Restaurant review: The Wolfe, East Brisbane

There's been a parade of plates as lovely as beauty queens coming from restaurant kitchens lately; artfully but artificially composed, undeniably pretty but really, not much going on under the petal garlands. Cue the applause then for this elegant East Brisbane bistro, where the food is stylish and intelligent – more Coco Chanel than Kim Kardashian.

Welcome back to chef Paul McGivern, one of the few keepers of the flame. Five years ago, classically trained McGivern, the former owner of Rapide in Camp Hill, then Manx at Portside, decided he'd had enough and hung up his chef's whites. But the siren song of the kitchen proved too strong and he found himself slipping on his rubber clogs and firing up the stove once again with a new venture, the Wolfe. Formerly Egg Bistro, it's a charming space, with black wrought-iron doors, polished dark wood furniture and a marble-topped bar. It feels far removed from the busy road outside, while out the back is a pleasant green sheltered courtyard.

During the past few years, McGivern has been working front of house and it shows in the attention to detail; the comfortable grey flannel-covered chairs and well-padded banquettes, the subtle lighting and music set to the perfect pitch. His partner, Bailee Dewes, has a long background in hospitality, too, most recently as manager at Nantucket in Indooroopilly, and works the floor with warm professionalism.

The tight but thoughtful European-led menu with bare-bones descriptions bucks the current trend of crediting produce, perhaps, to create dialogue between staff and customers. So despite a lack of hoo-ha we discover much of the veg is organic and comes from another mate, John Cutts, a farmer just over the border in New South Wales, picked and packed off within hours.

Underpinning classic dishes is a demonstration of mastery of technique and a less-is-more ethos. A dish of gnocchi, pillowy soft, with just a blush of tan from a buttered pan is served simply with sweet Moreton Bay prawns and a slow-cooked sugo of tomatoes, basil, onions and garlic.

Pan-fried john dory comes with a brilliant saffron-hued beurre blanc, buffalo curd-filled zucchini flowers and a single brittle translucent italian dandelion leaf, dried and fried. Two fat Cloudy Bay storm clams in their shell are islands surrounded by a prawn bisque that is light and balanced, more aromatic and cleaner tasting than a traditional lobster bisque.

Sliced pork belly is juicy beneath a thin, brittle crackling with little bursts of fat-taming acid in the form of plump muscatels soaked in five-year-old apple cider vinegar. There's also swede, caramelised until just on the right side of burnt, then pureed, plus a row of neatly trimmed Dutch baby carrots.

Wines by the glass (there are a generous 26 in total) are poured as they should be, at the table and in decent stemware. The idiosyncratic wine list suits the food, and seems very much an expression of McGivern's own wine interests. Having worked with winemaker mate Nick Farr in Geelong as well as producing a vintage in France, pinot noir, white burgundy and chardonnay are strongly represented, however, there are plenty of other varietals from Australia, New Zealand and France with a few Italians tossed in for good measure.

Desserts include a sliced banana topped with discs of macadamia brittle and a super-smooth white chocolate ice-cream. Simple, but far more elegant than it sounds.

In a world full of fast food and the flashes of diners' cameras, the Wolfe seems like an old-fashioned but very welcome anomaly – a time traveller from a simpler world where taste rather than Instagramability informed menus, and hospitality was indeed hospitable. East-siders should consider themselves very fortunate indeed.

The Wolfe

989 Stanley Street, East Brisbane

07 3891 7772

Contemporary/European

$$

Score 15.5/20

thewolfeeastbrisbane.com

Prices: Entrees $18-$24; mains $36-$42; desserts $14-$18

Features: Accepts bookings, Licensed, Outdoor dining, BYO (Tue-Wed evenings, bottled wine only $10 a bottle)

Chef(s): Paul McGivern

Cards accepted: Amex Mastercard, Visa, EFTPOS

Opening Hours: L, Thu-Sat; D, Tue-Sat

Open: Thu-Sat noon-3.30pm; Tue-Sat 5.30pm-10pm