‘Best food I’ve eaten this year’: Two top Brisbane chefs team up to open new restaurant

Two of Brisbane’s best chefs have joined forces to open a new venture where the food wows.

Given its proximity to the Hillsong Theatre in Brisbane’s CBD, it’s not impossible to imagine that this is a stairway to heaven.

At the very least, the rustic flight of stairs between the evangelical church venue and the Criterion Hotel in George St leads diners to a gastronomic playground dishing up some of the best food I’ve eaten this year.

The dining room has a slightly bare, temporary vibe, although with its honey-coloured floorboards, sections of exposed brick, large attractive, heritage-listed windows at either end – the one at the back unexpectedly filled with green from a hardy tree flourishing in the concrete jungle – it has been prettied up into a low-key cosiness, with shelves and tables adorned with pottery vases with flowers, a table of objects and paintings.

Pneuma at 336 George St, Brisbane City. Picture: David Kelly

There’s nothing understated about the food though.

From first bite of a small, delicately thin and crisp malt pastry tart shell filled with Bay of Fires cheddar custard and topped by thin crisp sails of dried Jerusalem artichoke ($12), it’s obvious there’s serious expertise in the kitchen.

An echidna-like ball of smoked eel cream encasing a centre of black apple and prune and planted with a crop of crispy potato spikes ($12) is unusual and delicious all at once, while a bowl of boquerones (pickled white Spanish anchovies) with a punchy nudja and piquillo pepper emulsion and Pedro Ximenez vinegar brings a rowdier game to the palate.

We’re advised to order a wedge of house-made rosemary sourdough ($5), and our waitress is right, it would have been a crime to miss it.

Pneuma’s heirloom beetroot, aged vinegar, garlic and almond cream, walnut. Picture: David Kelly

Pneuma, open only a couple of weeks, is a collaboration between Dan Arnold, whose virtuoso skills were honed over years working in Michelin star restaurants in France, and are now on display at his eponymous establishment in the Valley, and Matt Blackwell, former head chef at GOMA Restaurant, with a CV including stints at restaurants in his home country, the UK, as well as NZ and southern states.

The name, an ancient Greek word for breath is also the title of a song by American rock band Tool, a shared interest of the duo.

Blackwell is in the kitchen at all times, with Arnold, who as well as running his own restaurant is also co-owner of La Cache a Vin in Spring Hill, moving between venues.

Short ($85) and extended ($115) chef’s menus are available but we trawl the a la carte version that begins with oysters, moves on to three snacks, three dishes that could work as entrees, three mains and two sides. Choosing snacks, we miss inventive entrees such as corned ox tongue and a heritage beetroot number and move straight to the mains.

Roasted monkfish tail with smoked onion and mussel beurre blanc and garlic chives, topped with a riot of crisp, golden potato strands ($40), is an absolutely terrific dish with its careful balance of texture and flavours, a similar strategy successfully playing out with tender Wagyu beef cheek pepped up with caramelised onion, green peppercorns and bone marrow ($41). A side of crisp, skin-on salt and vinegar baby potatoes with wild honey and preserved truffle ($15) makes you wonder why you would ever want to eat spuds any other way.

Pneuma’s dark chocolate, preserved black cherry, roasted vanilla cream and caramelised cocoa nib. Picture: David Kelly

Desserts are special with lovely roasted white chocolate, honey and mascarpone ice cream scattered with freeze-dried sour raspberries that add crunch and balance the sweetness. Mango and sake lees ice cream with frozen coconut meringue, mandarin and Uji matcha green tea ($17) is also a winner and the dark chocolate, preserved black cherry and roasted vanilla cream option ($18) demands a return visit.

The drinks list includes a relatively broad array of wines, many of them French, finishing with a higher-end collection dubbed Chocolate Chip Trip (another Tool song).

While Pneuma doesn’t have the cosseting plushness of a big-money fit-out, it has a certain charm and is a cosy launch pad for a culinary journey that feels like it’s just beginning.

Pneuma’s appellation oysters with bonito, yuzu, parsley. Picture: David Kelly

PNEUMA

336 George St

Brisbane City

pneumarestaurant. com.au

Open

Mon-Fri lunch from noon, Thur-Fri dinner from 5.30pm

Must try
Roast monkfish tail

Verdict

Food4.5 stars

Service 3.5 stars

Ambience 3.5 stars

Value 4 stars
OVERALL

4/5 stars

delicious.com.au/eatout