Arc offers a different angle on riverside dining

There’s a new greenhouse-like building on the banks of the Brisbane River and it’s cultivating an exciting addition to the city’s restaurant scene.

ARC Dining at Howard Smith Wharves

There’s a new greenhouse-like building on the banks of the Brisbane River and it’s cultivating an exciting addition to Brisbane’s restaurant scene.

ARC Dining, with its quasi-horticultural architecture, a giant potted fig as its centrepiece and a gabled glass front wall facing the river to capture stunning Story Bridge and city views, is making its presence felt at the quieter New Farm end of the booming Howard Smith Wharves restaurant precinct.

ARC Dining at Howard Smith Wharves has stunning views of the Brisbane River and CBD.

The interior by designer du jour Anna Spiro reflects her signature mix-and-match style, with an array of complementary fabrics upholstering an assortment of chairs pulled up at a variety of tables and a collage of paintings on the back wall.

The kitchen is across a courtyard in a separate building that includes a roomy riverfront bar with its own appealing menu (perhaps vinegar and salt bush pigs’ ears, or hogget ragu followed by lavender and lamb fat caramels).

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At the helm is Alanna Sapwell, most recently head chef at award-winning fish-focused Saint Peter in Sydney but who grew up on the Sunshine Coast and did her apprenticeship under David Rayner at River House before setting off around the globe.

A giant potted fig is the centrepiece at ARC Dining at Howard Smith Wharves.

The menu is like nothing else around town.

There’s a leaning towards seafood prepared with the lightest of touches (although chicken, pork neck and beef get a look in too), house-made charcuterie and stunning desserts.

All of this is backed by a 400-bottle wine list curated by Ian Trinkle, who won the top gong at last year’s Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards when he was at Aria.

The global selection is sprinkled with organic and non-intervention wines, with just two Queenslanders making the cut. And although the by-the-glass list is rife with lesser seen options, it is rather pricey.

Crab pasta is a delicate triumph, with silky pappardelle curling around chunks of crab meat and topped with shaved periwinkle and a scattering of tangy “garden” gremolata.

One starter has the diner tossing together a small mound of lightly barbecued squid, thin slices of preserved lemon, squid ink and saltbush to create a dish that gets its delicate flavour balance just right.

Another similarly attractive combination is wrought from thin strips of goose prosciutto, which have a deep gamey flavour, slices of persimmon so thin they are almost translucent, and macadamia-studded curd ($21).

Food is well timed but the language barrier means our French waiter has difficulty explaining dishes to us and after our first order we’re not offered the wine list again until the meal is over.

The John Dory is firm-fleshed and beautifully cooked with a crisp skin and teams well with lemon-buttered corn studded with slices of crunchy wing beans.

A main course of John Dory ($41) is a seriously small portion for the price (unlike the serving pictured above) but is firm-fleshed and beautifully cooked with a crisp skin and teams well with lemon-buttered corn studded with slices of crunchy wing beans.

Crab pasta ($26/$32) is a delicate triumph, with silky pappardelle curling around chunks of crab meat and topped with shaved periwinkle and a scattering of tangy “garden” gremolata.

House cake ($16) is one of the best desserts I’ve had in a long time.

The House Cake layers of buttermilk cake soaked in lemon syrup, interspersed with white chocolate and lemon mousse and prickly pear curd, with an outside coating of finger lime pearls.

Layers of buttermilk cake soaked in lemon syrup are interspersed with white chocolate and lemon mousse and prickly pear curd, with an outside coating of finger lime pearls that explode with flavour like pop rocks.

The ode to a Snickers, with roasted peanut ice cream, a pool of caramel, crumbs and crunchy ribbons of chocolate ($16), is also terrific.

ARC stands out by treading a different path, its light, innovative food, epic outlook and quirky design as refreshing as a river breeze on yet another broiling Brisbane day.

ARC DINING

Howard Smith Wharves

5 Boundary St, Brisbane City

BOOK: [phone] / arcdining.com.au

OPEN: Mon-Tue 5-10pm, Wed-Sun noon-3pm, 5-10pm

MUST TRY House cake with prickly pear and finger lime sprinkles

VERDICT

Food 8.5

Ambience 9

Service 7

Value 7

OVERALL: 8/10