Largest Westfield shopping centre dining precinct to open at Chermside

YESTERDAY it was a construction site littered with tradies and tools, but the largest shopping centre dining precinct in Australia for Westfield is on track to open today. TAKE A VIDEO TOUR

Wendy Bristow, 20, Ridgeway Group Executive Chef Dustin Sanderson and Alina Krauksts, 21, at Bin 931 in the new food precinct at Westfield Chermside's $355 million renovation.

YESTERDAY it was a construction site littered with tradies and tools, but the largest shopping centre dining precinct in Australia for retail giant Westfield is on track to open today in Brisbane’s Chermside.

Hundreds of workers were frantically putting the finishing touches yesterday on the two-storey, indoor-outdoor area as part of Westfield Chermside’s $355 million renovation.

The new site is home to about 30 restaurants and food outlets, bringing the centre’s dining offering to more than 50.

“I think that our customers are going to be absolutely blown away with what we deliver,” said centre manager Garth Haslam.

Mr Haslam described the precinct as “Hamptons meets Queensland” with white buildings, timber detailing, pools, gardens and artificial turfed areas for relaxation.

“This allows us to really be everything to everyone,” Mr Haslam said.

“We truly are going to be a premiere destination, not just a shopping destination, but we’re aiming and our aspiration is to become the premiere destination for Brisbane.”

Working to make that happen are a string of eateries opening in Brisbane for the first time including Betty’s Burgers, Singaporean fast food chain 4Fingers Crispy Chicken, craft beer offering Tapworks Bar & Grill and Spanish tapas joint Hermosa.

The Gold Coast’s Ridgeway Group, which has a string of popular restaurants on the Gold Coast including at Pacific Fair Shopping Centre, will also be a part of the centre with the modern Australian Bin 931.

“Going into this precinct is very exciting for us because it’s our first venue in Brisbane,” Ridgeway Group head of operations Christian Mak said.

“Wesfield is always a great alliance to have and with a shopping centre environment the volume of traffic coming through is always fantastic.”

Up to 23 food outlets are scheduled to launch today, with a string of opening offers across four days, while other big-name eateries are set to roll out in the coming weeks and months including Italian Cibo Cibo, Chinese yum cha destination Landmark, Bavarian Bier Cafe and US-barbecue-fuelled eatery Bootlegger.