Waitersfriend recently attended a wine tasting for FESQ showcasing the spring portfolio and was fortunate enough to try some pretty special wines, none more exciting than the Ben Glaetzer ‘Amon Ra’ Shiraz. While we were there we got wind of another tasting for the Addley Clarke portfolio down the road at Emmanuel Sakellarakis’ restaurant 1889 Enoteca.
To be honest, mild inebriation may have been setting in by the time a few of the wines were tasted but it must be said that the room was full of some of the South East’s hottest properties in ‘Fino‘ owner Michael Dalton, Urbane Restaurateur Drew Patten, Urbane Head Chef Kim Machin, Gold Coast Restaurateur Shelly Greaves from Verve, Simon Shanahan of Moo Moo Restaurant - who was recently accepted in to the Sommelier’s Guild, and of course Emmanuel Sakellarakis, owner of Enotica and the man behind Addley Clarke Fine Wines.
The conversation was captivating, the boom that has seen Brisbane’s food & wine scene firmly place itself on the map seems to be bullocking ahead. Emmanuel’s restaurant is classy & has an unmistakable feeling of raw quality. You know when you walk in that things are going to go well. After years in the game you come to realize that there is no set formula for what works in the restaurant industry but for all the vast array of concepts that are out there the ones that work seem to have an indescribable feel and Enotica has IT!
We wandered downstairs to the private dining room which was wall to wall wine racks with one long communal table straight down the middle. This is where the invisible line of inebriation may or may not have been crossed, although thankfully it seemed there were others of the same ilk! The racks did appear to be housing some pretty damn special wines from Italy & Spain. The place also offers great retail booze in the adjoining frontage. Waitersfriend are looking forward to getting back there for dinner and opening one or two of those bottles in that rack downstairs!
One discussion that truly inspired Waitersfriend was in regards to the new Urbane renovation. After receiving 3 Hats and instilling itself as the premier restaurant in Brisbane, the owners Andy & Drew decided to refurbish. Refurbish is definitely an understatement! With 45 chefs and 40 front of house staff, 3 different dining & drinking concepts and a drive to conquer the world, the new restaurant promises to set the town alight. Opening this month and working the media with a soft opening, we can expect to hear much more about what promises to be one of this countries premier restaurants. Without putting a jinx on them, Waitersfriend couldn’t help walking away thinking that this will take Brisbane & Australian dining to a new level. It sounds like a big statement but we will bet our reputation on the fact that all will be inspired by the philosophy & energy these guys are about to impart on our industry. Whether we are ready for it? is the multi million dollar question.
