Overview
When a culinary figure branches out to a new city, one of two things tend to happen. They might take a concept and a name that's worked for them elsewhere, then expand it to another location. Or, they could conjure up something that's completely fresh that they haven't done before. If Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann pondered which path to take in Brisbane, "why not do both?" must've been the answer. Well-established Melbourne favourite Supernormal is on its way to the Queensland capital — but newcomer Bar Miette is already open.
After revealing in 2022 that they were bringing their hospitality empire north with a Queensland outpost for Supernormal, McConnell and McGann announced in May 2024 that casual European-style haunt Bar Miette — a terrace cafe and a wine bar all in one, doing breakfast, lunch, cocktails, dinner and everything in-between — would beat it to launching. Supernormal Brisbane is now meant to open sometime before the middle of the year, after its sibling began welcoming in patrons to kick off July.
Their shared Brissie address: 443 Queen Street in the River City CBD, perched between the Queen Street Mall and Howard Smith Wharves. While 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 — Bar Miette is a new commodity. As McConnell explains, patrons can use it "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".
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 operating not one but two venues. 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.
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 can sip coffees, teas, tisanes, juices and sodas.
Come lunch and dinner, anchovy gildas, raw Hervey Bay scallops, oysters and three types of caviar will start tempting your tastebuds. Or, dig into the marinated octopus with potato and aioli, wagyu bresaola, duck liver parfait, a mortadella stack on a milk bun, the charcuterie selection and crab mayonnaise on toast. And for dessert, créme caramel, affogatos, gelato 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.
Vince Alafaci and Caroline Choker of Sydney's ACME are on design duties for both Supernormal and Bar Miette, but are giving them each their own look and feel. For Bar Miette, that means skewing "classically European", McConnell explains. 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.
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.