ETNA
In case you missed it, last week we shared word that restaurateurs Lauren Smith and Andrea Gatti, owners of beloved Italian ristorante and wine bar, Rosmarino, were gearing up to expand. The couple will open its own pizzeria, ETNA, inside the Stewart & Hemmant building this September, doubling its presence within Fortitude Valley’s revitalised drapery building. ETNA will front Marshall Street and will sit next to fellow soon-to-open concept BROOKI. The venue will boast room for roughly 38 guests inside and room for another 12 or so in a shared courtyard space at the rear, with an earthy and rustic aesthetic expected to be applied across main dining areas. Lauren and Andrea are looking to create a concept that is more approachable and easygoing compared to Rosmarino’s upscale, occasion-worthy offering. That being said, ETNA will still look to serve a premium offering, with a menu consisting of roughly 12–15 pizzas (made with experimental flour combinations and crowned with gourmet toppings), two to three pasta dishes and a small selection of antipasti. As for ETNA’s wine list, Andrea will be curating an array of natural drops that match well with pizza – think chilled and light reds, orange wines and pet nats. We’ll have more on ETNA as we get closer to its opening date!

Farmers Flood Relief at Gerard’s Bistro
If there’s one positive to be taken from the past week, it’s that when faced with unprecedented circumstances, Brisbane locals will turn out in force to lend a helping hand. A cadre of Brisbane’s best chefs will be uniting to host a flood-relief fundraiser dinner at 6:30 pm on Wednesday March 30, with proceeds from this one-of-a-kind event being donated to beloved produce suppliers Falls Farm, Neighbourhood Farm and Loop Growers – all of which have been devastated by flood waters. Adam Wolfers, executive chef of Gerard’s Bistro, has put out the call to his friends in the hospitality industry, assembling a cadre of tip-top talent to form what is essentially The Avengers of Brisbane’s restaurant scene. Joining Adam at Gerard’s Bistro on the night will be Louis Tikaram (Stanley), Fin Burgess (ESSA), Oscar Solomon (Yoko), Jake Nicholson (Ghanem Group), Aleg Gregg (Agnes), Will Cowper and Gianna Ephraims (OTTO Brisbane), Sarah Baldwin (Joy), and Gerard’s Bistro’s new head chef Juliette Markovich. Together the team will create a menu of incredible fare, with produce donated from some of the city’s best suppliers being wrought into a sumptuous banquet. In addition to the dinner itself, ticket holders will be able to bid on an assortment of auctioned prizes and raffles. Click here to snag a seat.

Sunny Side Sandwiches
Community spirit is at an all-time high, as locals come out in droves to help clean-up and rebuilding efforts after the devastating floods. Though the coming months will no doubt be a difficult uphill climb for many businesses aiming to return to normalcy, we’re already hearing heartening news of newly formed friendships between businesses making the process of turning lemons into lemonade easier. Jay Gordon and the Broken Hearts Burger Club crew has generously loaned the use of its Ashgrove location to Mack Bowers and Charline De Conto of Sunny Side Sandwiches, whose shopfront at Homezone Windsor was badly affected by flood waters, with its three-month-old shopfit, kitchen equipment and thousands of dollars worth of stock written off. Sunny Side Sandwiches will operate from Broken Hearts’ space on Waterworks Road from this Friday March 11 to Sunday March 27 while they get their original location back in operational order. From 7:00–11:00 am, the Sunny Side team will sling a reduced breakfast-oriented menu including its breakfast sandwich, killer bacon-and-egg roll, beloved beef and pickles sanga, its egg-salad sandwich and cups of freshly squeezed orange juice. Stay tuned for more information on Sunny Side’s relaunch in the coming weeks.

City to Coast
We love a long lunch – especially when it falls on a lazy Sunday. Two of our favourite eateries, Manly’s Shucks Bar and Woolloongabba’s C’est Bon will be teaming up for a special one-off collaborative lunch called City to Coast at Shucks on Sunday March 27, with both kitchen teams coming together to create a menu that celebrates Australian seafood, locally grown produce and native ingredients. The six-course affair will see guests treated to oysters (served with pink lady apple, native thyme and ginger oil, and blackberry mignonette with smoked vinegar), oyster pate with cucumber jelly on brioche, half-shell scallop with radish, bergamot and vinaigrette, scampi with sweetcorn brulee, cuttlefish with puy lentils and pickled mushroom, and Murray cod with sauce bonne femme and warrigal greens. Two sittings will be available on the day – one at midday and another at 2:00 pm. Click here to make a booking!

Lune Croissanterie’s March specials
The start of a new month means that there’s a fresh assortment of monthly specials over at South Brisbane’s Lune Croissanterie. The pastry wizards have whipped up an amazing selection of limited-edition eats for the month of March, with something to satiate any sweet tooth and savoury lover. Leading the offering this month is the Turtle, a twice-baked pain au chocolat filled with Mork chocolate frangipane, caramel and roasted pecans, while also topped with candied pecans, salted caramel and fudge sauce. This treat is inspired by the American candy bar, Turtles, and looks simply divine. Also available is the peanut-butter-and-jelly-inspired croissant, which has been twice baked before being filled with peanut butter frangipane and a raspberry blondie and layered with peanut butter ganache, raspberry jam and extra blondie pieces. Rounding out the offering is a creme brulee cruffin (filled with caramel crémeux), a smoked tomato and taleggio danish, and the Sausage Sizzle, which sees Lune pastry baked around a cannoli tube that is filled with a custom-made pork sausage (from Hagens Organics) and caramelised onions. Oh, and it’s topped with house made tomato sauce and Dijon mustard. Bunnings, eat your heart out.

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