Brisbane's Mister Fitz ice-cream parlours to open in Sydney

Brisbane entrepreneur Damian Griffiths is taking his Mister Fitz ice-cream brand national.

The owner of Doughnut Time, who has rapidly expanded his doughnut empire into Sydney and Melbourne, has been testing the waters with Mister Fitz in Brisbane's South Bank and Fortitude Valley and will soon open a third store in East Brisbane. Then, he says, he'll be moving south to Coolangatta and across the border, having snapped up a property in Glebe in Sydney.

"I want to open in Surry Hills first though, so I'm looking for a site there," Griffiths says. "I'd plan to have them both open by the start of summer, around August-September."

The first Mister Fitz, an ice-cream parlour specialising in build-your-own ice-cream cookie sandwiches, opened in Little Street in Fortitude Valley in December. Griffiths says he's been tweaking the recipes before taking the brand further.

"I've just built an ice-cream kitchen in Little Street. It looks like a Breaking Bad meth lab from the outside, but it's very well set up and has the capacity to supply a lot of stores."

Griffiths plans to make the ice-cream in the central Brisbane kitchen and transport it to the interstate stores. In addition to Sydney, further expansion plans include parlours in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.

Griffiths says he has no intention of slowing down with his other brand Doughnut Time either, with 18 outlets opening since the original Fortitude Valley hole-in-the-wall opened in February 2015.

There are plans for Doughnut Time outlets in Melbourne's Fitzroy and Hawthorn, and Griffiths is scouting for a site in Perth as well as looking to Tokyo and the West Coast of the United States for international expansion.

Meanwhile, Griffiths is selling his first two ventures, Limes Hotel and Alfred & Constance, both in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley, and holding on to Les Bubbles, Alfredo's, Kwan Brothers and ​Chester Street Kitchen. Plans for his Little Street properties include an urban winery and beer garden.