When it comes to working in a kitchen, Brad Cooper has ticked just about every box you possibly can.

“I’ve been the apprentice, commis, demi, CDP, senior CDP, junior sous, sous chef and head chef,” says Brad. “I’ve done them all.”

So, having climbed all of the rungs, it seems like the final thing on Brad’s career checklist is to open a restaurant of his own. Back in March, Brad finished up his tenure as head chef at Bar Francine (where his quirky, nostalgia-tinged menu became the talk of the town) with plans underway to open a new restaurant alongside partner Matilda Riek (a front-of-house star who also worked at Bar Francine). Together, they searched high and low for a space that spoke to them.

“We wanted somewhere small-ish,” says Matilda. “Somewhere a little bit unique – somewhere that’s not super loud, super dark or super busy.”

Their dream space was found on Dornoch Terrace in West End – the heritage-listed Hill End Methodist Church that, over the years, has housed everything from a music school to a bookstore. Within the building’s weatherboard-clad exterior is a high-ceilinged space with exposed rafters, polished timber floorboards and leadlight lancet windows interspersed along each wall. Vacant heritage-listed spots are rare in Brisbane and even amongst that tiny number, this space was one of a kind.

“I could picture it straight away as a restaurant,” Matilda tells us. “The high ceilings, the windows and the layout just kind’ve works – we got pretty interested straight away.”

And then came months of negotiations, hoop jumping, hurdle leaping, tape cutting and meticulous planning to get the green light to proceed with the fit-out for their 60-seat restaurant August, which the tandem hopes to open in early-to-mid November. Work is currently underway setting up the essentials for a fully functional kitchen, including installing a grease trap and appropriate plumbing. A small timber bar is being constructed in one corner, while the cooking space itself is taking shape at the rear of the building, underneath a circular window. Aesthetically, Matilda and Brad are eager to lean into the building’s existing charm, letting the ecclesiastical character of the Federation-era building do most of the heavy lifting, aesthetics wise.

“That’s really the point of using the building,” says Matilda.  “We’re leaving all the windows and keeping everything quite light and open. When all the windows and doors open the space gets some really nice lighting and a nice breeze.”

On the food front, expect August to serve a menu boasting broad French and Italian characteristics, shaped, tweaked and delivered through Brad’s unique culinary lens. The setting will also impart influences on August’s style of dining, which Brad and Matilda describe as classic, but still casually approachable.

“We’re going to do wide plates, tablecloths and work with the building,” says Brad. “The food won’t be too wacky – we’ll be making it classic and then maybe mix it up a little bit.”

August’s draft menu currently features the likes of oysters alla Marco with scallop mousseline and champagne, ox tongue and green tomato fritters with sauce bois boudran, double lamb saddle chop with bagnetta sauce, and a semi-savoury blue-cheese cheesecake with Pedro Ximenez jelly and black sesame, which will be served as an alternative to the cheese course. Even on paper, the menu seems to ooze a sense of creativity that can only be chalked up to Brad’s famously idiosyncratic approach. According to the chef himself, it all stems from his own desire to put something on the plate that he hasn’t seen himself.

“I might see something and think, ‘I’ve never seen that before’ – and I’ll just search into it,” says Brad. “I want to find things that you maybe haven’t heard of or things nonnas used to make.”

Matilda is overseeing August’s beverage program, which will build off a foundation of familiarity, but will retain scope for the unconventional on the margins.

“It’s going to be similar to the food – very simple, very classic,” says Matilda. “So Campari spritzes, pastis, and a mix of European, Italian, French and Australian wines – a mix of like familiar things that people know and they know they want.”

Once open, Brad and Matilda are excited to extend August’s offering to functions and events – even gatherings as large as weddings. August is set to open in November – we’ll have a detailed look at the offering for you closer to launch.