Cheeky Poké Bar
Purveyor of fine fish Portside Fresh N Wild Fish has a new project in the works, this time serving up its locally sourced seafood in a bowl. The team is soon to open Cheeky Poké Bar in Newstead’s Haven development, a slower and more intimate poke bowl offering than what we’ve seen before. The restaurant and bar will allow diners to customise their own bowl with fresh or seared fish, chicken, or tofu, alongside Asian-inspired treats such as nori tacos and bulked-up miso soups. Thirsts will be quenched with the likes of kombucha on tap, an extensive local beer and wine list, and a selection of colourful cocktails. Cheeky Poké Bar is due to open in October – we’ll keep you in the loop.

Gauge X
South Brisbane’s award-winning Gauge has just announced an experimental monthly dinner series, Gauge X. Launching on Wednesday September 20, each dinner will see five chefs take on a course each, encouraging them to push their creativity to the next level. The first four dinners will see five of Gauge’s own craft each course, with future dinners set to feature guest chefs. Each event will be completely different – the chefs will pick their course out of a hat and have four weeks to prepare, with the first dinner based around the courses of raw, vegetables, fish, meat and sweet. The ticketed dinners will allow the chefs to have fun and enhance their inventiveness, as well as interact with diners on the floor, serving and clearing their individual dishes. The launch will also mark the beginning of Gauge opening for ongoing Wednesday night dinners. Tickets for Gauge X are $75 per person and are on sale now for Wednesday September 20 – head to our Event Guide for more details.

Newstead Studios
Newstead has just welcomed a new creative hub and event space, Newstead Studios. The architecturally designed restored warehouse opened its doors yesterday and features a number of event spaces, including an open gallery that spills onto a lush indoor/outdoor garden terrace. The adjoining Arch Room has been designed to host private dining or intimate events, while an upstairs photography studio lends itself to cocktail-style events. Come October, Newstead Studios will also be home to a yet-to-be-announced licensed on-site cafe, bar and caterer – we’ll have more details on this for you soon.

Sunset Spritz
We don’t know about you, but the minute spring rolls around, our desire for a cheeky Aperol Spritz increases drastically. Luckily for us, Customs House is bringing back its popular pop-up bar Sunset Spritz this spring/summer. Launching on Thursday September 21, the pop-up bar will take over Customs House’s picturesque courtyard every Thursday to Saturday from 4:00 pm to late, and Sundays from 12:00–4:00 pm. Alongside Aperol Spritzes, summery beverages will be flowing, including bellinis, negronis, rosé and Peroni beers, paired with Italian-inspired canapes such as freshly shucked Coffin Bay oysters, Milanese saffron fontina arancini and chicken parmigiana sliders. Head to our Event Guide for full details.

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