The one-hatted Brent's Restaurant in Toowong is shutting its doors on Christmas Eve and will be reborn in January as 85 Miskin Street, owner Brent Farrell announced on Thursday.
"I'm really excited about the change," Farrell says. "I've been here for 8½ years doing the same thing and I'm looking forward to getting a bit creative."
Brent's is one of the last bastions of fine dining in Brisbane, with gloved wait staff setting candlelit tables with polished silverware and starched white napery. Farrell insists that while the menu will change to a more casual format and the tablecloths will disappear, the restaurant's renowned service standards will remain.
"We will give the same service we always have - it's just a matter of delivering it in a more relaxed environment," Farrell says.
The current menu of modern French cuisine, which includes dishes such as 'market white fish, nasturtium verde, squid ink aioli, bitter lemon and sea spray', will be replaced by a more laissez-faire affair, eschewing traditional entrees and mains. Instead, diners will be able to pick and mix, whether as plates to share or a personal degustation.
Farrell says the menu at 85 Miskin Street will be heavily dependent on season and market availability and will continue to be supplemented by herbs, vegetables and honey from the restaurant's garden.
The wine list, which currently has around 360 bottles, will also be pared back, Farrell says, with smaller producers represented and a crafted cocktail list.
An interior and exterior renovation is also on the cards with a new bar planned and the carpets to be replaced with a wooden floor.
"Since I was a kid, formal dining was always what I thought of when I thought of eating out. It's always what I've done and while I think some of our regular clientele might be upset at first, it's about evolving. We've always been a bit of a destination restaurant, but I want to make it more approachable, to share my love of food with more people," Farrell says.
Providing the renovation goes to schedule, Farrell says he plans to reopen for dinner Tuesday to Saturday, and lunch Wednesday to Saturday, from January 24.
Brent's, 85 Miskin Street, 07 3371 4558
Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.
Sign up