Top Brisbane restaurant set to shut after chef’s shock departure

One of Brisbane’s most celebrated restaurants will close after the team behind it split unexpectedly.

Chefs Dan Arnold and Matt Blackwell.

One of Brisbane’s most celebrated restaurants will close its doors, after the team behind it split unexpectedly, citing “a divergence in direction”.

Acclaimed chef Matt Blackwell made the “heartbreaking” decision to walk away from his hit CBD eatery Pneuma, owned by fellow top chef Dan Arnold, also behind Fortitude Valley’s Restaurant Dan Arnold and half of Spring Hill’s La Cache A Vin.

Blackwell was the head chef and creative visionary behind the venue, which has been named one of the best restaurants in the country by various food publications since it opened in late 2023.

Chef Matt Blackwell has left Pneuma. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

The restaurant will now close, completing its last service on July 6, before re-emerging as something new.

In a cryptic interview with The Courier-Mail, where Blackwell said “I can’t really say much”, he declared he had to “put what I wanted first”.

“It’s pretty heartbreaking,” he said.

“I’ve put everything into it.”

He said the business had been operating well on a day-to-day basis, but said there were other issues that forced him to call it quits.

“The direction of the business has changed from the initial set up and where I see it going and it’s just the right time for me to make this decision,” the 38-year-old declared.

Chef Dan Arnold. Picture: David Kelly

Blackwell, who previously worked at Brisbane’s GOMA, wasn’t sure what was next for him, but revealed it would be his own restaurant, rather than working for someone else.

Pneuma, at 336 George St, Brisbane City. Picture: David Kelly

He also shared that it might not be in Queensland.

“I’m going to take a few weeks to digest everything once it’s over and then see what happens and figure it out from there,” he said.

“We’ve moved around quite a bit in our lifetime, so we’ll see what opportunities come up.”

Meanwhile, in a statement, Arnold thanked Blackwell for his “time and dedication” and for “breathing life into this project and really making it his own”.

“When we first opened Pneuma in late 2023 as a pop-up we never thought it would become the restaurant it has become today, and I am proud of what we have been able to achieve in those few short years,” Arnold said.

“I want to wish Matt all the very best for his future endeavours.”

Arnold said he intends to keep the tenancy along George St in Brisbane City and “commence its next chapter in the coming future”.

Originally published as Top Brisbane restaurant set to shut after chef’s shock departure