You must try this bagel - it takes a week to make

This bagel costs $14 but it’s worth every cent when you take a bite, and realise the effort that has gone into making it so delectable.

This is no ordinary bagel.

It’s hefty, rustic-looking, warm from the oven and emanating aromatic savoury notes from its light, evenly crumbed centre.

What had gone before, Moreton Bay bug kibbeh on a walnut biscuit ($8) and a rather splendid tahini-drenched coal-grilled cabbage skewer ($8) – paled before this heavenly halo adorned with leopard spots of char and served with goats curd.

The woodfired bagel dreams are made of at Gerard’s Bistro with buffalo curd and macadamia dukkah

We’re at Gerard’s Bistro in Fortitude Valley and a waiter confirms that the recipe is in the restaurant’s new crowdfunded cookbook ($22), copies of which were resting on the shelves behind the chunky concrete bar.

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But a quick read later reveals why paying $14 for the bagel and curd is cheap compared with the labour involved in DIY.

First you must ferment potato puree for three to four days as well as make a heritage grain starter, which is a process of more than a week.

Worth it though, if I can replicate the semi-sourdough, vegetable-based dough that isn’t boiled like most bagels but rather cooked in a wood-fired oven.

Interior of Gerard's Bistro.

It’s a version Sydney-raised chef Adam Wolfers grew up eating, a product of his Jewish heritage, and a circular argument for avoiding the keto diet at all costs. Wolfers has a particular skill for bread-making and the pides, flatbreads and flaky malawach he produces at other times are also a clarion call to carbs that should not be resisted.

Gerard’s, which opened in 2012 as a modern Middle Eastern haven just off the James Street shopping strip, is freshly back offering a la carte, after a COVID-driven year of daily changing set menus, firstly takeaway and then in-house.

Demand is such that the set menus also continue to be available as an alternative for in-house diners ($70pp the night we visited).

Next up are three enormous wood-roasted tiger prawns ($45) replete with charry notes and a large bowl of smoked whey for dipping.

Cabbage skewers at Gerard's Bistro.

Longreach lamb shawarma ($55), which has more spices in play than any self-respecting souk, is surrounded by a waterhole of deeply flavoured sauce, and is falling-apart tender. A side of coal-roasted cauliflower with labne and mint ($20) is a fine match.

While it’s inventive, the “Golden Gaytime” ($15), a wedge of carrot molasses ice-cream parked over crunchy crumbs, and the kishk cheesecake, which looks like a pimped-up bakery vanilla slice, with warqa (Moroccan brick pastry), strawberry and sumac ($15) can’t quite match the oomph of the savoury courses.

Interior of Gerard's Bistro.

As Gerard’s Bistro gets back to full swing, service is keeping pace and the drinks list remains broad with an excellent, lengthy by-the-glass wine selection that ranges from a glass of Non wine alternative at $12, to a Tim Smith riesling at $13, to $38 for a glass of 2009 Torbreck The Factor shiraz.

The food prices are up there but the dishes are memorable. Just don’t, whatever you do, forget to order the bread.