Sushi Room
With two of Brisbane’s best restaurants in his portfolio and a previously announced third eatery also on the way, you’d be forgiven for thinking that restaurateur Simon Gloftis would be eager to ease his foot off the accelerator for a little while. Well, it seems like he’s doing exactly the opposite, revealing last week that next year he’ll be opening Sushi Room – a high-end Japanese restaurant that will occupy a custom-built space inside The Calile Hotel. Sushi Room will join Simon’s other restaurants Hellenika and SK Steak & Oyster as The Calile’s in-house eateries, taking over the tenancies previously home to Scotch & Soda and Museum of Small Things to create space for an 80-odd-seat restaurant and bar. Richards & Spence will design Sushi Room’s interior, drawing inspiration from traditional Japanese design to shape Sushi Room’s sushi bar (which will be crafted from fine hinoki wood), front bar and mezzanine space. Ex-Kiyomi sous chef Shimpei Raikuni has been announced as Sushi Room’s head sushi chef, creating a predominantly sushi and sashimi-focused menu, alongside a clutch of more substantial dishes and sides such as succulent Japanese-style wagyu steak, fish and tempura. Shimpei’s dishes can be ordered a la carte or enjoyed as part of an 18-course two-hour omakase, with the latter no doubt offering an indelible and intimate gastronomic experience of unparalleled quality. Sushi Room will open in the first quarter of 2022 – keep your eyes on The Weekend Edition for more details.

Scarborough Harbour Brewing Co.
The craft-beer brewing boom has seen a spike in the number of breweries opening across Brisbane, sending ripples of beery goodness from the centre of town out into the suburbs. Those ripples have now reached Redcliffe Peninsula, with brand-new waterfront brewing hub Scarborough Harbour Brewing Co. set to open to the public in February 2022. The project is brainchild of Sonia and Guy Schweitzer, a pair of Moreton Bay locals that were inspired to enter the craft-beer game after taking in a slice of the international micro-brewing industry on their overseas travels. They’ve secured a cracking spot to set up a base of operations, taking on the two-level site formerly home to function and event space Waters Edge at Scarborough Marina. Work is currently underway transforming the ground-floor space of the building into a brewery and taproom, with Scarborough Harbour Brewing Co.’s brewhouse and tanks nestled in the heart of a rustically quaint space boasting copper and recycled timber textures across interior and waterfront seating. The upper floor will receive some minor cosmetic works once the downstairs space is operational, but in the meantime is being used to host functions booked prior to the change of ownership. Two of Scarborough Harbour Brewing Co.’s core beers have been unveiled, with a Peninsula XPA and a Figurehead lager set to feature alongside a further three to-be-announced staple sips. A commercial kitchen will also be tasked with whipping up a range of brewery-appropriate eats, including burgers and pizzas. Stay tuned for an up-close look at Scarborough Harbour Brewing Co. when it opens before summer’s end.

Tarka Dining
Have you been looking for an exciting new epicurean experience that boasts a touch of exclusivity? Look up Tarka Dining. This newly formed innovative pop-up dinner series is getting tastebuds wagging with its inventive and intimate gastronomic excursions into unheralded culinary realms. The concept is the handiwork of accomplished chef Parag Kapile, who has worked in numerous world-class kitchens across India, Mauritius, United States of America and Australia (including a stint as head chef at Heritij in The City). While we spent our lockdowns figuring out the basics of making sourdough, chef Parag used the time to expand his skillset by taking a deep-dive into the histories, stories and interconnected nature of food from the Indian subcontinent and the countries that surround it. He’s putting his research to good use with Tarka Dining, a series of monthly pop-ups created in partnership with Vicki Pitts of inner-city venue Room With Roses. The name Tarka draws its meaning from three sources, the Urdu word ‘ترکہ ‘ (which means ‘inheritance’), the Hindi interpretation relating to the tempering of food, and the Sanskrit term for the philosophy of dialectics and the art of debate. Chef Parag is using Tarka Dining to explore, question and interpret the techniques and traditions of regional and modern Indian cuisine (including the use of unheard of ingredients, the balancing of spices and smoking, tempering and fermentation practices) to deliver stories, serve bold flavours, present vibrant colours and change perceptions of Indian cuisine served in a haute cuisine context. Parag is also collaborating with award-winning and Adelaide-based sommelier Bhatia Dheeraj (Daughter In Law, Mrs Singh) to create a tailored wine pairing for Tarka’s multi-course tasting menu offering. Tarka’s third pop-up event will be taking place at Wine Experience in Rosalie on Thursday December 9, offering a five-course food and wine pairing experience that will explore a new and exciting facet of Indian and Asian cuisine. Tickets are strictly limited (we’ve been told there are only seven spots remaining), so get in touch with the Wine Experience team to secure a space or risk missing out on a truly one-of-a-kind outing.

Hibiscus Room
If you dined in Brisbane in the 70s or 80s, you likely visited or heard of Hibiscus Room. Located on levels 25–26 of Lennons Hotel (now known as Hyatt Regency Brisbane), the restaurant and bar hosted famous guests including Alexander Graham Bell, Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, Dame Nellie Melba, President Lyndon B. Johnson and The Beatles. Several decades on and this seminal piece of Brisbane’s hospitality history is getting a modern revival. Hibiscus Room will open on level four (just near the infinity pool deck) of Hyatt Regency Brisbane on Wednesday December 8, showing off a nostalgia-inducing, Cameron & Co-designed retro-tinged interior that boasts a colourful aesthetic of corals, greens and laid-back patterns, as well as custom and sustainable Australian-made furnishings from Tait. Head chef Ricky Cheung (whose resume includes stints at Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong and Nobu Melbourne) will craft a menu that takes cues from the classic cuisine that made Hibiscus Room a leading restaurant in its heyday. Dishes such as chilled Moreton Bay bug cocktail, free-range pork, cage-free Scotch egg, Rockhampton beef rump cap, Southern Queensland lamb loin chops and a seasonally shifting casserole du jour will be wrought from sustainably sourced seafood, beef and tropical produce. This invigorated take on an institution will likely be a popular haunt throughout the summer months – we’ll have look inside for you soon!

FRESH BLOOD 2022
Almost a year on from its inaugural Brisbane event, The Fruitful Pursuit crew is bringing its emerging and breakthrough winemaker showcase FRESH BLOOD to town for a 2022 edition. FRESH BLOOD will be showing off a curated array of budding South Australian winemakers on Saturday January 22, this time hosting two sessions across three venues. Zero Fox, Siffredi’s Spaghetti Bar and Rita’s Tequila and Taqueria will host ten breakthrough winemakers, three importers and one big bottle shop – each offering tastes of some of the most exciting small-batch vino hitting the market. FRESH BLOOD 2022 will feature appearances from Ada Wine Co., Adlib Wine, Camwell Wines, Comme Ci Comme Ça, Evan Evans Wine, Moorak Wine, Parley Wine, Poppelvej, State Of Nature and Sven Joschke Wine, as well as New Zealand’s A Thousand Gods Wines, Fumey Châtelain and Champagne Bonnet-Ponson from France. Oenophiles can purchase tickets to a day session (12:00–4:00 pm) or a night session (5:00–9:00 pm), with tickets including a take-home TFP x PLUMM glass, tastings and a stand-up snack from Rita’s, Siffredi’s or Zero Fox. Click here to snag a spot.

Lune Brisbane x QAGOMA’s croissant collab
Some say an exquisitely made croissant is like a work of fine art. Technically impressive and gorgeous to look at, the pastry is a symbol of creative excellence in consumable carb form. The maestros at Lune Croissanterie should be regarded as master artists – the pastries they create are something else. It makes sense, then, that the team behind South Brisbane’s always-busy bakery would collaborate with the city’s home of artistic endeavour, QAGOMA. To celebrate the arrival of The 10th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT10), Lune has created The Rose Lychee – a bespoke pastry that draws inspiration from the exhibition series and celebrates flavours and ingredients from the Asia and Pacific regions. The covetable confection sees a traditional croissant filled with rosewater syrup, coconut frangipane, Tahitian vanilla cream, Japanese cheesecake and lychee jelly, before being topped with fresh lychee, lychee jelly, candied rose petals and white-chocolate shards. The Rose Lychee will be available from Lune Croissanterie and at the QAG Cafe and GOMA Bistro from Saturday December 4, with limited amounts available each day. Get in quick – unlike QAGOMA’s artworks, these perfect pastries are made to eat.

If you’ve heard something that’s worth mentioning in The Weekend Edition’s Pavement Whispers, email [email protected].