Brisbane’s food scene is hot to trot
It’s not a venue that I would ever associate with sunny Queensland. Maybe something more at home in Melbourne or even Brooklyn.
Looking out over the darkened warehouse rooftops of Fortitude Valley, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in a much cooler locale than the inner city of Brisbane. No offence, as this Melbourne-born, Sydney-based urbanite feels obliged and/or entitled to say, having until this point in her adult life never visited the Queensland capital outside fly-in fly-out visits for work.
I am sitting in the rooftop bar of the much-awarded restaurant Agnes with a close girlfriend I have not seen for at least 12 months, and as we chat my eye cannot help but wander. To the very cool bartender in the corner of the terrace making our cocktails, to the potted olive trees, the old brick floor and the jovial crowd packing out this venue despite it being a cold night.
When our table is ready, a waiter takes us downstairs into the dimly-lit, moody restaurant that is Agnes. Again, not a venue that I would ever associate with sunny Queensland. Maybe something more at home in Melbourne or even Brooklyn. Agnes has been open only since 2020 but has made a big impact. Chef and co-owner Ben Williamson cooks everything on fire and this year Agnes was named Gourmet Traveller’s restaurant of the year, only the second Queensland restaurant to win in 44 years.
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And it is quickly apparent why. The wood-fire permeates every dish, from a starter of burnt leeks, whipped almond and hazelnut to a Valrhona chocolate mousse with smoked Maleny cream. The set menu allows you to sample Williamson’s approach to cooking and my friend and I feast, chat and drink great wine long into the evening.
This surprisingly edgy city vibe is replicated the next night, this time at Felons Brewing Co at the Howard Smith Wharves on the Brisbane River, under the blue-lit Story Bridge. Again, the venue is packed, both inside the large brewery building and outside on the deck overlooking the river and in the adjacent beer garden. Friends chatting, colleagues laughing, families eating out and just... well, the sort of life that I have not seen in Sydney’s city venues on a weekday night for many years.
The food at the Felons is casual but the approach to food is not; the wood-fired pizzas are made from organic Queensland flour and fermented for 36 hours with a splash of pale ale, then topped with local buffalo mozzarella.
It may be the generous samples of the Felons tasting paddle, but looking out over the river, seeing the lights of Brisbane’s CBD and the arches of the heritage-listed Story Bridge lit up in blue, I really feel like I could be sitting in Dumbo under the Brooklyn Bridge looking out over Manhattan. This is not what I expected to experience eating out mid-week in Brisbane.
My fast-growing appreciation for the food culture here is not just a night-time/holiday drinking-influenced thing either – it extends into the day when the sun shines hotly. This unforgiving light reveals a lot of steep inclines (no one warned me this city has serious hills; no wonder Brisbane has such a preoccupation with electric scooters) but also some very good bakeries.
A standout is the daylight version of Agnes restaurant, Agnes Bakery. Here, a heritage-listed cottage has been beautifully transformed with a wood-fired oven at its heart.
The pastries are sweet and satisfying. A chocolate espresso escargot with crushed hazelnuts hits my caffeine-and-sugar requirements, a supposedly takeaway jam donut does not make it out of the shop while we wait for our coffee, and a fruit and nut sourdough loaf doesn’t make it home (I blame my children, although that may not be fair).
Nearby on James Street, Sprout Artisan Bakery was opened in 2021 by partners Rebecca Foley and European-trained baker Lutz Richter. It attracts queues for its pastries, which are lovingly (and rightfully) displayed like works of art in the window. We have a lamington-inspired croissant which is all chocolate, raspberry and coconut goodness; a beautifully spiced cardamom custard scroll; a mandarin and pistachio croissant basket; and a very, very moreish cinnamon scroll made from croissant pastry. Simple but perfectly delicious.
Did I ever think I would find some of the best pastries I’ve eaten in my life in Queensland? Not at all. Did I properly underestimate the food credibility and urban cool of Brisbane? Absolutely. My kids declare they want to come back and I don’t need convincing. You’ll find me having a drink on some cool rooftop bar or queuing outside a bakery on James Street.
Checklist
Stay:The Calile Hotel (48 James St) is in the heart of Fortitude Valley and a few minutes from Agnes Bakery and Sprout Artisan Bakery. The hotel is also a destination in its own right. Opened in 2018, it was last month named the 12th best hotel in the world – and the only Australian to make the list – at the inaugural World’s 50 Best Hotel awards announced in London.
Eat: Try one of the best restaurants in the country at Agnes (22 Agnes St, Fortitude Valley) and sample the pale ales and pizza at Felons Brewing Co at Howard Smith Wharves (5 Boundary Street, Brisbane). Greek restaurant Greca and bar Mr Percival’s are also worth checking out under the Story Bridge.
Do: The Brisbane City Markets are held every Wednesday at Reddacliff Place, at the end of Queen Street Mall, with delicious bagels from The Bagel Boys.