Pat Gennari to open new Maggie Choo bar and restaurant in Broadbeach

A new restaurant promising “fun” has taken over the space recently vacated by a popular eatery in Broadbeach. READ THE FULL REPORT

Broadbeach hospitality king, Pat Gennari, of Koi, Loose Moose and Roosevelt Lounge, opens new Asian fusion restaurant Maggie Choos on Wednesday. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

The hospitality king of Broadbeach is spicing up the dining precinct by turning recently vacated Rivea Italian restaurant into a “fun” Asian fusion venue.

Pat Gennari, who has Broadbeach’s Koi and The Loose Moose bar-restaurants plus Roosevelt Lounge bar, opens new bar-restaurant Maggie Choo on Wednesday on Surf Parade.

It has been a quick turnaround for the site next to Koi, after taking the lease vacated by chef Daniel Ridgeway’s Rivea last month.

Broadbeach hospitality king, Pat Gennari, of Koi, Loose Moose and Roosevelt Lounge, opens new Asian fusion restaurant Maggie Choos on Wednesday. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

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“It will complete the street more,” Mr Gennari said. “When we reopened Koi (after COVID-19 shutdowns) but Rivea did not it made the street look pretty quiet and it felt important to me that spot got filled and I would rather be my own competition than someone else.

“This is a cool dining experience, aiming at the 18 to 35-45s. It’s going to be a fun place.

“It’s Asian fusion which I’ve never done before. But everyone who knows the Gennari Group venues knows we’re about quality food, we don’t take short cuts.”

One of the main fitout features is a cherry blossom tree inside: “Don’t even ask me how much that cost.”

Pat Gennari says Maggie Choo will provide a “fun” dining experience. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

General manager Steven De Maio said it was all about share plates and zesty flavours overseen by Gennari Group head chef Michael Dragosevic: “It’s South East Asian fusion meets Gold Coast casual sophistication so even though it’s a relaxed environment we are still bringing the quality.

“Hopefully we can bring something our competitors don’t have, it’s certainly something Surf Parade doesn’t have.”

Maggie Choo, with capacity for 150 but only able to seat 60 at a time under coronavirus restrictions, opens noon to midnight, Wednesday to Sunday with a live DJ Friday and Saturdays.

Mr Gennari said Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk needed to reopen the border or ease restrictions internally.

“It has a really cool bar but unfortunately no one can stand at it. It needs to change. If she opened it up and let us trade at normal capacity, we wouldn’t need JobKeeper.”