West Side Pasta
After six months of slinging bang-on burgers, the crew behind West Side on Vulture Street has once again changed up its offering. The West End eatery and bar has built a rep for picking a specialty to hone in on for a pop-up stint, raising it to a standard unseen in Brisbane, and then moving on to another culinary obsession. Over the weekend the West Side team unveiled West Side Pasta, marking the team’s return to Italian cuisine since its first pop-up, the heralded West Side Pizza, launched in late-2022. Owners and head chefs Raffaele Persichetti and Harry Antoniak are drilling down into what they consider to be one of the foundational pillars of the culinary arts – pasta making. As always, the West Side crew is delivering a unique take on pasta, offering up a menu that blends classic, contemporary and experimental, all with an ephemeral lean. The menu will be changing weekly, with a freestyle approach likely to yield something interesting and exciting worth returning regularly for. Currently, the offering starts with green garlic panzerotti bread with ricotta mousse and tuna crudo with anchovy, before segueing to veg-heavy salads like pickled golden beetroot with macadamia, grape and nori, and shiro charred romanesco with green tahini and tamarind. The all-important pasta offering features a four-strong selection, leading with hearty rigatoni with Napoli sauce, basil and parmesan, pappardelle with golden tomato, lup chong and kimchi, ricotta-filled agnolotti with greens, sage, lemon and mint, and a lobster lasagna bathing in scampi bisque. Those eager to sink their teeth into something more substantial can order an MB 9+ purebred wagyu picanha with zhoug and burnt greens. Like with its prior pop-ups, West Side is still scooping out its delicious artisanal gelato and sorbetto, which is available alongside desserts like vine leaf-aged goats cheese with apricot and mother-culture crisp, and flambe creme pat crepe with orange, anise, cacao and meringue. On the drinks front, expect to find a tidy wine list of Italian and Australian vino, classic and signature cocktails (including a Florentine Sour and Chartreuse frappe), and a clutch of beers. West Side Pasta is open from 5:00 pm on Thursday and Fridays, and on Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 pm – head to the Stumble Guide for more details.

C’est du Gâteau
Later this week, two French-born hospitality veterans will open a brand-new pastry and cake dispensary in the heart of South Brisbane – just in time for parkland picnic season. After several years of ideation, product development and careful planning, Sebastian Legendre (formerly executive chef of the Muragh Group) and pastry chef Frederic Pichon-Dignac (ex-Christian Jacques Artisan Boulanger) are finally putting their combined experience and skillset on show with their co-owned concept C’est du Gâteau, which is set to open on Grey Street in South Brisbane this week. The dispensary, which houses a production kitchen and a chic and minimal retail space, will serve an equal mix of savoury and sweet options. Sebastian and Frederic are eager to showcase a range of signature items, ranging from Reuben croissants, slow-cooked barbecue pulled-pork croissants and loaded focaccia, to a salivation-worthy array of mille-feuille, danishes, tartelettes and cakes. Visitors will be able to peer into the kitchen and watch the two chefs at work, with trays of pastries baked in the oven and slipped fresh into the cabinet in front of your very eyes. C’est du Gâteau will officially open to the public on Thursday October 12.

The Imperial Hotel
The Comiskey Group – the enterprising crew behind big-time venues like Sandstone Point Hotel, Eatons Hill Hotel and The Doonan – is at it again, adding another storied venue to its bulging portfolio this month. The crew has recently purchased Sunshine Coast landmark The Imperial Hotel in Eumundi, adding the 112-year-old icon to its holdings, with plans already in the works to renovate the venue’s interior and revitalise its furniture, lighting and landscaping over the coming months. While the classic Queenslander facade will remain, we hear that there are some new amenities planned for addition – including two new restaurants and a gaming room. The Comiskey crew will put its live-music experience to good use, invigorating The Imperial Hotel’s live band room and its gig schedule. HOLA, the site’s 15-room on-site accommodation facility will also be retained, with new facilities (including a heated pool) to be incorporated into the overall facelift. Eumundi Brewery, which is connected to The Imperial Hotel, will continue to operate under the ownership of Lion.

And if you missed the news last week …

Pawn & Co
A one-of-a-kind bar will be taking over a beloved site in Fortitude Valley later this year when Pawn & Co opens on Ann Street. The concept, best described as a pawn-shop-meets-nightclub hybrid, first opening in Melbourne 11 years ago, piquing the curiosity of punters with the promise that everything inside Pawn & Co was for sale – including the business itself. Pawn & Co’s owners, Josh Lefers, Stephen Wools and Steve Thomas, are now bringing the Pawn & Co experience to Brisbane, transforming the two-level site (previously home to Laruche) into a wonderland of beats, bang-on cocktails and big-ticket auction items. Once complete, Pawn & Co’s interior will be coated in kitschy curiosities and imported one-of-a-kind finds, as well as some elaborate custom fixtures that are almost art pieces. All Pawn & Co stock will be affixed with QR codes to give you a history of each object, with new pieces expected to be added regularly. Pawn & Co Brisbane will also boast its own perfumery (which will craft scents for sale as retail outside of the club), a mechanical snow globe (that moves between levels) housing its own bar experience, and a small automated nail salon. Top-notch DJs will propel bodies into motion via a brand-new sound system, while the bar will be dispensing interactive carnival-inspired cocktails. Pawn & Co is targeting a December launch – read all about the plans in our long-form Pavement Whisper article here.

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