Firma Italian
It’s summer in Europe, which means that your Instagram feeds are no doubt filled with photos and videos of friends and acquaintances sipping Aperol spritzes, twirling up forkfuls of pasta and crushing cone after cone of gelato like there’s no tomorrow. While there’s no real substitute for boarding a plane and getting amongst the action ourselves, the team at Emporium Hotel South Bank might have something to help take the sting out of your FOMO. On Thursday August 1, the hotel’s high-end restaurant Signature will be reborn as Firma – a new Italian-inspired eatery bringing an extra dash of Euro-style chicness to South Bank. While details are still being kept secret, we can confirm that Firma will be headed up by a top-notch chef who will be showcasing the cuisine of her hometown across the restaurant’s menu. Oh, and we’ve also heard that there will be a drinks trolley – one negroni, please! Check back soon for more info on Firma Italian on The Weekend Edition.

Lúc Lắc
As Queen’s Wharf’s grand debut looms ever closer, we’re hearing more about the restaurants looking to make themselves at home on The Terrace, The Star Brisbane’s riverfront dining and retail strip. In September, Ghanem Group – the team behind Donna Chang, Blackbird and Bisou Bisou – will open Lúc Lắc, an Indochine-inspired restaurant and bar showcasing the flavours of Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore. Ghanem Group executive chef Jake Nicolson will be drawing on Queensland’s abundance to shape a menu featuring everything from snacks, salads and wok-tossed dishes to slow-braised clay-pot curries, grilled meats and seafood. Lúc Lắc’s signature dishes will include kampot-peppered beef tossed with betel leaf and lemongrass, crispy snail and pork spring rolls, whole crispy spotted blue grouper with native tamarind and three-taste sauce, and Vietnamese-style baby goat yellow curry with sweet potato, coriander and Thai basil. On the drinks front, beverage director Aaron Clark is fashioning a list featuring flavour-packed cocktails, Asian beers and international wines. The venue will boast a vibrant, tropical-inspired design scheme featuring floral fabrics, animal prints and brass accents, applied across a casual bar-dining space and main restaurant floor, with an external gallery also given a rainforest setting. Lúc Lắc will join the likes of Black Hide Steak & Seafood by Gambaro, Cucina Regina and Azteca as residents of The Terrace – click here to find out more.

Baja x Monal Dining
Two of Brisbane’s eateries are teaming up for a must-attend lunch event, taking place on Sunday August 11. The crew from Fortitude Valley Mexican restaurant Baja will be cruising over to Monal Dining in Newstead for a special feast. Baja’s Julius Villamor will join Monal’s Yogesh Budathoki and Jake Smith to prepare a set-menu offering that will highlight each chef’s innovative approach and creativity. While exact details on the menu are yet to be revealed, bookings are expected to move fast. The set menu is going for $65 per person, with sittings available from 1:00 pm. Head to the Monal Dining website to snag a spot.

2 Bros Nashville Hot Chicken
2 Bros, the popular purveyors of Nashville-style fried chicken, is expanding its interests across Brisbane and the Gold Coast soon, with two new locations set to open by the end of the month. The brand, founded by brothers Abdullah and Abdur Rehman Siddiqui, has become a beloved source of crispy skinned, succulent fried chicken since opening in Underwood 2020. The 2 Bros team has just opened a slick new coastal-inspired family-friendly chicken joint in Slacks Creek, from which it is slinging its menu of mouth-watering morsels – we’re talking fried chicken, wings, boneless chicken pieces, burgers, grilled-chicken wraps, chicken and waffles smothered with maple syrup, and nine different types of milkshakes. The chicken, all antibiotic- and hormone-free, is coated in a house-made dry rub featuring ten spices before being cooked and served in five different spice levels (from mild all the way up to scorching hot). To show that they’re not cluckin’ around, Abdullah and Abdur will also be relocating their Southport store to a larger, state-of-the-art site in Parkwood. Keep your eyes peeled for more info.

aKAH Chicken
It seems as if Brisbane is in the grasp of fried-chicken frenzy right now, with another chook-centric concept set to make a splash in Margate next month. aKAH Chicken will opening on Margate Parade on Friday August 2 and will be celebrating by giving away 100 classic aKAH burgers to the first 100 customers to visit after 11:00 am (with a limit of one burger per customer). If you miss the freebies, don’t stress – the rest of the aKAH menu is worth exploring. In addition to its range of chicken burgers and loaded fries, aKAH also serves plenty of crispy fried chicken served alongside a variety of house-made sauces for dunking. Cluck yeah!

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