Farewell Tour - Gerard's Bistro

http://www.gerardsbistro.com.au/

There are very few restaurants that burst onto the scene and make an impression in the same way that Fortitude Valley’s Gerard’s Bistro has done.  In a very short space of time, Gerard’s has done what very few restaurants have done….

Chefs Hat – check (currently One Brisbane Times Good Food Guide Hat)

Gourmet Traveller top 100 list – check (currently 88 in Australia)

Gourmet Traveller 10 ten in Brisbane – check (currently #4)

Gourmet Traveller best new talent – check (Ben Williamson )

It would be foolish to understate the impact and influence that Gerard’s Bistro has had on the Brisbane dining scene.  It’s helped radically transform the fine dining paradigm.  No longer did amazing restaurants need to charge $50+ for a main course;  silver service was relegated to yesterday’s news; and share plates became the norm….

All because of Gerard’s Bistro.

A collaboration between Brisbane’s well known Moubaraks and wonderkind Chef Ben Williamson, it would also be a mistake to think Gerard’s was an overnight success.

Breakfast Series - Shouk Cafe Paddington

http://www.shoukcafe.com.au/

You can usually tell the popularity of a new restaurant or cafe by the amount of Instagram photos, blog posts and 'interweb' chatter that it generates. There have been times where I've been on my way to, or on my way home from a restaurant and noticed another blogger posting Instagram photos from the very restaurant I've visited.  In what must be a really positive sign for Paddington's latest breakfast hotspot, Shouk Cafe, I noticed that not one, but two blogger buddies had decided to pay Shouk a visit at the same time as me.  

We'd arranged to visit Shouk with a couple of good mates  on a Sunday morning, which is generally one of the busiest times of the week.  We love catching up with DruBoy and Thommo but over the years, we have grown accustomed to the fact that they are almost always late.  Thinking that we'd get to Shouk early and score a table for the inevitable queue started, we arrived right on time at 8:30am to an already full restaurant.  

Our request of a table for four was met with a wait of about ten minutes and as we stood around looking over the crowd, I spotted blogger buddy Melissa Loh and her SO.  I wandered over for a quick chat and found out two things.  One, when Melissa had arrived a short while before we did, the restaurant was mostly empty. Two, they were really excited about testing out Shouk.

Gerard's Bistro - best new restaurant of the year?

http://www.gerardsbistro.com.au/

What an amazing year 2012 was for the opening of new restaurants in Brisbane, in fact, I can't quite remember a year like it.  While a number of southern state restaurants have opened up in Brisbane, it's fantastic to see locals opening up new establishments too.

Gerard's bistro is a bit of a departure from the Moubarak Brothers, who have primarily been involved in cool bars around town (Laruche in the Valley and Lychee Lounge in West End), and have now opened a quintessentially cool restaurant experience.  Opened in July and located in James Street, Gerard's is a little hard to find initially but after a bit of poking around and a short stroll down one of the newly created lane-ways, you will find it.  Gerard's is not a super large bistro, but it is a great space with funky decor and a great view of the bar and kitchen from almost every seat.

Running the kitchen is Head Chef Ben Williamson, who has garnered a heap of press lately by being listed at number 32 on QWeekend's list of Queensland's 50 bright stars.  Ben has worked at some of Brisbane's best restaurants including Urbane, 1889 Enoteca and Cha Cha Char (Organic Char).  Ben has created a really interesting menu at Gerard's that has a distinctly Middle East and Northern Africa (with touches of Southern Europe), which really highlights Ben's time working in the Middle East (Bahrain) for Gulf Air creating and delivering the in-flight menu for first class passengers.