Newstead’s cadre of restaurants is growing every month, with Allonda – the sibling venue of Paddington’s NOTA Restaurant & Wine Bar – helping elevate the standard of the suburb’s dining scene. The NOTA crew, Sebastiaan de Kort, Kevin Docherty and Yanika Sittisuntorn, has linked up up with boutique property developer Dibcorp to open Allonda at the base of Dwell on Longland Street. Allonda’s kitchen – helmed by Sam Todd (whose resume boasts postings at Stanley and Qualia on Hamilton Island) – is working with Seb, Kevin and NOTA’s head chef Matteo Pisanu to craft an offering of European-inspired small plates dispensed from the raw bar, plus and assortment of pastas and large-format mains.
Sit down for a procession of dishes including tempura market fish sandos, Casa Motta burrata with olive tapenade and charred sourdough, sweetcorn ravioli with tomato butter, chilli and puffed corn, and Margra lamb rump with smoked yoghurt. Yanika is overseeing the wine list, which features an approachable selection of old- and new-world vino.
As of April 2024, Allonda is also open for breakfast and lunch, serving Dutch baby eggs Benedict, charred B.L.A.T. and the breakfast bowls in the morning before transitioning to a more express menu featuring Mediterranean-style wraps, serves of silky squid-ink spaghetti, premium sirloin with frites, and a number of salads crafted using local produce.
Brisbane-based architects and interior designers Twohill & James and commercial construction crew LPS Group have assisted with the fit-out, crafting a striking minimal aesthetic applied across Allonda’s two-level layout, which encompasses an alfresco laneway space, a main dining floor (bracketed on one side by a raw and burrata bar, and an open kitchen on the other), and a private dining room and self-contained bar on the mezzanine level.
