The pandemic was a time of stark truths.

For Johnny Moubarak, one was the importance of family. Not just for him, but for his restaurant.

Gerard’s Bistro is one of Brisbane’s most celebrated eateries. It became a James Street favourite after opening in 2012, with Ben Williamson in the kitchen. When Williamson left in late 2018 to eventually open Agnes, star Sydney import Adam Wolfers was given licence to nudge Gerard’s food in new, boundary-pushing directions.

Then came the pandemic’s national lockdown.

The restaurant responded by producing one of the best take-out menus in the city. Moubarak responded by going in search of what makes Gerard’s truly tick.

He found it in the years put in by Williamson and then Wolfers, longtime manager Judith Hurley, and countless other chefs and floor staff. But he also found it in his own family and the cooking of his mother, Salwa Moubarak, who migrated from Lebanon to Australia in the early 1970s.

Ever since, Moubarak has been on a quiet mission to bring his restaurant home. During the pandemic, Gerard’s released a book, The Art of Hospitality, that placed Salwa at the heart of its narrative, and shortly after she and Wolfers collaborated on a one-off dinner.

Now, Gerard’s Bistro has reopened after an extensive refurbishment, with new executive chef Jimmy Richardson tasked with pursuing more traditional Middle Eastern flavours. It ran its first services at the beginning of the month.

“Hundred per cent, it’s about bringing it back [to Salwa],” Moubarak says. “It’s about bringing it home without dumbing it down. The culture of the food [in Lebanon and the Middle East] is so strong, and you need to give it the respect it deserves.”

A month into Gerard’s refurbishment, in early August, a casual passer-by might have noticed a Bobcat and pile of earth out back of the restaurant and wondered, “What’s going on in there?”

The answer was a show-stopping redesign by Jared Webb that uses rammed red earth to reference the temples of Baalbek, in eastern Lebanon. Webb previously worked for Richards & Spence and had a hand in several of the celebrated architecture firm’s significant projects, including Sushi Room, SK Steak & Oyster and Same Same. He’s applied that same knack for unique detail here.

The rammed earth has been arranged into a series of freestanding walls that surround the dining room. During the day, natural light strikes between them; at night, they’re illuminated by warm down lights. Their texture varies from top to bottom, like stratified earth. There’s nothing else like it in town.

The ceiling has been split into two vaulted sections that reference a temple skylight. The bar has been brought out from the wall to create an imposing, three-sided dining counter. The furniture on the main floor is heavy, custom-made timber tables and chairs, and swish stainless-steel benches.

“I’ve followed this process for the past four months,” Moubarak says, “and you don’t really get to appreciate it. But this week I had an hour of really appreciating it, and feeling really happy and motivated.”

Working out of a redesigned kitchen, Richardson’s first menu is split into breads and dips, raw and fermented dishes, seafood and meat, larger share plates, and sides. It remains relatively straightforward and woodfire-driven, as has long been Gerard’s approach, but now leans slightly more towards meat proteins.

You might start with barbari bread with reduced whey and oregano, or Turkish simit bread (sesame bread rings).

The raw and fermented section is the lengthiest and includes South Australian calamari with a bazella tartlet and hawaij spice; kibbeh nayyeh arayes with sourdough tuiles and candied Falls Farm beets; wood-smoked mussels with green muhammara; and a blackened eggplant baba ganoush with parsley oil.

The seafood and meat plates are larger and feature a Walker Seafoods swordfish mujadara with woodfired lentils and tahini butter, and Margra lamb collar with fassolia (a Levantine soup) and saltbush borani. Larger again are share plates of whole butterflied coral trout, galayet bandoura (tomatoes, onions, hot peppers, olive oil and salt); Westholme Wagyu cube roll with brown butter, baharat and nigella seed; and a Bangalow pork tomahawk with garlic chive dagga (a type of salsa) and green coriander.

For drinks, Hurley has expanded the wine list to close to 230 bottles. It bucks the tradition of organising varietals by palate weight, instead prioritising wines that best match Richardson’s food. There’s also more of a focus on Mediterranean drops.

“Everything we do is about being sustainable and moving in a more conscious direction,” Hurley says. “The world’s changing and the varietals that used to be grown in certain areas are becoming unsustainable. So a lot of producers are moving towards growing varietals that are better suited for that particular region.”

It all amounts to a significant evolution for Gerard’s, but then this is a restaurant that has made a habit out of embracing change.

“Running a restaurant is so different now to 10 or 11 years ago when we opened,” Moubarak says. “Food and beverage will always be the same, to some extent. It has that same craft of tradition, hosting people and being warm.

“But the diner is much more adventurous and knowledgeable. People are very progressive now, which is something that we’re blessed with in this country and this city.

“We have to continually get better, and the redesign is part of that. But the soul of hospitality will never change.”

Open Mon-Thu 5.30pm-late; Fri-Sat 12pm-3pm, 5.30pm-late.

14 /15 James Street, Fortitude Valley, (07) 3852 3822.

gerards.com.au