One of Brisbane’s most celebrated restaurants is closing – temporarily

Iconic James Street restaurant Gerard’s Bistro will close after dinner service on Saturday, July 1, it announced last week via its Instagram page.

The restaurant will then undergo an extensive two-month refurbishment, led by in-demand designer and architect Jared Webb.

Webb previously worked for Richards & Spence and had a hand in the design and delivery of several of the acclaimed architecture firm’s projects, including Sushi Room, SK Steak & Oyster and Same Same.

The temporary closure will mark the end of an era for one of Brisbane’s most celebrated modern restaurants.

“I think the restaurant does need a refresh,” owner Johnny Moubarak told this masthead.

“It’s home. It’s where we work and play ... we want to feel good about it too.”

Johnny Moubarak, owner

“As much as we love it and many of our customers love it, we feel we have something else to offer. We want to elevate the experience more, and design is part of that.

“Also, for ourselves, for our staff, for our family – we just want this fresh space where it’s a new form of expression.

“That’s what the business is to us.

“It’s home. It’s where we work and play. We spend 80 per cent of our waking hours there so we want to feel good about it too.”

The restaurant’s new dining room will be rendered in a warm minimalism with “beautiful textures” intended to pay homage to the Levant – modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Egypt and Turkey.

The kitchen is also being refurbished to improve its design and lean further into wood fire and charcoal cooking, and away from gas and electricity.

“If I was to explain it to someone, I want [diners] to feel like they’re sitting in one of the ancient ruins in [Lebanon’s] Beqaa Valley,” Moubarak says. “But it’s our interpretation of the Beqaa Valley.”

Gerard’s has evolved with the Brisbane dining scene over the course of its 11-year existence. Celebrated chef Ben Williamson made his mark during the restaurant’s early days with his progressive interpretations of Middle Eastern food.

Diners may have wondered if the restaurant’s best years were behind it when Williamson departed in late 2018 to open his own restaurant, Agnes (and later Bianca and Agnes Bakery, as well as become a co-owner of Same Same and Honto), but Moubarak then hired star Sydney chef Adam Wolfers (formerly Est, Marque, Monopole, Yellow, Ételek), who channelled his Ashkenazi and Sephardi backgrounds to push the Gerard’s menus in new directions.

“I learned so much from both chefs,” Moubarak says.

“Ben really delved deep into Middle Eastern cuisine. He pushed hard, and took the traditional and made it progressive. It was so strong and so relevant and really resonated with the diner.

“And then Adam went further into the Levant, North Africa, even pockets like Yemen. Who would’ve thought, the stuff he did with that: the hawaij chicken and the zhug and the malawach bread.”

Wolfers left Gerard’s Bistro in March to focus on his health after suffering a stroke in 2022.

Head chef Juliette Malkovich has also parted ways with the restaurant. Moubarak expects to have hired a new exec chef by the time Gerard’s reopens, which is tentatively scheduled for mid-September.

Gerard’s Bar, located just across Little James Street, will open seven days a week for the duration of the Gerard’s Bistro refurb, running an expanded menu that includes dishes from the restaurant.

“It’s been an amazing 11 years,” Moubarak says.

“We’ve had so much support from the community at large. And that’s what makes me proud, the support from our hometown people. It’s been so heartening.”