Locanda osteria and bar - simple Italian fare but with strong flavours

http://www.locandabrisbane.com/

A couple of weeks ago we thought we would check out one of the new restaurants over at the recently completed M&A Lane.  There were a couple of options, with three of the six or so planned planned restaurants already open, but as we walked towards the lane, an incredible smell led us towards the Mighty Mighty (see post here).  While we were sitting and mostly enjoying our southern style BBQ, we sat facing our other option and spent the night wondering if we had made the right choice.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and we had a more definitive plan to check out Locanda Osteria and Bar, which as the name suggests is an Italian joint.  It's more than a little interesting that two of the hottest styles of food right now, Italian and Southern BBQ have opened right next door to each other.  In my mind 2103 has been the year of the Italian and American restaurant, with a heap of new dining establishments opening up with a bent in either direction.

They guys that have put Locanda Osteria together certainly know a little bit about what it takes to run a successful Italian restaurant.  Restaurant heavyweights Manny Sakellarakis and Dan Clark have  created arguably Brisbane's best Italian restaurant in 1889 Enoteca at Woolloongabba and have teamed up with Cove Southbank's Adam Barton on this venture.  Combined they have a heap of experience creating successful restaurants and giving people what they really want, top quality nosh.  They've also snared head chef Daniel Jones to man the kitchen, who has worked at some of Brisbane's best Restaurants including Cha Cha Char and Baguette.

Breakfast Series - Ave' Cucina & Coffee Bar

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ave-Cucina-Coffee-Bar/154205014620710

It seems as if I have to travel further and further away from my base in the CBD to check out new and exciting breakfast spots (well, new and exciting for me).  We had been through a particularly difficult 'fast day' on Friday and really needed to re-energise for a tilt at the rest of the weekend.  I had spent a fair amount of time looking up breakfast spots on the interweb that I hadn't visited before and which seemed interesting.  I have to say that looking for breakfast the night of a fast is a really bad idea and all I did was make myself even hungrier.

I'd given up looking on the Friday night and thought that with a good night's sleep, I would have some inspiration and just know where I wanted to head for breakfast.  Nope, that didn't work either and it wasn't until SC reminded me that I had my 'list' and there were some breakfast places that I still wanted to visit that it all came together.  There were two places left on my list that we needed to visit, both on the south side, so we saddled up and hit the road.  First on the list was Lady Marmalade at Stones Corner, which was closed up for the Christmas and New Year break, so we kept on driving.

Esquire - what more can be said? This place is perfection!

http://esquire.net.au/

If there was one restaurant that defined my dining habits for 2013 it would have to be Esquire in the CBD and to be more precise Esq.  In my first full year of writing about my food experiences, I visited more new restaurants in twelve months than ever before.  While I loved checking out many new restaurants and revisiting many that I hadn't been to for a while, there was a part of me that still liked to be known as a regular somewhere.  That somewhere happened to be just across the road from me and recognised as the best restaurant in town.

I've written about my experiences at Esq and Esquire more than any other restaurant I've been to, and with good reason.  It's just a superb restaurant and dining experience.  Every.  Single.  Time.   Co-owners Ryan Squires and Cameron Murchison along with head chef Ben Devlin make up the team that continue to surpass the expectations of the Brisbane dining scene.  Since I've written so much about the restaurant, I'm going to go straight onto the food, but if you've not heard of Esquire before or want some more info, you can check out my previous posts - here, here and here

Over the last year, it seems as if I have eaten at Esq two or three times a month but upon reflection it had been over twelve months since we had the full degustation dining experience at Esquire.  I thought there would be no better way to see out the year than a full degustation, and since the last night Esquire was open was Christmas Eve, we though it would be a lovely little 'Festivus' present for ourselves.

Reserve Restaurant Milton - Fine dining on the city fringe

http://www.reserverestaurant.com.au/milton.html

It's becoming increasingly difficult for me to try new restaurants in the Brisbane CBD, especially restaurants that are fine dining.  In fact, in the last few years there has been a move away from fine dining into more casually focussed dining.  While there is nothing wrong with high end casual dining, there is a lot to be said about the unique experience that you get from a great fine diner.

It's interesting though, sometimes there are things that literally just 'stare you in the face' and you don't notice.  Reserve at Milton is just such a place.  I've driven down Coronation Drive hundreds of times and said to myself that I must check out Reserve, it looks great.  Time and time again I've sat in my unit struggling to think of somewhere I can go to get a great meal that I have not visited before. Well, this time when it was SC who was in the drivers seat while we were driving past, I bit the bullet and got straight onto my iPad and made a reservation.  Thought into action!

I find it hard to believe it but Reserve at Milton has inhabited the space at the heritage listed Cook Terrace for almost two years.  It really doesn't seem that long ago that Joseph Alexander was the restaurant that I drove past and regularly ignored.  There has been high end restaurants occupying the space on Coronation Drive since 1984 after having a somewhat mixed history since being built in 1888.  Originally a set of Terrace houses, I can only imagine what it would have been like living on the Brisbane river in one of those majestic and massive terrace houses during the 1800's.  If you could have afforded it, I'm sure it would have been quite special.