Dessert Series - Cowch dessert and cocktail bar

http://cowch.com.au/

I'm not sure exactly when dessert bars became the norm, but I do remember a time when the only after dinner (or any time) dessert spots were the Freestyle Tout locations (see post here). Nothing stays the same forever, and the few Freestyle Tout's that were around Brisbane have closed, just leaving the Valley option. What's sprung up in their place is a fairly diverse range of dessert bars including the likes of Max Brenner, San Churro (see post here) and Passion Tree (see post here) - just to name a few.

One of the cooler dessert options in recent times caters to both a sweet tooth and the evening drinking crowd.  Cowch at South Bank is pitched as a dessert cocktail bar and for a while was the hottest place around the South Brisbane area on a Friday and Saturday night.  As a destination, the dessert bar has really played up to it's name, decorated in all manner of bovine paraphernalia, covering the cow part of it's name.  There's also a lot of comfy looking couches on site, covering the full name (when you put your hand over part of the w in Cowch).

Cowch was a welcome addition to the South Bank dining scene and while it competed with a few of the aforementioned dessert spots, rapidly became the go-to spot.  We've been to Cowch a heap of times, but ironically, given we hate queues, we've never sat inside the dessert bar.  We realised pretty quickly that there was a much better way of enjoying some of the goodies that Cowch had to offer...

Stokehouse Brisbane - no better way to spend #SundayFunday

http://stokehousebrisbane.com.au/

One of the things I love about this hobby of mine is that I get to promote the Brisbane food scene and all the greatness that it has to offer.  I do this in a couple of ways, firstly 'going undercover' and checking out new restaurants and then recounting my experiences back to you.  The other way, which seems to be picking up a bit at the moment, is getting back to places I love and doing a bit of promotion. 

I was recently invited along to the Stokehouse Brisbane, which is not only one of the best restaurants in Queensland with two Good Food Guide hats but is also rated as one of the top 100 restaurants in the country by Gourmet Traveller.  It's definitely a special occasion place and there are many people around town that rate it as their favourite restaurants.  It's a restaurant that I've been to many times over the years (see post here) and for me, it forms a special place in the local dining scene.

A restaurant is often as good as the team running it and General Manager Peter McMahon has a first rate team alongside him, led by award winning head chef Richard Ousby.  If you know your food, you might have known that Richard was formerly the sous chef at arguably the country's best restaurant Quay and won the 2011 Electrolux Appetite for Excellence chef award.  Also in the kitchen is a finalist of the 2014 young chef of the year, Ollie Hansford.  I had the pleasure of tasting Ollie's fantastic entry into the awards at this years Young Chef of the Year dinner (see post here).

There was never any doubt that we were in for a treat and we decided that we'd make it a #SundayFunday by cruising into the Stokehouse for a Sunday lunch.  If you've not been to the Stokehouse, it takes pride of place over at South Bank and has one of the prime positions of any restaurant in Brisbane - it's view of the Brisbane CBD is second to none.  We'd planned a leisurely stroll through the Botanical Gardens and across the Goodwill Bridge, but it turned out to be a beautifully warm day, so we were a little sweaty by the lime we'd traipsed across the bridge.  Luckily, we were a bit early and had the opportunity to cool down before our lunch commenced.

The 5th Element - back for a return visit

http://www.5thelement.com.au/

Wow, it seems like ages since I've sat down to think about and write about food...  I guess getting the flu puts a little bit of a dampener on things and I went over a week without a restaurant meal and didn't have the energy to write!

I'd decided that I would revisit one of the restaurants I had been to last year where I had a pretty ordinary experience, in fact, it was a terrible experience.  I'm talking about my visit to The 5th Element (see post here) from September last year, one that created quite a bit of a response at the time.  It was such a bad experience that you might be wondering why I decided to give it another go, which is a great question.

It was actually during a visit to one of my favourite restaurants that the idea came to me.  I'd been chatting to Jake Nicolson, head chef of Black Bird who'd mentioned that he was taking an active interest in the menu and kitchen at the 5th Element.  While Jake is the Executive Chef at Black Bird, he actually works for the Ghanem Group which owns Byblos in Brisbane and Melbourne as well as the 5th Element at South Bank.  Knowing the exacting standards of Jake, I was hoping that the 5th Element had found a new groove, but there was only one way to find out.

The 5th Element is a bar and a restaurant, so there was no doubt that we'd be heading to dinner with our usual dinner buds and perennial cocktail groupie TB and CI.  I'd actually had a little bit of trouble convincing CI that he should come along, he'd been the previous month and had not had a great experience.  There was no such complication with TI, the cocktail menu at the 5th Element has always been pretty good.  After some assurances that it would be much better than our previous visits, CI agreed to come along for a Saturday night dinner.

Dell'ugo South Bank - another one bites the dust

http://www.dellugosouthbank.com.au/

I'm not really a sentimental guy.  In fact, I've pretty much been pragmatic about most things in my life and while I sometimes mourn the loss of a restaurant here and there, it's normally a case of the free market in action.  Where I start to feel a touch of outrage is when when my sense of fairness is triggered, which happened recently with the news that South Bank restaurant Dell'ugo would be forced out of its Grey Street home.  You can read the article here, but essentially the Italian fine diner is being moved on because it didn't meet the future mix of traders that South Bank see in the well known restaurant strip's future.  That's ten years of history to be wiped - sorry, you need to go.  Outrage!

While Dell'ugo is not one of my favourite restaurants around, I have been a few times, both to the South Bank restaurant and their older and slightly more traditional establishment over at New Farm (see post here).  Given the news that the restaurant would soon close it's doors, I thought that I'd better get back over to South Bank, check it out and hopefully have a great parting memory.  Oh, and also hopefully, spark just a little outrage about the injustice.

South Bank has not always been a 'happy hunting ground' when it comes to dining out, with about a fifty percent success rate. I've had some amazing meals (Stokehouse) but I've also had some terrible experiences (Fifth Element).  We'd arranged to have a Saturday night meal, which has been one of the common factors in not having a great experience, it seems as if the very high volume of diners pushing through South Bank really does effect the quality on the night.  It had been a cold and rainy Saturday, but the weather cleared enough for us to walk from the CBD to South Bank, a walk we always enjoy.  

Festival Series - Night Noodle Markets

http://brisbane.goodfoodmonth.com/noodles

In a month that just kept getting better and better, for the first time Brisbane was host to the Night Noodle Market. As part of the Good Food Month, the Night Noodle Market pulled together a heap of Queensland and interstate eateries to South Bank for an Asian Inspire hawker style market.

Taking over the cultural forecourt at South Bank, the Night Noodle Markets has added a fresh new event on the annual calendar, which this year coincides with the annual Regional Flavours event (see post here).  Bringing together over two dozen food stalls and bars, the Night Noodle Market became a beacon of great food and fun drawing people from all around the South East.  

We decided that we would head over to join in with the festivities and check out some yummy Asian cuisine on a chilly Sunday afternoon.  Arriving a little before sunset, we were able to slowly wander around the markets and get a sense of the food available.  Near the entrance of the markets, we bumped into Jake Harris, formerly of My Kitchen Rules, running Chitty Banh Banh, who'd been surprised by the success of the markets.  Jake explained that on the previous day, they'd sold out of Banh Mi within the first two hours - thats over 900 Vietnamese rolls in short order.

As we slowly wandered around the market stalls and soaked up the atmosphere, the sun set and the Night Markets really came alive, with the lights of the stalls, the colourful lanterns and the various bars taking over from the natural sunlight.  It was quite spectacular to witness.  The only problem was with the departure of the sun came the drop in temperature!

Next Door Kitchen and Bar - the South Bank curse strikes again

http://www.nextdoorkitchenbar.com.au/

I've not had a lot of luck when dining over at South Bank and over the last few years have had some pretty mixed experiences.  Ranging from the superb, Stokehouse (see post here) and Aquatine (see post here), to the fairly average and to the really poor, most of our dining experiences in the precinct had not been brilliant. So when we decided to go out with our usual dinner buddies, I was a little bit hesitant when I saw Next Door Kitchen and Bar on the list.  I'd heard mostly good things about the little restaurant in Little Stanley Street, so I thought that I'd take the chance and get in and test it out.

Next Door Kitchen and Bar poses as a 1920's style restaurant and while I could picture it in my mind if I tried really hard, I didn't really get the connection.  Sure, the tables and chairs could have resembled furniture from the '20s, the fit-out of the kitchen and main dining area more closely resembled a contemporary style restaurant with mismatched and stylish black tiles and dark wood panels.  It was a freezing winter's night, so I suspect that the very modern 'mushroom' heaters didn't help with the theme either.

We'd been to Regional Flavours earlier in the day (see post here), which had taken over a large part of Little Stanley Street and Next Door Kitchen had been pretty packed at the time.  It was also really busy when we arrived for our 7:30pm reservation and it looked as if it hadn't let up all day, so I was feeling a little more comfortable that we could be onto another winner at South Bank.  We'd arrived a little earlier than our dining companions as were able to have a look over the menu and get a bit of a feeling on what we'd order.

Festival Series - Regional Flavours

http://regionalflavours.com.au/

Something is always going in in Brisbane these days, it seems.  No sooner does one event finish, than another takes its place, and what's better, is that much of the festivities revolve around food.  Regional Flavours is the latest of the year's big events and is South Bank's signature food and wine festival, which has been running for six years and has fast become the highlight of the foodie calendar.

I still remember my first Regional Flavours, which was only three years ago, and the impression it has made on me.  It was a beautiful sunny winter's day, with Little Stanley Street completely transformed with food vendors from around the state showing their fare.  I resolved at that time to make sure I marked Regional Flavours into my diary and attend every year...  Of course, at the time I didn't realise that I would miss the very next year, the festival coinciding with my trip to New York (see posts here).  But as much as I loved my Regional Flavours experience, I certainty loved NYC more!

So, Regional Flavours 2014 became my first as a Food Blogger and the experience was enhanced by being a #Hunter for the Hunting Club, set up by the South Bank Surf Club (see post here).  Leading up to Regional Flavours saw me helping find other #Hunters to join in on the fun and spread the word about the event on social media.  

The Hunting Club was one of a number of major features of the 2014 Regional Flavours, with Eat-Show-Tell, All Day Breakfast and Savour at River Quay all providing opportunities to watch cooking demonstrations and celebrities involved in the food industry.  There were book signings and some pretty special guests strutting their stuff at the main stage at the Courier Mail Piazza.  We were wandering around when Master Chef's Matt Preston was performing and then doing a book signing!

Champ Kitchen & Bar - dining on a public holiday

http://www.champkitchenandbar.com.au/

I'd been pretty concerned when I found out that one of the great open spaces at South Bank was going to be torn up and developed into the new ABC studios.  I love to see Brisbane develop, but I'd wondered at the logic of tearing up one of the nicest areas of the precincts for another building.  As it turned out, the development went ahead and the space was transformed into a pretty decent looking building that felt as if it's always belonged there.

In that new building was a lovely looking restaurant created by Justine Whelan of very popular Paddington cafe, Anouk, which is one of my favourite breakfast spots around town (see post here).  Champ Kitchen and Bar has been designed to be in perfect harmony with its surrounds in South Bank, with a very open and modern feel that lets the outside in. It's located right outside the Brisbane Wheel and the forecourt of the Queensland Performing Arts Centre, which makes it a perfect location for a quick meal before a show or a lingering meal if you have the time.

It was the Easter long weekend and we'd been for a meandering walk over the Story Bridge, then along the Kangaroo Point cliffs and finally to Southbank, where we spotted that Champ Kitchen was actually open for the weekend.  We wandered into the dining area to check if the dining room would be open for dinner and decided to make a booking on the spot.  Unsure what else would be open for the public holiday, we thought that it would be better to be locked in for dinner early to avoid disappointment.

Popolo Italian Kitchen and Bar - a great spot to sit and watch the world go by

http://www.popolodining.com/

A friend from Yelp recently asked a twitter question about what was the current 'it' food in Brisbane and with the question came an assortment of responses from the twitter-verse. Predictably most of the responses were for American or Mexican cuisine.  There is no doubt that American is all the rage at the moment with recent openings of the Mighty Mighty (see post here), Papa Jacks and the Southside Diner, but I think there's another contender as well.

Italian cuisine has also had a pretty decent 2103 and while it doesn't seem to have had the same amount of press as American style cooking, there have been some great Italian diners open up, adding the the already flourishing Italian restaurants around Brisbane.  The new M&A Lane seems to be a litmus test for hip new restaurants and amongst the two new American style restaurants is also one of the latest Italian diners, Locanda Osteria and Bar (see post here)

While not the newest kid on the the block, Popolo Italian Kitchen and Bar is one of the newer Italian restaurants in Brisbane and one I had been meaning to get to for some time.  Popolo is located over at the impressive River Quay dining precinct at Southbank and sits amongst some amazing restaurants with the Stokehouse (see post here) and Aquitaine (see post here) a couple of my favourites.

Ole Spanish Restaurant - did my chorizo obsession get the better of me?

http://www.olerestaurant.com.au/

When you feel like something tasty, I mean really full of flavour, it's hard to go past Spanish cuisine.  I have to admit to a bit of an obsession with chorizo, for me it's the king of sausage and the king of flavour.  I'd had a little taste of chorizo with my breakfast (see post here) and found that it had whet my appetite for more, much more.  We wondered where we could go so I could get another hit of that sweet sweet chorizo, it obviously had to be a Spanish restaurant, but where? 

It came to me in a flash, we've walked past one of the larger and more popular Spanish dining spots so often, it had faded into the background a little bit.  Ole Restaurant seems to be the most popular dining spots over at Little Grey Street at Southbank and it seems to be packed at any time of the day or night.  I've thought about going there a lot and when I suggested Ole to SC, she seemed pretty interested and reminded me that she had been there before and had really enjoyed it.  We had a plan, now it was time to execute it.

We would normally walk over to Southbank when heading over for dinner, especially on a weekend but we had a dilemma.   If you've been in Brisbane for the last week or so, you know that there was a massive bushfire over on Stradbroke Island and it had been creating havoc over Brisbane, in fact it had turned the CBD into a smoky haze.  There was no way that we would be over to walk over, especially with SC's asthma already playing up, it was definitely driving weather.

Era Bistro - New Years Eve dinner

http://erabistro.com.au/

We were always going to go out for dinner on New Years Eve, it was just a matter of deciding where to go and how best to see out the year that was 2013.  Of the restaurants open for NYE 2013, there were six or seven that looked really great and we had to decide on how much we wanted to spend and what we were going to do after eating.  Some of the options were at the premium end of the spectrum, such as the $185 per person Stokehouse package that included dinner and drinks as well as partying afterwards.  Some had set menus with little option but to eat the entree, main and dessert that was prescribed as part of that menu. Others were just about the food with a complimentary glass of bubbly included in the price.

We ended up choosing one of our favourite restaurants, one that we hadn't been to for a little while and one where there were multiple options for each of the courses.  Era Bistro is a restaurant that SC has been to a heap of times, way more than me, so I was keen to get along and see what they would be doing for NYE.  The last time we had been to Era together, I'd missed out on one of the most spectacular entrees that I'd ever seen (see post here) and I was hoping to get something that was just as good this time (and hopefully not miss out to SC again).

French Martini - great food and better cocktails

http://www.frenchmartini.com.au/

I've been trying to get over to Southbank a little more of late.  Southbank has one of the highest concentration of restaurants in one spot in all of Queensland, perhaps even Australia.  Since I've been blogging, I've only visited a few of the restaurants and cafes in what amounts to a thriving dining scene.  We wanted to head out with some friends on Saturday night and one of the best things about hanging out with TB and CI is that TB is quite the foodie herself.  I'm not sure I know anyone, outside of the blogger fraternity, that spends as much time studying restaurants with a view to checking out as many as possible.  It was quite refreshing not to be the one making recommendations and when TB sent over her list of four possibilities, one jumped straight out.

That restaurant was Hatch & Co....  I had a bit of a chuckle to myself, Hatch & Co is one of the hottest restaurants in Brisbane at the moment and to think that TB thought we could get a booking on Saturday morning for later that night was amusing.  A quick call and a bit of a laugh later, we had sorted out that we would need to book a few weeks in advance for a Saturday night at that particular little hotspot.  There was another interesting looking place on the list and even better, we could get a reservation for four at 7pm with no trouble.

French Martini is one of the ever increasing number of French bistros in Brisbane and has been around for almost two years, which is a bit freaky to think about.  It's one of the many many restaurants located on Little Stanley Street, which has got to be one of the busiest for foot traffic, especially on a Saturday night, in Brisbane.  We'd arranged to meet at French Martini at 7pm and SC and I decided to take the short walk across the bridge from the CBD to Southbank.  Walking across the Victoria Bridge around 6:45 pm provided us with an amazing light show with a major electrical storm on the Gold Coast visible in the clouds on the horizon.  I was pretty thankful that the storm was not hitting us in the CBD, we needed a respite from the last few days' storms.

South Bank Surf Club - New Summer menu 'TweatUp'

http://www.southbanksurfclub.com.au/

I was pretty excited.  We had been invited along to a 'TweatUp' over at the South Bank Surf Club, a restaurant that I had been wanting to check out for a long time.  I say we because SC was invited along to join me for the TweatUp, she normally doesn't get to come along to events like this, so its probably more appropriate to say that we were pretty excited.

South Bank Surf Club opened up to much fanfare a few years back for a couple of reasons, firstly it was celebrity chef Ben O'Donoghue's first restaurant in Brisbane and secondly it's uniqueness of being a Surf Club right in the middle of the CBD.  South Bank may at first seem like an odd location for a Surf Club but when you consider we have a huge man made beach that is as popular as Bondi on a sunny Saturday afternoon, then perhaps it's not really that surprising.

A few things have changed at the South Bank Surf Club in recent times, most notably Ben O'Donoghue parting ways with the diner and moving on to do his own thing.  What has not changed is the gorgeous location of the venue and its amazing views of the Brisbane skyline and proximity to the man made beach and lifeblood of the CBD that is the Brisbane River.  New head chef Tye Higgins has continued the tradition at the South Bank Surf Club and is heavily influenced by fresh local seafood with an eye to sustainable dining.  Tye officially took over the kitchen at the start of the year after working at well known restaurants the Zen Bar and uber fine diner Urbane restaurant.

Aquitaine - Southern France on the banks of the Brisbane river

http://www.aquitainebrasserie.com.au/

It's amazing how time gets away from you, it seemed like only yesterday that Aquitaine opened up and I promised myself that I would get along and try it out.  In reality, the funky new Southbank diner is not so new anymore and almost a year has passed since it opened.  A year, I know, unbelievable, right?  It wasn't until some good friends beat me to the punch and came away raving that I decided I couldn't wait another day to go.........  As it turns out it was four days before we booked in and got along to Aquitaine, but you get the point! 

Aquitaine is one of the new breed of affordably priced but awesome restaurants down at Soutbank's River Quay, which also includes two hatted restaurant the Stokehouse (see post here).  The restaurant is inspired by the L'Aquitaine region in South West France and has instantly become a favourite of Brisbane diners with it's contemporary French menu based on timeless recipes.  

The head chef at Aquitaine is Damon Porter, who was trained legendary Queensland chef David Rayner, owner of the River House restaurant before spending a few years in Monaco and France.  The time was well spent with Damon developing a keen eye for detail along with a flair for European cooking.  Like most great chefs, Damon has a passion for using quality locally sourced products and has spent time cultivating relationships with some of Queensland's best suppliers to secure some of the freshest produce available in the South East.

The 5th Element - still searching for the last element

http://www.5thelement.com.au/

Southbank is one of the most vibrant precincts anywhere in Australia but it really comes alive during the annual Brisbane Festival.  Where else can you find an open piazza that seats over 2,000 people just a few steps away from a man made beach that is open all year round?  Ever since the transformation of the old Expo '88 site from wasteland to a city playground there has been something for everyone just a short walk across from the city CBD.  One of the reasons why I love Southbank so much is that it's one of the more exciting dining precincts in Brisbane.

I had been hitting Southbank a fair bit during the Brisbane festival, getting over to the Spiegeltent for the incredible La Soiree and the transformed Suncorp Piazza for the street circus spectacular that was Urban.  I've lost count of how many times I have walked by the spectacular Santos Light Show over the last few weeks but it's fair to say that I have heard the haunting Midnight City by M83 that is a highlight from the show.  With all the time I had spent over at Southbank, I figured it was time I visited one of the many cool restaurants while the area was alive with energy and activity.

There are around fifty restaurants to choose from over at Southbank, and that doesn't include all of the mall style eateries that inhabit the centre of people's area in the centre of the area.  Surprisingly, I have not been to many of the dining spots over at Southbank, but those I have gone to I have eaten at many times.  I had to decide if I was going to hit somewhere new or go back to an old favourite and after some contemplation I decided on a compromise, I went back a restaurant I had fond memories of but had not visited for many years.

Number 8 - Southbank on the Yarra River

http://www.crownmelbourne.com.au/number-8

What do you do when you are at a conference and the food is not so good?  Well, if you're like me, you will head off and look for the closest decent restaurant and rectify the situation.  That's pretty easy to do when you are in Melbourne in the Crown complex, in fact, there are an abundance of great restaurants to choose from.  The only minor problem is choosing one of the many on offer, and when you are with a couple of other people, one a vegetarian, it makes the deciding a little more interesting.

We spent a few minutes considering our options, which all ranged from fine dining to ultra fine dining, thinking that we didn't want to break the bank for a quick lunch, but also didn't want just any old food. Luckily, we came across a restaurant called Number 8, which had a great looking menu and an even better looking special deal going.  The 'Lunch Indulgence Offer' jumped right out at us as being almost too good to be true, a two course meal for only $45 dollars, or a three course meal for $55.  What really stood out about this was that all of the mains were over $45 dollars anyway, so it was like getting an entree for free...  Sweet.

Piaf - everyones favourite little bistro

http://www.piafbistro.com.au/

A short stroll from the CBD is one of the best places in Brisbane and in my opinion one of the great spaces in Australia.  Where else in the country can you walk along the river to a man-made beach for a swim?  How many locations have literally dozens of good restaurants as well as many more cheap eats locations?  Southbank is arguably the cultural heartland of Brisbane, with amazing restaurants, theatres and museums, simply awesome.

I had arranged to meet SC after work so we could walk to Piaf together and we had no trouble finding the little French bistro.  We have walked by Piaf a million times (well, a slight exaggeration) so I knew where we had to go and before too long we were seated at our table looking over the menus.  Piaf is an interesting looking little bistro which has an even split of indoor and alfresco dining areas.  It's actually quite cozy inside with tables placed quite close to each other, but outside seems to have a little more space.  With the weather starting to cool down, SC and I were comfortable to be inside where it was a little warmer.

Bacchus - decadent and indulgent

http://www.bacchusrestaurant.com.au/

Towards the end of 2012, Brisbane was a hive of activity with a number of new restaurants opening.  I always get excited about new restaurants, but one in particular caught my eye.  It was something completely different from anything seen in Brisbane so far and opened with much fanfare with Matt Preston presiding over the official launch party.  Bacchus is the new Restaurant over at the Rydges in Southbank and is a something of a departure from the usual Hotel / Restaurant combination.

The name Bacchus gives a hint into the mindset and approach that has been taken with this establishment.  Bacchus is the Greek God of wine and indulgence and you only have to walk through the entrance to see that this has been the inspiration for the design of the restaurant.  Crafted by native Los Angeles designer Tracy Beckman, there is clear linkages to the glamorous aspects of 'Tinsel Town'.  Located on the podium level of the Rydges, Bacchus seamlessly integrates the poolside and restaurant to create a harmonious dining & nightlife experience.

Ahmets - the Turkish experience

http://www.ahmets.com/south-bank/

Our usual Sunday afternoon ritual is to find somewhere to have dinner in the city or surrounds and then head off to see a movie.  Last Sunday we ended up doing things a little differently and saw an afternoon session before heading off to dinner straight after.  You would imagine that this little change to our routine would have a minimal impact on our evening.......  As it turned out the whole evening was thrown out!

It was the regular Sunday crew of CI, TB, SC and I and we ended up going to an earlier session of Zero Dark Thirty because we could not choose between Flight and Hansel and Gretel, the only problem was that Zero Dark Thirty was a 3:30 pm movie finishing at 6:30, no problems, dinner after.  Once the movie finished we were at a loss of where to go.  We checked out a few places that had all closed for the evening and ended up in a queue at the Casino to visit the Fat Noodle.  However, after being told that we would need to wait 30 minutes for a table decided to wander over to Southbank where more restaurants would be open.

Stokehouse - Melbourne comes to Brisbane town

http://stokehousebrisbane.com.au/

A few years ago one of the final vestiges of Expo '88 was removed from Southbank.  One of my favourite restaurants, the River Canteen, was located in the far corner of Southbank near the Maritime Museum along with a number of other cafes and shops.  Sure they were looking a bit tired but I was incensed and outraged when I heard the news.  I dutifully went along to one of the final sittings at River Canteen and wondered why it was all coming to an end.

Fast forward a few years and we now have one of the most vibrant and amazing restaurant precincts in Brisbane with River Quay  now fully completed.  One of the first restaurants into River Quay was a southern interloper in the Stokehouse, a Melbourne institution located on the St Kilda foreshore.  The Stokehouse has been a favourite for Melbournians for over 20 years and a legitimate question about its fit into the Brisbane market is, would it succeed on the Brisbane River?