Gum Bistro, West End: If there’s one thing Phil Poussart and Lachlan Matheson have learned throughout their respective hospitality careers, it’s that details make the restaurant. Gum Bistro, the duo’s brand-new West End eatery, is defined by its details. Gum’s charming corner location (the character-filled building previously home to Pasta Club) has been spruced up with some new furniture and a lighter colour palette, but has been further enhanced by plant life from Avalon Florals and artwork from rising creatives like Sancintya Mohini Simpson, Mia Boe and D Harding. Chef Lachlan’s menu, a cuisine-agnostic affair that includes sweetcorn agnolotti with crema di parmigiana, Margra lamb rump with sweetbread, beans and radicchio, and autumn pot pie with caramelised onion and gruyere is built using produce sourced from a killer list of suppliers – we’re talking Suncoast Fresh, The Falls Farm, Urban Valley Mushrooms and Brisbane Valley Quail, to name only a few. Sommelier Phil’s drinks list is filled with gems – a main list spotlights around 60 belters, with rarer finds found in a second reserve list. Gum is the kind of place where guests can really get comfy, or swing through for a bite, a sip and a quick chat. But it’s the details that will have people coming back, again and again.

DUCKFAT, Newstead: French food, but make it casual. That was the prime directive of DUCKFAT, the new restaurant and bar from the team behind La Belle Vie. Looking to do away with the trappings that often hem the cuisine into the fine-dining realm, DUCKFAT is an edgy nosh spot that thumbs its nose at the notion that you can only enjoy French food with white tablecloths and suited waitstaff. Instead, what we have is art prints vandalised with vivid graffiti, suspended amongst a canopy of pink-leaved trees that sit above a grungy industrial-inspired dining space. It’s in these surrounds that guests can devour head chef Samuel Perrin’s delectable menu, which boasts the likes of knife-cut beef tartare (topped with a gooey egg yolk), French-style pizzas, baked camembert with rosemary-infused honey sourdough toast, slow-cooked beef-cheek bourguignon, and black mussels served marinière style with fries. The wine list (predominantly French, of course) skews towards biodynamic drops, while DUCKFAT’s cocktail list draws inspiration from quintessential French dishes.

Buttery Boy, Fortitude Valley: Mr Duncans, the mammoth almost-300-seat mega venue opening soon on Chinatown Mall – which will boast five individual kitchens each serving a different cuisine – is one of the year’s most-anticipated openings. Buttery Boy, Mr Duncans’ cafe offshoot, is a slick eatery that is first introducing Fortitude Valley foodies to butterycakes – a plate-sized hotcake that is drenched in syrup and crowned with an array of toppings. The brainchild of owner Vince Mōefa’auo, these butterycakes are every sweet tooth’s dream. So far, crowds have gathered to put a fork to Buttery Boy’s OG butterycake (which comes with your choice of butter), and its specialty variations, inspired by pavlova, cinnamon buns and s’mores. Buttery Boy’s menu doesn’t end with butterycakes. There’s a suite of savoury dishes, too, including English muffin eggs Benedict, bacon-and-egg burgers, wagyu cheeseburgers, and a crispy buttermilk fried-chicken burger. The best news is that Buttery Boy will evolve as Mr Duncans opens up alongside it, including openings at nights for pancakes, rosé and spritzes. We can’t wait!

Fonzie Abbott, Newstead: The lightning bolt of Fonzie Abbott struck Newstead last month with the opening of the beloved roaster’s new headquarters on Ross Street. A warehouse space has been converted into Fonzie’s new roastery, with an attached coffee bar giving caffeine seekers a chance to savour a greater range of roasts. A range of coffees with experimental pre-roasting processing methods are available alongside the usual espresso and batch-brew options, with V60 and pour-over coffee expected to be added in the near future. The retail shelves are laden with merch, take-home bags of beans, brewing apparatus and even some boozy products. On the food front, the team is keeping things concise – takeaway-friendly pastries, sandwiches and brekkie wraps are available for folks keen to keep it moving.

Le Bon Bagel Bar, Woolloongabba: After conquering crepes, Andy Ashby of C’est Bon in Woolloongabba is tackling a new French-inspired morsel with his new pop-up. Le Bon Bagel Bar is Andy’s new, well, bagel joint – but these aren’t any kind of bagels! Le Bon Bagel Bar specialises in Parisian-style bagels, made using poolish yeast starter before being boiled in a French-style stock. Once it can hold its shape, the bagel is then baked at a high temperature until a crispy crust is achieved. Crack one of these cooked beauties open and you’ll notice the inside is lighter and airier, which contrasts with the crisp exterior to create a more delicate mouthfeel. These freshly baked beauties will be stuffed and served with a seasonally rotating array of fillings and toppings, including croque monsieur bagels with prosciutto, cheese custard, comte and spinach, and smoked-trout number with trout rillette, pickled cucumber, parsley salsa and bottarga cream. Le Bon’s bagels are available alongside coffee from Roast by Yili and juices from Yarra Valley Hilltop.

Many more restaurants, cafes and bars opened this month. You can have a browse through the latest foodie happenings by clicking here.