Overview
You don’t have to tell us twice that Brisbane’s dining and bar scenes have gone from good to excellent, and ordinary to exciting in the past 18 months. In a somewhat snow-ball effect, our small venues have been working hard to stay on trend, we’ve supported new ones popping up, and overall Brisbane has climbed up to be taken seriously – and as the country’s third largest city, we’re ready to embrace a month of food-loving.
And while Good Food Month will mostly be showing off what great restaurants and bars Brisbane already has on offer, it also brings with it the famous Night Noodle Market as well as its signature events. Below we’ve gathered 10 different ways you can get involved in the Brisbane Times Good Food Month.
Breakfast Club
In August last year The Courier-Mail reported that we here in the Sunshine State are a breed of early risers who can't get enough of our breakfast dining scene. We’d like to think it's due to our sophisticated taste buds, but it's more likely that we keep curdling the hollandaise. For a sweet $20, 10 eateries are offering a set menu plus your morning caffeination. Anouk, The Jetty, Chow House and more make the list, with dishes ranging from lemon pancakes to brioche french toast, sweet potato hashcakes to a breakfast board. Four Points by Sheraton are evening opening its buffet.
Sweet Tooth
If there is something I always have room for, it’s dessert. There is practically another stomach built for sweet treats. Good Food Month are shining a spotlight on some of our pastry chefs – pairing a dessert with matching dessert wine for $20. Deer Duck Bistro are offering a dark chocolate brûlée, cocoa nib tuile and mascarpone sorbet, The Eatery are doing a double chocolate mousse with white and milk Callebaut chocolate and almond biscotti, Chester Street have a molten chocolate pudding with raspberry swirl ice-cream and Ovaltine, and Bacchus are offering its famous sticky date soufflé with toffee sauce and vanilla ice-cream. Yum.
Pop Ups
The event we’ve all been dying to have in Brisbane, the Night Noodle Markets will be popping up in South Bank from July 17-27. For 10 days an Asian-inspired hawker market will take over the Cultural Forecourt with 19 stalls from some of Brisbane’s favourite eateries including Bird’s Nest Yakitori, Chitty Banh Banh, Harajuku Gyoza, Okonomi House, Sake, The Bun Mobile and Taro’s Ramen. Expect everything from charcoal-grilled yakitori sticks to yum cha; steaming bowls of pho and ramen as well as Asian-influenced desserts. Also popping up in July will be Gastronomy After Dark at the Queensland Museum, Esq Street Eats, Bohemian Rhapsody and Dinner Under the Stars.
Bar Hop
A bar hop? But you thought this month was all about food. Well it still is. Sixteen of our best bars including Canvas, Emporium, Kerbside and The End will shake it up (some literally) by offering a gin-inspired Tanqueray cocktail and matched bar snack for $20. In a city where the cocktails are often nudging $20 themselves and when the bar snacks are everything from a pork tacos to thai fishcakes, a cheeseboard or chicken liver pate – this bar hop is good value.
Meet the maker
Want to know what makes a great chef? Wondering what tips and tricks, ideas and dishes set them apart? Meet and learn from three of Australia’s best chefs at An Afternoon with the Stars, a special masterclass-style event. Or, if you’ve ever wanted to know what goes on behind the Good Food Guide? Dine with Joanna Savill, from Sydney, and Natascha Mirosch, our Brisbane Times Good Food Guide editor at Gerard’s Bistro when the two share the stories of putting it to print and engage in a Q&A.
Lunch time
If you’re not already watching the clock for the big hand to strike noon then perhaps this month-long event will have you otherwise excited to break up your day. Nineteen of Brisbane’s leading restaurants are swinging their doors open for ‘Let’s Do Lunch!’. The venues are offering a well-priced set lunch of one course or more with a matched beverage.
Learn something
Some people just love to cook, while some people just love to eat. If you sit in either basket, use Good Food Month as a chance to try something new. The Instant Expert series are a number of workshops focussed on learning a new skill, while the Talk & Taste sessions will give you an insight into the history and love that goes into food. Oz Harvest are also running Think.Eat.Save are inviting you to join, enjoy a free meal and learn about food rescue.
Food is Art
Judging by some of what Brisbane’s venues are plating up, food is an artform. Good Food Month is taking it one step further with a number of intriguing events that add new dimensions to the eating experience with music, photography, literature and film. We’re particularly looking forward to the Create & Capture event – an exhibition of more than 20 photographs of chefs, bartenders and home cooks caught in act.
Budget
Starters, entrees, wine, main, wine, dessert…. dining out can really add up. Luckily, the festival have lined up seven great restaurants that will offer a two-course menu for just $30 per person. From Kettle & Tin’s Lancashire hotpot to Chop Chop Chang’s banquet for two, to a French feast at Baguette and sand crab dinner at the newly opened Fish Lane Bistro. Other budgets eats include the Breakfast Club, Bar Hop and dessert offerings.
Splurge
Do you need an excuse? I’ve got a few to help you justify spending a return ticket to Melbourne on a single dinner. One: Brisbane’s people can be a fiercely loyal crowd, and this being the first Good Food Month in this fine city you should be out supporting all that it puts on offer. Two: if you’ve got a favourite restaurant or somewhere you have been meaning to try, this may be your only chance to meet the chef. Three: you could even call these dinners ‘good value’ - Sake’s Hats Off Dinner six-course degustation is only $79, and for $98 you can dine at four great restaurants under the stars.