‘Pull up a pew’: This new restaurant in a church is worth a visit
With its character touches, ecclesiastical surrounds and a menu as quirky as the inner-Brisbane suburb it calls home, this new restaurant feels like it has always been there.
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It’s a dark and stormy night, lightning forks, the sky is rumbling, a light spray of rain is falling. Will we make it to the church on time?
Yes, despite the meteorological drama, we do, and I briefly pull up an actual pew in the entrance while we wait for a busy staff member to take us to our table.
We are at August, an 1888-built former Methodist church building-turned-restaurant in Dornoch Tce, West End, and the wait staff are flat out as the newly opened establishment is playing to pretty much a full house of 60 seats.
It’s a quirky newcomer from Brad Cooper, former head chef at West End’s Bar Francine and Camp Hill’s Florence, and his partner Matilda Riek, who worked front of house at the same restaurants.
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Much of the conversion of the space with its polished wooden floors, new bar near the entry and kitchen at the back, has been done by the couple and family members. Stained glass windows and large, high, panels of glass above the entry offer a heavenly view with the added bonus of a lightning show the night we are there.
Tables are double-clothed adding a sense of occasion to the casually elegant surrounds, with a 1970s-80s soundtrack, including the likes of Rodriguez, helping mask the noise of the storm and adding to the relaxed feel.
The clipped drinks list starts with aperitifs including pastis and soda, a couple of spritzes and classic cocktails such as a negroni, martini and an old-fashioned, three beers from XXXX Gold to Birra Moretti and Wildflower pale ale from NSW. A little more than a page of lesser-seen Australian, French and Italian wines includes a couple of chilled red and orange wines in the mix.
Baguette from Sprout bakery in James St with cultured butter starts the menu that is unlike anything else you’ll find around the place. We begin with an ox tongue and green tomato fritter ($10) with the bold tomatoey sauce bois Boudran adding a bright, muscular contrast. Pickled fennel fritti ($16) brings similar vibes to the visually appealing onion dish Cooper served up at Bar Francine, with the vegetable cut into cross-sections and fried until crispy, the lot planted in a small mound of garlicky skordalia that’s perfect for dipping.
The menu then moves into smaller plates that include witlof tarte fine, beef Neapolitan, confit ocean trout with kipfler potatoes and caviar sauce and our choice of mud crab omelette Arnold Bennett ($55).
The open omelette was created by a chef at London’s Savoy Hotel for Bennett, a prolific novelist, who wrote a 1930-published book while living in-house. There’s no discernible omelette in this version which we’re told is “lasagne like” with a scrambled egg base, which isn’t obvious either, but the rather textureless, saucy, crab-studded, cheesy concoction does taste good.
Larger plates include foie gras stuffed chicken crown, Barnsley lamb chop and caponata, and grilled alfonsino (red bream), with the firm white flesh cooked just right and topped with a scatter of vongole and on a bed of butter beans in saffron butter ($70).
Blue cheese cheesecake with Pedro Ximenez jelly sounds like an interesting conclusion, as does a slice of caramelised brioche with golden syrup and lemon cream, or a ricciarelli, a chewy Italian almond cookie ($5). But we share a slab of rum and raisin parfait topped with drizzles of chocolate ($18) that’s a pleasingly different offering, although I would have a loved a few more raisins.
August is a restaurant with character, its heritage-listed, ecclesiastical surrounds are individualistic, the menu marches to the beat of its own drum and the staff, despite being very busy, are relaxed and knowledgeable, and you can imagine it slotting into the fabric of West End like it’s always been there.
August West End
19 Dornoch Tce, West End
augustwestend.com
Open
Wed-Sat from 5pm,
Sun noon-5pm
Must try
Pickled fennel fritti
Verdict
Food
Service
Ambience
Value
Overall
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