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Valley of mouths: Brisbane's go-to taste haven

Brisbane's Fortitude Valley was on once a seedy hangout for society's more adventurous types. Nowadays the adventure is on your plate - the restaurant scene is thriving.

Natascha Mirosch

A new addition to the Fortitude Valley dining scene ... Kwan Brothers.
A new addition to the Fortitude Valley dining scene ... Kwan Brothers.Harrison Saragossi

Sex, drugs and rock'n'roll - Fortitude Valley was once the place to come for all three. Brothels sat cheek by jowl with illegal gambling dens, louche nightclubs and late night eating joints where your kebab was likely to come with a proposition, a dose of Montezuma's Revenge or a fist fight.

John Kilroy, of Jellyfish and Char Char Cha in the CBD owned Giardinetto Italian Restaurant between 1979 and 1986. One of the city's oldest restaurants, it opened in 1966 in Brunswick Street - the heart of Fortitude Valley.

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“The Valley was very seedy then,” Kilroy says.

"There weren't a lot of restaurants; just us, a couple of Italian cafes and Lucky's around the corner. Giardinetto was very popular - we'd have up to 150 people queuing up to get in every night.”

Kilroy concedes there were a lot of "colourful" people in the Valley in those days. “More so because of the nightclub next door. We'd always have a mixed crowd - politicians at one table, working girls at another, but also law students and professors.”

The punch from At Sixes and Sevens on James Street.
The punch from At Sixes and Sevens on James Street.Harrison Saragossi

Today the Valley has had, if not a head to toe makeover, at least a metaphoric wash and a shave. But there's still a hint of a raffish 5 o'clock shadow and that's how the locals like it, in particular the generation exploring its bars and restaurants for the first time.

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By sheer coincidence, right next door to old-timer Giardinetto is one of the Valley's youngest venues. David Wong opened Fat Dumpling in April, eschewing a city location for Brunswick Street.

“The Valley is full of young people and developments. I think that in the future the area is just going to keep growing,” Wong says.

The brisbanetimes.com.au Good Food Guide 2014/15 launches on Monday night.
The brisbanetimes.com.au Good Food Guide 2014/15 launches on Monday night.Supplied

No more is that growth more visible than in the sheer number of eating and drinking options in the The Valley these days with close to double the number of venues in this year's Brisbane Times Good Food Guide compared to the first edition in 2012.

Part of that growth has come from new developments such as the M&A complex and on the Fortitude Valley/Newstead border; Gasworks.

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The M & A in particular boasts a concentration of restaurants above other retail outlets – there is a second venue for the team from Woolloongabba's 1889 Enoteca- Locanda Osteria, while half of the former owners of Canvas next door to Enoteca are neighbours at M&A too, with their southern eatery and bar Papa Jacks. American is on the menu at the Mighty Mighty in the same complex while Mediterranean cuisine influences Flaming Olive. Jamie Webb, temporarily left his Petrie Terrace empire building (Peasant, Cabiria, Lefty's Old Time Music Hall) to open Gordita here too. A double story Japanese restaurant is due to open at the M & A soon as well.

Damien Griffith continues his takeover of Alfred & Constance Streets in the Valley, adding Kwan Brothers, (this year's winner of the Brisbane Times Good Food Guide award for best food under $30) to his already established venues, Limes Hotel, Alfred & Constance, Chester Street Kitchen and Alfredo's. New gin joint Dutch Courage Officers' Mess is also a neighbour, while around the corner The Mill on Constance set up shop in an historically notable old flour mill.

James Street continues growing too- PJ McMillan, owner of the popular long-time resident Harvey's opened Tinderbox Kitchen, Luxe has morphed into Ribs & Burgers. Piadina into Hive Cafe and Happy Little Dumplings opened a branch here. Two new bars; At Sixes and Sevens and the recently opened Gerard's Bar, by the same owners as the hatted Gerard's Bistro added to the drinking options on the James Street strip.

While the Valley is booming, however, it's the casual dining scene that is growing, with no new high-end restaurants taking up residence in The Valley since the two-hatted Ortiga closed last October. At the time, Ortiga owner Simon Hill said that the high-end concept that spared little expense simply hadn't worked.

But with Fortitude Valley's rapid expansion and ongoing transformation from down-at-heel to well-heeled, it's not inconceivable that in the future the suburb may again boast a hatted restaurant or two.

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Giardinetto, 366 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, 07 3252 475
Fat Dumpling, 368 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, 07 3195 1040
Locanda Osteria, 100 M&A Lane, Fortitude Valley, 07 3852 1121
Papa Jacks, 100 M&A Lane, Fortitude Valley, 07 3162 8466
Mighty Mighty Cue & Brew, Shop 6/7, 100 McLachlan Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3666 0184
Flaming Olive, Shop 9 100 McLachlan St, Fortitude Valley, 07 3216 1602
Gordita, 11b/100 McLachlan St Fortitude Valley, 3666 0605
Kwan Bros, 43 Alfred Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3251 6588
Limes Hotel & Rooftop Bar, 142 Constance St, Fortitude Valley, 3852 9000
Alfred & Constance, Corner of Alfred & Constance Streets, Fortitude Valley, 07 3251 6500
Alfredo's Pizzeria, 39 Alfred Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3251 6555
Chester Street Kitchen, 32a Chester Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3852 4130
Dutch Courage, 51 Alfred Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3852 4838
The Mill on Constance, 111 Constance Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3252 2111
Harvey's, 31 James Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3852 3700
Tinderbox Kitchen, 31 James St, Fortitude Valley, 07 3852 374
Happy Little Dumplings, 10/65 James St, Fortitude Valley, 07 3854 0741
Hive Cafe, 9/15 James Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3852 5836
At Sixes & Sevens, 67 James Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3358 6067
Ribs & Burgers, 39 James Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3252 5880
Gerard's Bistro, 14/15 James Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3852 3822
Gerard's Bar, 13A, 23 James Street, Fortitude Valley, 07 3252 2606

Natascha Mirosch is the editor of the Brisbane Times Good Food Guide.

The 2014-15 Brisbane Times Good Food Guide is on sale at newsagents from Tuesday, July 8 ($12.99) or online at brisbanetimes.com.au/goodfoodguide From next week, it will be available as an app, for tablet and mobile, from the app store.

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