The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement

Jamie's Italian coming to Brisbane - but when?

Natascha Mirosch

Coming to Brisbane: Jamie Oliver at his Canberra restaurant Jamie's Italian.
Coming to Brisbane: Jamie Oliver at his Canberra restaurant Jamie's Italian.Katherine Griffiths

The date for the opening of Jamie's Italian continues to remain a mystery almost a year after The Pacific Restaurant Group (recently acquired by the Keystone Group) confirmed the rumours that had been flying for months: that a Jamie Oliver restaurant was opening in Brisbane.

The Keystone Group now owns more than 30 Oliver restaurants worldwide with Jamie's Italian in Brisbane's CBD bringing the total to six in Australia (two in Sydney and one each in Adelaide, Canberra and Perth).

Behind the shuttered facade of the historic Rowes Arcade in Edward Street, construction is going full pelt, with the intention of opening "before Christmas" according to Karen Westfield, general manager of Jamie's Italian Australia.

Advertisement

"The build is well underway but there are still many elements that need to come together before we open the doors," Westfield said.

Senior Brisbane-bound staff, including executive chef, Liverpool-born Joey Goldman, are training at Jamie's Italian in Pitt Street, Sydney for the Brisbane opening.

Like its Sydney counterparts, the Brisbane restaurant will feature two $20,000 Ferrari-red Bottene bronze extruder pasta makers in the window. In the Sydney restaurants they are fed enough dough to produce about 35 kilograms, or enough pasta for 700 serves per day.

While the exact design for Brisbane is being kept mum, it will feature some of the elements from the other venues, including an open main kitchen and sit-up antipasto kitchen in the middle of the dining room, as well as specially designed chandeliers from New York. The restaurant will seat 185, with an additional 80 spaces at the antipasti bar.

The first Brisbane menu will be the one that was launched in the Sydney restaurants last week. Many dishes, such as "planks" - antipasto or seafood served on long wooden planks ($13.50-14 per person) resting atop cans of San Marzano tomatoes (occasionally opened and eaten by diners, apparently) - have been around since the original Jamie's Italian opened six years ago.

Advertisement

The perennially popular prawn linguine is also a stayer and will be on in Brisbane, along with desserts such as "tutti frutti" lemon meringue pie ($10.50) and the "epic brownie" ($10) with amaretto ice-cream and caramel popcorn.

However, there will be local touches, with bread sourced from Brisbane and a beer list including Burleigh Brewing, Brisbane's own Green Beacon, and the Suncoast Brewery on the Sunshine Coast.

While it's unlikely Oliver will make an appearance at the opening of Jamie's Italian Brisbane, Westfield said she "would not be surprised to see Oliver in Brisbane next year."

Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.

Sign up

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement