Watt relaunches with New Farmer’s Kitchen
After closing its doors in April, New Farm institution Watt has remerged with a fresh new look, completely new team, and entirely new concept.
If it weren’t for its location, you wouldn’t believe that Watt was the same venue it was mere months ago. The restaurant and bar has been given a complete makeover, transforming it into a venue boasting five function spaces, an expansive bar and a new stand-alone restaurant, New Farmer’s Kitchen. As it always has, the venue makes use of its breezy riverside locale beneath the Brisbane Powerhouse, with wide windows wrapping around the venue, a large outdoor dining area, and the addition of a new retractable roof and floor-to-ceiling glass door opening on to New Farm Park in the casual dining areas. Levesque and Derrick Architects has worked its magic on the venue, paying homage to the Powerhouse building’s industrial past with a concrete bar, exposed metal finishes and timber detailing, offset cascading plants and vibrant soft furnishings. Watt is split into five areas, each of which are flexible and can be used for functions and events – The Refinery by the park, The Social casual dining area, The Playground overlooking the river, and The Sunroom and The Dining Room, both of which form part of New Farmer’s Kitchen.
New Farmer’s Kitchen is head up by ex-Baguette chef Michael Harris, who has devised a menu focusing on fresh, seasonal and sustainable produce sourced from local farmers and suppliers. The menu is divided into dishes from the farm, from the garden and from the sea, with options such as seafood chowder with diamond clams and mussels, Hawkesbury grilled spatchcock with green peas and chorizo, and share dishes of ten-hour lamb shoulder and whole chargrilled chicken. Watt’s bar offers a more condensed menu from New Farmer’s Kitchen, with tasty morsels including chilli popcorn, mini hot dogs with pico de gallo, onion chips seasoning and gruyere, and king prawn sliders. New Farmer’s Kitchen will also be serving breakfast on weekends from 8:00 am.
Watt is currently in a soft-opening phase, and will officially launch on September 9. For opening hours and contact information, head to our Stumble Guide.
The Stumble Guide is our comprehensive Brisbane dining guide with more than 2400 places to eat, drink, shop and play.