will feature, alongside house wines developed for Francie’s with a Brisbane importer. They aim to open next Wednesday.

Shipments of Newstead Brewing’s beer malt are now being trucked to the Darling Downs as a supplementary feed for a selection of Eggcettera’s angus and wagyu steers. Picture: Mark Cranitch

BEER CRAFTS NEW BREED OF BEEF

You know craft beer has become a bona fide craze when even beef steers are getting on the trend.

A clever collaboration between Allora’s eco-friendly Eggcettera farm and award-winning butchery Billy’s Meats of inner west Ashgrove and Rosalie, has found a tasty use for spent grain after the beer making process.

Shipments of Newstead Brewing’s beer malt are now being trucked to the Darling Downs as a supplementary feed for a selection of Eggcettera’s angus and wagyu steers. The result is Beer Malt Beef, a range of “subtle beer malt infusion” cuts that are dry-aged at Billy’s and sold exclusively as OP ribs, sirloin and rump.

Greenhouse Canteen & Bar, Miami.

“Billy (Gibney) has a unique relationship with Tim (Somes) of Eggcettera,” says Emma Daley of Billy’s Meats.

“He works directly together with the farmer to experiment and improve on these products using both his knowledge and customer’s feedback.”

VEGAN EATERY FINDS NEW ROOTS

Gold Coast plant-based eatery, Greenhouse Canteen & Bar, Miami is about to sprout a sister venture at Coolangatta. The vegan venue will sit between Hog’s Breath Café and Noodle Box on Griffith St.

“We’ve ripped the roof off and created a greenhouse feel at the back but basically it will be a replica of what we’re doing at Miami,” says operator Charlie Evans, who’s already thinking of expanding to Brisbane.

“That’s the next plan when we have Coolangatta up and running we’ll start looking. I really like West End.” Stay tuned.