Issue #11: Lobbying hard
New hotel-inspired bars, a sudden shutdown, the origins of the XPA, Qld's rivers of rum, and BBB's first correction
BBB is back, after an appropriate recovery period from Bartenders Weekender. No trends column this week, but there’s still plenty to talk about – including some updates on venues and answers to questions left hanging from the last issue.
What’s new?
Bar Hugo, West End. This little neighbourhood bar from Nick Sebar (ex Savile Row) and Shaun Kelly (ex Bacchus) is focused on vermouth and wine. Halfway up Hardgrave Road, away from the bustle of Boundary Street, it’s got a mid-century modern interior – all warm wood with a nice long bar, plus a more Brisbane touch: a back deck. The cocktail menu is naturally vermouth-centric, but there are also martinis and other classics on offer, alongside a single beer offering: XXXX tinnies. Are these little details an example of Brisbane confidently adapting trends from elsewhere, or just proof that sometimes you have to meet people partway?
Bar Miette, CBD. The first Brisbane venue from Melbourne chef Andrew McConnell (Gimlet, Supernormal, Apollo Inn, et al.) has had so much press already, I almost didn’t include it here. But the new all-day riverside terrace space in the finally finished 443 Queen Street building is worth mentioning for two reasons. First, in design and concept, it’s aiming to be a kind of hotel lobby bar without the hotel. Similar venues have been successful in Sydney (Sammy Junior, the re-opened Eau de Vie) and Melbourne (Apollo Inn) but this is the first example we’ve seen in Brisbane. Related to that, Miette is open from 7am-10pm on weekdays and 8am on weekends. Again, this kind of European-style flexible cafe-bar works well in other cities, but barely exists here – especially in the CBD. McConnell has said the all day, every day approach is important to him. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.
Much Love, Spring Hill. This bright little cafe’s menu seems to be trying to encompass as many current trends as possible. There’s the eggs benedict with a croissant in place of an English muffin (with a miso and sriracha sauce), wobbly souffle hotcakes, and strawberry milk matcha lattes. On the other hand, they’re pushing the speculoos/Biscoff trend into unexpected places with a Biscoff latte. There’s always a moment where something very fashionable gets taken to a ridiculous extreme and begins to flame out, but it’s not so easy to recognise it at the time.
Following up
One of the big unanswered questions from our last issue was what impact the fallout from Public Hospitality Group’s financial issues would have on all the venues in its stable, including the award-winning Maybe Sammy, and the rest of the Maybe Group. PHG was reported to have acquired the Maybe Group in April last year, after jointly opening El Primo Sanchez at a PHG-owned site a few months earlier.
The good news that those reports weren’t quite accurate. Speaking at Bartenders Weekender in June, Stefano Catino confirmed he and co-founder Vince Lombardo retain full ownership of the Maybe Group. What happened in April 2023 was the start of an intended acquisition process that’s been on hold since PHG ran into financial trouble. It’s unclear exactly what will happen next as PHG sells off assets and gets a new general manager, but at least Maybe has the option to walk away.
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
Longtime readers may remember in our first issue of the year, we talked about the lack of information on the much-anticipated Naldham House redevelopment. Things have certainly changed on that score. DAP & Co (The Gresham, Walter’s Steakhouse) have revealed the details of two of the building’s three venues, pledging to open them this month.
There’s plenty to say about the colourful, old-school Naldham House Brasserie and Terrace on the ground floor and the upstairs late-night cocktail lounge Club Felix, including the aim to serve food after 10pm (though not every night of the week). What’s most interesting to me, given the recent opening of Bar Miette, is that in several interviews, DAP & Co’s Andrew Baturo has said the inspiration for the restaurant specifically and the building renovation in general was Singapore’s Raffles Hotel. Speaking to The Courier Mail (on Tiktok for some reason) he actually says they’re going for a lobby bar vibe. It never rains, but it pours.
Finally, the sudden closure of Alba Bar & Deli on June 22 prompted a round of postmortem interviews with owner Jamie Fleming. He was more candid than many owners about the causes of the closure – essentially, the bar had been carrying a lot of Covid-era debt that it hadn’t been able to pay off. Like The Zoo’s Shane Chidgzey, Fleming told Brisbane Times he thinks other venues are facing similar issues. Alba always occupied a very specific niche in the Brisbane bar scene, but there’s no question it helped make Burnett Lane a true nightlife destination in the city. Whatever venue takes over that space has some weirdly shaped shoes to fill.
Good reads
The best bars in Queensland, as chosen by the industry. Boothby has published its Best Bars Queensland 2024 list. The rankings aren’t determined by an elite judging panel or a popular vote, but by a survey of 100 people in the state’s bar and booze industries. The system isn’t perfect, but the state focus and relatively large sample size mean it’s easier for bars outside Brisbane to get recognition, like Rosella’s at Burleigh Heads, which came in #2 and won Best Cocktail Bar. Sadly, Best Bar went to Alba, just a few days before it closed down.
What’s going on with craft beer in 2024? If you’re having trouble keeping up with all the closures, resurrections, mergers, and new openings in Australian craft beer this year, you’re not alone. James Smith at The Crafty Pint has put together a handy recap and review of the year in beer so far. At the very end, there’s a timeline of major closures and sales over the past six months – there are 34 entries.
Queensland keeps rum sales going. New stats for spirits sales in Australian venues are out and, unsurprisingly, sales by volume are down across the board. Sales by value (ie. total money spent on spirits at bars and restaurants) are up, mostly thanks to inflation. Gin is selling particularly badly, while rum is doing surprisingly well, especially in Queensland, where sales by value are up nearly 9% – more than what you’d expect due to inflation. Do Queenslanders really love rum that much, or are venues just jacking up their rum prices more in Bundyland?
The man who made Australia love XPA. The Extra Pale Ale style of beer is so ubiquitous these days, you’d be forgiven for thinking it had always existed. But it turns out, while it’s also made by craft brewers in the US and elsewhere, it’s particularly popular in Australia, and its breakout moment can be traced back to a specific beer, the Balter XPA, brewed by Scotty Hargrave in 2016. Grace Lee-Weitz at Hop Culture has a fascinating history of the XPA in Australia, featuring an interview with Hargrave himself and several explanations for the XPA’s enduring prevalence here. One of the most persuasive: it can taste like an IPA, but is lower ABV, so it attracts less excise tax.
One more thing: I’ve been corrected by a reader of Issue 10 about the Lylo Hotel Brisbane, which took over the old Limes Hotel space. It seems the Lylo’s capsules are grouped into different rooms, instead of being in central banks, and each capsule may not have its own lockable door, meaning the venue isn’t Brisbane’s first capsule hotel, as I called it – it’s more of a hostel with pod bunks. I’m not sure there’s an industry definition to back that up, but it seems like a reasonable enough distinction.
Until next time, may all your drinks be good ones.