Just Open: Lokal and Co, West End, Brisbane

West End has a new local. A partnership between Norwegian expat chef Helge Olsen and Brisbane chef Corey Thoms, Lokal & Co, opened on Tuesday. The pair have worked together for the past seven years for the Cicada Group, owners of CBD venues Cicada, Chocolate Soldier and Firefly among others. For their first solo venture, they've taken decor and menu inspiration from Olsen's Nordic roots.

"We tried to keep it really simple and fresh with an open feel, birch wood furniture, lots of plants and touches of copper," Thoms says.

While the aesthetics are Nordic-inspired, the venue pays homage to its location in one of Brisbane's most established suburbs. In keeping with the West End architecture, the venue operates from half of a renovated Queenslander, with outdoor dining areas on the front deck or a dog-friendly astro-turfed front garden, with a cafe umbrella standing in for the traditional Hills hoist.

Both chefs will be in the kitchen on a rotating basis, Thoms says, dishing up breakfast and lunch daily.

The menu includes light breakfasts from sour cherry loaf with vanilla whipped ricotta to more substantial offerings such as gingerbread waffles with chocolate sauce, whipped ricotta and crumbled honeycomb.

House-cured gravlax features in both a breakfast served with rye soldiers, goat's curd, pickled baby beets, cherry tomatoes and herbs; and at lunchwith a warm potato and braised fennel salad.

When the liquor licence comes through, there'll be a mainly Australian wine list with a few additional European drops. Asahi, Cricketers Arms, Estrella and a guest beer will be on tap, along with a small selection of bottled beers and the pair are trying to source a Nordic beer or two. Allpress is the coffee on pour.

Thoms says they'll look at doing Friday-Sunday dinners in the near future.

Open daily 7am-4pm.

6 O'Connell Street, West End, Brisbane, 07 3844 1675, lokalandco.com.au