Plans for the Howard Smith Wharves development are shaping up to be very tasty indeed.
A coffee roastery, craft brewery, expansive kitchen garden and artisan bakery are all slated to be part of the mix when the new 3.4 hectare riverfront Howard Smith Wharves precinct opens in the shadow of Brisbane’s Story Bridge in late 2018.
With work on a luxe 164-room Art Series Hotel under way, details are emerging about the drinking and dining options that will drive the reactivation of the former city port, one of Brisbane’s last undeveloped waterside sites.
Sydney’s Jonathan Barthelmess, chef behind The Apollo, The Apollo Ginza and Cho Cho San will bring a new Greek restaurant and bar designed by George Livissianis, while Matt Yazbek will open Toko Brisbane – a northern outpost of his Sydney and Melbourne-based izakaya restaurant-bar.
Andrew Baturo, a co-owner of former Gourmet Traveller Bar of the Year, The Gresham, Brisbane, and co-owner of Popolo, South Bank and Libertine, Brisbane is collaborating with wife Jaimee, to create Stanley, a 180-seat Hong Kong Chinese eatery and bar. Chef Kym Machin (Bare Bones Society, Jinadalee) will lead the kitchen.
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As many as eight restaurants will operate on the site by the time it’s finished, together with an exhibition and events centre. The first half of the precinct should open in spring 2018.
Adam Flaskas, director of developers HSW Nominees, says the precinct will be all about operators who are passionate about their craft, collaborating to build a community around food.
“Some amazing restaurateurs will be involved. This is going to be great for Brisbane – so many different cuisines but everyone collaborating, so when we’re doing festivals we can work together.”
HSW Nominees will take responsibility for an overwater bar, a 200sqm octagonal “quintessentially Brisbane” bar with interiors by Anna Spiro, the Brisbane designer best known for her work at Halcyon House. “It will be a unique, timeless space,” says Flaskas, “the perfect place to showcase Brisbane under the Story Bridge and over the water.”
