Rick Shores team, Nick Woodward and James Brady to open Norte and Sueño at Nobby Beach
The team behind Burleigh Heads’ beloved restaurant have announced when they will be opening two highly anticipated new venues. Here’s your first look.
Gold Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Gold Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The team behind Burleigh Heads’ famous Rick Shores restaurant will open two highly anticipated new venues on the southern Gold Coast.
Restaurateur Nick Woodward and chef James Brady are expanding their empire to Nobby Beach’s up-market retail precinct The Oxley and are on track to debut both Norte and Sueño on December 18.
Mr Woodward said the two-storey project had been in the works since before the Covid-19 pandemic and he found himself battling the pressure for it to be as successful as Rick Shores — arguably the most popular restaurant on the Gold Coast.
“We got to a point at Ricks where we had such a strong team and we knew we had the capacity and the following,” he said.
“But we weren’t going to be rushed. We had to wait for the right opportunity so there would be no regrets.
“Norte and Sueño tick all those boxes.
“We wanted it to lean on some of the things that we came across in our travels.”
Mr Brady said he drew a lot of his inspiration for the menu from a month in Mexico City wandering around Mercado Juarez farmers’ market.
“It was such a great opportunity to develop the stocks, the sauces, the pickle blends, the salsas,” he said.
“(They are the) foundation recipes for a restaurant and bar.”
The fit-out will feature natural materials including black slate, brown limestone, woven textiles and waffle ceilings.
“(Customers) will come up this beautiful staircase and then on the left is this big open kitchen with its hearth,” Mr Brady said.
“It will just be this fabulous sensory overload.”
After honing his skills at a stint in a London Michelin-starred Mexican restaurant, Mr Brady is bursting with ideas.
Norte – which will be on the bottom floor of the venue – will revolve around the custom-made hearth, featuring raw dishes, bar snacks and corn-based plates.
These include raw scallop served with mango, bee pollen, chilli and grapefruit; a beef tostada with fermented chilli; and flank steak with native chimichurri and caramelised onion.
In the Sueño restaurant upstairs, Mr Brady will showcase ceviches, skewers and tortillas.
Highlights include baby abalone with fermented habanera, bonito soy and picked red onion; hiramasa kingfish; and Moreton Bay bug tacos with pineapple and a crustacean butter emulsion.
Group beverage director Peter Marchant has compiled a 150-bottle wine collection for Norte and a cocktail menu for Sueño.
“The wine list at Norte is about showing off those varieties, styles and regions that maybe people haven’t seen next to things that they do now, such as malbec and those big South American cabernets,” he said.
“At Sueño there will be lots of wines by the glass, but also lots of mescal and tequila-based cocktails.
“We’re doing a half-tequila half-mescal margarita, which has that really smoky edge to it, and I think we’re doing the best caipirinha I’ve tasted in my life.”
Ormeau man arrested, charged after Dreamworld melee
Investigators continue to probe an alleged mid-afternoon brawl at Dreamworld, with a man aged in his twenties charged early Tuesday morning.
‘It’s complicated’: Star CEO seeks more time to avoid administration
Hong Kong companies, lenders and a Federal Government agency hold all the aces as the future of embattled Star Entertainment Group – and its 9000 staff – remains dicey. Read what is at stake