London Porterhouse - Argentinian BBQ comes to town

No website just yet

Share dining is on the rise.  Well, it's actually been on the rise for a few years now with many menus across the restaurants of Brisbane showing 'bites' or 'small plates' that are designed to be shared amongst friends.  Many cultures around the world around the world have a version of share dining so it's hard to pinpoint where share dining originated, but it's certainly most popular in Latin American and large parts of Western Europe.

When you consider the ever increasing number of restaurants in Brisbane there is actually quite a diversity of cuisines available if you go looking.  Mexican cuisine aside, there is not a large Latin American food scene in Brisbane which is a little surprising given the nature of our move to share dining and the love of communal dining in this part of the world.  Amidst all of the doom and gloom about restaurants closing in Brisbane, a new restaurant has quietly opened with its eyes fairly and squarely on Latin American share dining.

London Porterhouse has it's roots firmly in the Argentinian culture with a view that eating and drinking are there to be enjoyed.  Located at Teneriffe in the converted London woolstore, London Porterhouse joins the stable of cool restaurants in bars that sits below the converted woolstore that makes up the London apartment block.  

Lutece Bistro & Wine Bar - Canard a la Presse

http://lutece.com.au/

There is something about French cuisine that is magical.  Of course it has been the most popular and dominant influence on general cuisine for hundreds of years, but there is a little more to it than that.  I've always admired the passion that the French bring to their cooking, it's something that is so European and so all consuming.  You can see the influence in the Brisbane dining scene with many dozens of restaurants showing influence from French cuisine and quite a few that identify solely as French restaurants.

2013 has been a tumultuous year for restaurants with a number closing but it has also seen many new restaurants entering the dining scene.  Bardon is one of my old stomping grounds and I was delighted to see a new French Bistro open its doors in July.  I was actually still touring New York when I found out that Lutece Bistro had opened up not too far away from my old house.

Lutece is the French term for Lutetia which was a Roman city where Paris now stands and is an appropriate name for a French Bistro established by a chef with the first name Romain.  Lutece has been created by Romain Bapst who is well known around Brisbane as the former head chef of Il Centro in the CBD.  While Romain has lived in Australia since 1990 he is thoroughly a French chef who has been classically trained in his native land before his move down under.  Romain has continued his passion for French cuisine as the President of the Bocuse d'Or in Australia as well as being the President of the Academie Culinaire de France in Australia.

Room with Roses - a hidden gem in a hidden gem

http://www.roomwithroses.com.au/

There is a tendency in Brisbane for old stuff to get discarded and replaced with shiny shiny new stuff.  You really get a sense for this when you walk down the Queen Street Mall at the moment, there are no less than two major redevelopments happening and a third on the way.  This is on the back of the major redevelopment at the Wintergarden and the tearing down of the Regent Cinema complex.  While I generally love shiny shiny new things, I also have a healthy respect for keeping a city's old buildings and architecture, it's how a city builds character. 

It's an interesting dichotomy that Brisbane has been copying the Melbourne idea that laneways are the coolest things ever and attempting to build a laneway culture, but at the same time are tearing down our own unique spaces.  So it's totally refreshing to know that we have our own slice of laneway history that has not been torn down and recently celebrated its 90th birthday.  

Brisbane Arcade is our version of southern style arcade and runs between the Queen Street Mall and Adelaide Street in the CBD.  The fact that the arcade has reached it's 90th birthday and has not been torn down or completely remodeled is surprising given our propensity for shiny new buildings, and this gives the mall some much needed character.  Nestled away on the first floor in the Brisbane Arcade is one of Brisbane's hidden gems, a cafe that is a sea of tranquility in the hustle and bustle of the CBD. 

Ortiga - sunset falls on a Spanish great

http://www.ortiga.com.au/

What tumultuous time it is with Brisbane restaurants of late.  There has been much movement with many new restaurants opening but sadly some closing as well.  The last few weeks have heralded the news that some of Brisbane's best and most awarded restaurants are closing down.  First was the news that after only a year in operation Bistro One Eleven would shut its doors immediately and then later the same day was the sad news that one of the country's best restaurants would also be shutting its doors.

The news that Ortiga was to shut down hit me hard, it's not only one of the best restaurants in the country, it's one of the most imaginative and creative restaurants I had been to.  Ortiga still seemed so relevant in today's cut throat restaurant industry having risen two places in the Gourmet Traveller Top 100 restaurants to number 28.  It also hit me hard as it was a regular special occasion dining spot and  I was booked in to visit for my wedding anniversary, indeed a special occasion.  While I was incredibly saddened by the news, the one consolation was that Ortiga would continue to operate for a few weeks and that we could still have our special occasion dinner, only now it would also be a farewell dinner.

The partnership between Simon Hill and Pablo Tordesillas had indeed been a special one.  Simon has had the knack of building special partnerships after such a long and successful relationship with Jason Peppler at Isis, ironically in the same location.  Isis was a mainstay of the Brisbane dining scene for around twelve years before it's ultimate transformation from Modern Australian fine diner to Spanish award winner.  It seemed as if the success of Pablo and Simon would continue on for equally as long, but incredibly Ortiga will be closing its doors after five incredibly successful years.