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.