Pawn & Co., Fortitude Valley: When it comes to one-of-a-kind concepts, it doesn’t get much more unique than Pawn & Co. The brainchild of Melbourne party starters Josh Lefers and Stephen Wools (as well as new partners Steve Thomas and Alex Docherty) made its Brisbane debut last month, opening a striking new two-level club  in the space formerly home to Laruche. The core conceit of Pawn & Co. is simple – everything is for sale. Inside the venue’s maximal colour-soaked, retro-futurist interior (courtesy of a $4-million refurbishment executed by Lowry Group) you’ll find glass-encased shelves housing everything from vintage designer handbags to gleaming Rolex watches, with each piece coming with a price tag. An in-house perfumery gives guests the opportunity to craft their signature scent, which is a brilliant keepsake for any corporate outings and hens nights. Pawn & Co.’s bar offering is headlined by high-concept cocktails – interactive sips inspired by famous perfumes – each boasting a flourish, be it through the use of flame, smoke or bubbles to heighten the drinking experience. Every weekend, Pawn & Co.’s DJ booth (equipped with an oversized gramophone) will be manned by selectors spinning house bangers.

Sokyo, Brisbane City: The official unveiling of The Star Brisbane at Queen’s Wharf  on Thursday August 29 was, undoubtedly, the biggest story of the month. Amidst all the buzz surrounding the launch of The Star Grand, the breathtaking Sky Deck and the ribbon cutting of the Neville Bonner Bridge was the almost understated debut of Sokyo, The Star Brisbane’s flagship restaurant. The sibling of Sokyo Sydney and Kiyomi on the Gold Coast, Sokyo delivers a similarly considered take on Japanese cuisine, with traditional touches accented by theatrical flair and modern innovation. Deftly orchestrating the culinary offering is executive head chef Alex Yu, who was previously head chef at Yugen Melbourne and, before that, long-time sous chef at Sokyo Sydney, where he earned the moniker of ‘sashimi florist’. Here, the detail-oriented chef is blending ritual and art, drawing upon Queensland’s bounty of incredible produce for the menu, which boasts a mix of Sokyo signatures and a number of Alex’s own creations. We encourage guests to try the spicy tuna (served on a bed of crispy rice), the miso-glazed toothfish with Japanese salsa and pickled cucumber, Wollemi duck breast with Brussels Sprout, goma dare and furikake, and a platter of Alex’s delicately arranged sashimi. Backed by a beverage menu filled with high-end sake, wine and cocktails – as well as a slickly pared-back interior – Sokyo is gunning for a spot amongst the upper echelon of Brisbane’s restaurant scene.

FIRMA Italian, South Bank: Though housed in familiar surrounds, Emporium Hotel South Bank’s newly minted signature restaurant is a completely fresh concept. Traditional Italian dining takes centre stage at FIRMA, with head chef Alba Rizzo giving diners a glimpse at her upbringing in Lombardy through a selection of flavour- and comfort-driven dishes. Encompassing a la carte and set menus, FIRMA’s stand-out dishes include Sicilian olives filled with veal and pork, whipped salt cod with salmon roe and crostini, buttery agnolotti filled with pork and mortadella, spiced Brisbane Valley quail, Hervey Bay scallop gratin with prosciutto di Parma, and Queensland reef fish with braised borlotti and pancetta. For cocktail lovers, a martini and negroni trolley also trundles around the space, but oenophiles will no doubt have their attentions affixed to FIRMA’s custom-built display cellar, which dispenses an impressive selection of rare and hard-to-find drops from the hotel’s 6000-strong main cellar.

Little Miss Sunshine Bistro & Brewery, Brisbane City: According to RMS Group co-owner Donna di Santo, Little Miss Sunshine at Heritage Lanes is a bistro first, brewery second. But don’t believe for a second that the crew behind the inner-city newcomer isn’t serious about beers – the venue’s 10-hL, two-vessel brewing system (equipped with six 1,250-L fermenting tanks) is an impressive kit for a venue that only produces bevvies for in-house consumption (the bar also has 28 taps, which is an nod-worthy number of nozzles). Soon, head brewer Becky Centeno will debut Little Miss Sunshine’s debut batch of frothies, including lager, a modern Australian pale with a crisp, citrus aroma, an Italian pilsner, and either a session hazy pale or an IPA. All of these ales have been crafted to match the bistro fare, with head chef Ferdinand Sari crafting an offering boasting a discernible Mediterranean and Middle Eastern base, with an undercurrent of Queensland inspirations. Start small with baby squid with sweet paprika and lime aioli and lamb gozleme with mint yoghurt, then transition into more substantial territory – think chicken cotoletta (Little Miss Sunshine’s riff on a parmigiana), beer-battered barramundi fillets and Moreton Bay bug spaghetti. Little Miss Sunshine subverts the rawness of its surroundings with a modern, timber-heavy fit-out that reflects Queensland’s sun-soaked majesty, with bumblebee-yellow leather booths, terrazzo stone tables and a herringbone-pattern brick bar conjuring a sense of approachable warmth and electric energy.

Bavarian Sizzle, Coorparoo: Although you’ll find a schnitzel on the menu at just about every pub in the city, German cuisine is still criminally underrepresented in Brisbane. Lara Allegra Lange is doing her part to shine a light on Bavarian fare, with Coorparoo newcomer Bavarian Sizzle offering everything from German-style brunch to bratwursts. Taking over the cafe space formerly home to Ninebar + Kitchen, Lara has lit the beacon for fans of Bavarian cuisine, refitting the kitchen with a new char grill, freezers, fryers, an orange juicer and a kegerator, from which frosty German beers from Bayreuther and Maisel Weisse flow. Lara has taken a conscientious approach to the menu construction, using traditional recipes and all-natural ingredients to make sure each dish is as good as it is back in Europe. The fun starts at breakfast with handmade pretzels (available on their own, or as part of a pretzel sandwich stuffed with the likes of pastrami, smoked salmon and cream cheese, or ham and cheese), German-style waffles and brotzeit – Bavarian-style ploughman’s board piled high with sliced meats, cheeses and obatzda. For lunch and dinner, guests can chow down on leberkäse (a form of Bavarian meatloaf), char-grilled bratwurst, bockwurst and currywurst, as well as plate-sized, double-crumb schnitzels. And then there’s dessert – slices, walnut brownies, apple strudel and Black Forest cake, a quintessential Bavarian favourite, can all be found here.

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