First Look: Andrew McConnell's Supernormal Sibling Bar Miette Is Bringing Euro Vibes to Queen Street
This newcomer is a terrace cafe and a wine bar — and it's opening by the Brisbane River ahead of Supernormal's launch in the Queensland capital.
Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann's culinary empire is settling into Brisbane. When July kicks off, the acclaimed duo will start the second half of 2024 by opening the first of two new venues that'll call the Sunshine State capital home. At Bar Miette, patrons are in for a casual European-style haunt that's a terrace cafe and a wine bar all in one — and a one-stop shop for breakfast, lunch, cocktails, dinner and everything in-between.
This is the year that Supernormal will cease being a one-city restaurant, with the famed Melbourne eatery making the leap to Brisbane; however, Bar Miette is launching first on Monday, July 1. Supernormal's Queensland expansion has been in the works since 2022, while its new sibling was initially announced back in May. They're both nestling into 443 Queen Street in the River City CBD, perched between the Queen Street Mall and Howard Smith Wharves.
Anyone who has visited Supernormal's OG site down south knows what's in store there — with the Brisbane outpost also plating up contemporary Australian dishes that also take inspiration from McConnell's time in both Hong Kong and Shanghai — but Bar Miette is a new commodity.
"It's a place for people to use as they wish and as the occasion dictates — for coffee and breakfast, lunch (early or late), snacks and dinner, a cocktail or a glass of wine — from its elevated vantage point overlooking the Maiwar (Brisbane) river and Story Bridge," explains McConnell.
Letting customers enter via the riverside boardwalk as well as Queen Street, the location itself is a drawcard, hence the hospitality figure making the most of it by opening not one but two venues. As McConnell mentioned, folks stopping by can enjoy views of the Brisbane River and the Story Bridge, with Bar Miette taking them in from street level, above Supernormal.
Vince Alafaci and Caroline Choker of Sydney's ACME are on design duties for both spots, but are giving them each their own look and feel. For Bar Miette, that means skewing "classically European", McConnell advises. That said, the 86-seater — 16 at the curved bar, then 70 on the terrace — is also nodding to its place in Brisbane, gleaning inspiration from the city's Kangaroo Point and Howard Smith Wharves cliffs, and also the river.
"Earthy tones complement the lush garden surrounding Bar Miette with the piazza style terrace leading the eye to the dynamic flow of the Brisbane River and the Story Bridge," explains Alafaci.
On the menu seven days a week, from a range of dishes designed to hero local produce, are breakfast options such as tahini and cinnamon toasted granola, house-made spelt crumpets, croque monsieurs, a crispy bacon bap with gentleman's relish, and house-cured and -smoked trout to start off the morning. To wash all of the above down with, you'll be sipping coffees, teas, tisanes, juices and sodas.
Come lunch and dinner, whipped cod roe, anchovy gildas, raw Hervey Bay scallops, oysters and three types of caviar might tempt your tastebuds. Or, dig into the marinated octopus with potato and aioli, wagyu bresaola, duck liver parfait, mortadella stack on a milk bun, charcuterie selection and crab mayonnaise on toast. And for dessert, chocolate cannoli, créme caramel, affogatos and the cake of the day sit alongside four cheeses.
If it's a cocktail that you're after, they join the lineup from 10am, starting with a bloody mary and milano fizz. The full range includes a signature martini, margarita frappé and tropical old fashioned among the highlights, as well as a number of aperitif picks, non-boozy concoctions, and five pages of wines from around Europe and Australia.
When Supernormal Brisbane will launch hasn't yet been revealed, other than mid-2024, but soon enough Brisbanites will have two McConnell venues to hit up.
Find Bar Miette at 443 Queen Street, Brisbane from Monday, July 1, 2024 — open from 7am–10pm Monday–Friday and 8am–10pm Saturday–Sunday. For more information, head to the bar's website.
Images: Josh Robenstone.
