Hoo Ha Bar
Since South Brisbane’s Hoo Ha Bar closed its Tribune Street doors in July last year, we’ve been waiting with bated breath for news of its new location. Now the time has come … kind of. The team has been unable to secure a suitable location to relocate the entire bar for now, so in the meantime Hoo Ha Bar will reincarnate as a hole-in-the-wall coffee shop, Hoo Ha Coffee Bar. The exact location is still under wraps, but expect to find it in the coming weeks in South Brisbane towards the Cultural Centre. In addition to coffee, Hoo Ha Coffee Bar will serve up small cakes, muffins, slices and scones supplied from the independent producers within Wandering Cooks. The hunt is still on for a new bar location – keep an eye out for updates.

Artie & Mai
Exciting times are ahead for the team behind Artie & Mai. Owners Monica and Jimmy Strong are busy working on a new neighbourhood eatery, due to open mid-to-late March in the inner north-west, with the exact location still to be revealed. The yet-to-be-named venue will be a cafe by day, small bar and eatery by night, open for breakfast and lunch seven days and evening trade Thursday to Sunday. In addition to this, Artie & Mai has just launch its night trade from Thursday to Saturday, serving up uncomplicated food alongside a tidy drinks list. The menu includes small bites such as pork belly bites with sticky fennel jam, and chorizo and hash with napoli and manchego, bigger dishes of panko-crumbed fish and chips and barbecue beef back rib, plus burgers, pizzas and desserts. The daytime menu has had a shake up too, so there will be something new no matter what time of day you visit the Albion favourite.

Messina Creative Department
This is gelato like you’ve never seen before. The Messina Creative Department is coming back to Brisbane, with a series of intimate seven-course degustations from February 7–22. This is far from a dessert degustation – although each course features a gelato or frozen element, the dining experience showcases an experimental balance of sweet, savoury and umami, designed to intrigue, indulge and at times confuse the tastebuds – think bergamot, olive oil and sage sorbet with burrata mousse and cured and grilled egg yolk. Each sitting of the Messina Creative Department will accommodate only 12 people on a communal table, located in the private dining room of Gelato Messina in South Brisbane. Sittings fill up lightning fast – head to our Event Guide for ticketing details.

Welcome to Bowen Hills
We’ve been pretty excited about the opening of new street-eat emporium Welcome to Bowen Hills, especially now that food-truck favourite King of the Wings has been announced as the first food vendor in the line-up. Due to open in February, the indoor/outdoor space will be dedicated to a curated rotating selection of food trucks, as well as a pop-up kitchen, which King of the Wings will take over for six weeks before joining the regular roster of food-truck guests. We’ll have more details of vendors in the coming weeks!

If you’ve heard something that’s worth mentioning in The Weekend Edition’s Pavement Whispers, email [email protected].