CoCu plans revamp of SubUrban in Dickson and former La Scala in Civic

SubUrban in Dickson is about to get a very big makeover which its owners hope will help revive the inner-northern hub.

It's all part of the CoCu Group's plans for the Canberra restaurant scene.

Owner Frank Condi says SubUrban brought a big boost to Dickson's nightlife when it opened eight years ago, but will be revamped later this year and modernised.

"Dickson's sort of fallen off in relation to where Canberra's at," he says. "So we want to revitalise the area. Realistically, it's a restaurant and a pub and we want to take casual dining to a whole new level."

The restaurant section of the pub was formerly Belluci's, also owned by Condi, but is now simply SubUrban Italian.

Chef David Black, previously of The Artisan in Narrabundah, is modernising the menu at the restaurant, which will have more of a focus on shared plates and contemporary food and there will be "multi-zone dining" throughout the pub and restaurant.

Condi says he'll play it by ear but hopes the new restaurant and bar will be up and running in the last quarter of the year.

He and partners Ivan Pirjac and Pawl Cubbin set up the CoCu Group to run the 11 restaurants, bars and venues they own across Canberra.

Among the company's projects is a new Italian restaurant in Garema Place, on the site of the old La Scala which Condi says will feature traditional Italian done to a high standard.

"We'll probably get in there in the next six weeks and get working on the food element," he says.

Sean Royle, of Eighty Six, will run the restaurants across the group and says the new Italian restaurant will go down the path of A Tavola and Grossi Florentino - "beautiful execution of very traditional Italian food in a kind of relaxed, modern environment," he says.

Condi says the restaurant - the name is yet to be revealed - is slated to open in mid-2015 if all goes well.

There are two more projects also in the pipeline for the group - the new restaurant above Little Brooklyn in Kingston (watch this space) and an "indoor outdoor" concept in the city.

The CoCu Group started as a way for Condi and his business partners to give staff at their venues the chance to carve out a real career in hospitality.

"We saw there was a gap in the market, with training and the ability to move between venues, whether they're chefs or floor staff, having that ability to use hospitality as a career," he says.

"We've got multiple venues so we have to utilise a management structure to control all the venues. We're trying to create a pathway for hospitality."

Royle says it's sometimes difficult to get staff who had the necessary skills and training.

"You really have to grow them. You have to grow them internally and really develop a skillset based on what you need," he says.

Condi says the company offers hospitality workers the chance to develop their skills and the opportunity to forge careers in a variety of restaurants and venues.

"If we can make the industry better, people get a better experience, staff are properly trained, and the product becomes better," he says. "And I think the whole hospitality industry lifts."