Finn McCool’s at the Brunswick Mall in Fortitude Valley turned a fun shade of green on Sunday, the 17th of March, for its St. Patrick’s Day Celebration. The much-awaited Irish party was even bigger than last year, with dining, dancing, and drinking lasting up to the wee hours the following day.
The restaurant secured an extended licence for its St. Patrick’s Day party with the Brisbane City Council. Various pop-up establishments and food trucks set up shop to feed and serve the eager guests.
It was an event honouring everything Irish from the food, to the beer, to the band, to the activities and giveaways. Party-goers were mostly dressed in green, the day’s official color.
Guests above 18 years old toasted and cheered to a bottle or pint of Kilkenny, Magners, Guinness. Entertainment was provided by these line-up of performers:
St. Patrick’s Day, also known as St. Paddy’s Day, is celebrated anywhere in the world where there are Irish or Irish descendants. Aside from the party at Finn McCool’s, Brisbane also had a street parade featuring 80 floats to highlight Irish heritage.
Art Series Hotels is opening its eighth site at Howard Smith Wharves in Fortitude Valley. Slated to welcome guests beginning 2019 March, the hotel has begun taking reservations since November 2018.
The new attraction in the revitalised Howard Smith Wharves precinct joins favourite watering holes Mr Percival’s and Felon’s Brewing Co. It’s seven kilometres away from Art Series Hotel’s The Johnson in Spring Hill which, in keeping with the hotel’s name, celebrates the works of Australian abstract artist Michael Johnson.
For its part, the Art Series Hotel on Howard Smith Wharves will feature the works of Australian contemporary artist Vincent Fantauzzo. The site of six-storey 166-room hotel, aptly named The Fantauzzo, will be under the Story Bridge and has been designed to blend with the cliff’s neutral tones.
Photo Credit: Instagram/ArtSeriesHotels
Mr Fantauzzo, whose parents come from Italy and Ireland, was born in England in 1977. The family moved to Broadmeadows in the Melbourne in the 1980s but the Fantauzzos would move around Australia a lot while the artist was growing up.
Undiagnosed with a learning condition as a child, Mr Fantauzzo had difficulty in primary school and was grouped in a special class with other children with learning difficulties. He fared no better in high school and was expelled for “misbehaviour.” By this time, his parents had separated and the artist tried to help his mother by apprenticing as a kitchen helper in an Italian restaurant.
Mr Fantauzzo, however, excelled in sports and competed in Martial Arts tournaments. During competitions, Mr Fantauzzo would discover his growing love for painting and would illustrate sporting pictures he had seen.
Fearing he’d fail again, the artist resolved to improve his art and did so at an impressively progressive state. He enrolled at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) for college, sans a high school diploma, and paid for his school fees with by selling his paintings.
Unfortunately, the school found out he did not complete high school after discovering a plagiarised paper he paid someone to write. Mr Fantauzzo said he had to confess his learning problems and the school facilitated tests to help him get a proper diagnosis. He found out he was dyslexic.
Mr Fantauzzo said he has learned to embrace his dyslexia more positively, especially with the help of the school’s disability liaison. In 2003, the artist received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting degree from the RMIT and completed his Masters two years later.
Photo Credit: Instagram/vincent_fantauzzo
In 2012, RMIT made Mr Fantauzzo an Adjunct Professor. He has also travelled to Central Australia to create a portrait series featuring Aboriginal artists. Following an exhibit in Sydney in 2016, Mr Fantauzzo established himself as a well-recognized Australian painter whose works are now displayed in many homes and buildings.
Mr Fantauzzo has also done exhibits in Hong Kong, New York, Los Angeles and Vietnam. He has worked with famous Austrian director Baz Luhrmann and received various awards as an artist, such as the Archibald Prize People’s Choice.
Apart from Fantauzzo’s original artworks, guests at The Fantauzzo at the Howard Smith Wharves will also get to enjoy the view of the Brisbane river from the rooftop pool terrace. The hotel also has a bar, a gym and several rooms for different functions.
Snack Man, Fortitude Valley’s bespoke wine bar, will expand to include larger and more hearty dishes, with the same flavoursome, on-style Chinese eats as their sister venue Happy Boy.
The wine bar, which opened next to Happy Boy in November 2018, only had five bite-sized dishes when it was launched. There were barbecue chicken cha siu bao, pork and prawn dumplings, crispy chicken ribs, seasonal mushroom, and the crowd favourite salt and pepper prawn.
Snack Man finally unveiled its full menu in January 2019. Cameron Votan, co-owner of the wine bar, said the menu comprises all small plates representing food that China is famous for and it will be the Votans’ “favorites from across all Chinese regions.”
Guests could choose from 20-food item menu that complements Happy Boy’s more work-focused menu. Guests could expect Taiwanese Fried Chicken on Milk Bun and Prawn and Pork Wontons in Chilli Broth.
Votan said guests could come in and do dinner. Aside from picking the menu for the wine bar, she is also in charge of sourcing bottles that cannot be easily found anywhere else. Unlike the Happy Boy that only serves Australian wines, they import wines from other countries.
A heritage-listed building in Fortitude Valley will soon be home to Byron Bay-based craft beer brewery, Stone & Wood: its first Brisbane location.
After opening its purpose-built brewery and office space in Byron Bay, Stone & Wood will enter the beer brewery scene in Brisbane once it opens its newest venue situated within the Trails Ltd Ice & Cold Stores heritage building.
Photo Credit: Brisbane City Council / pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au
Photo Credit: Stone & Wood / stoneandwood.com.au
The 90-seat venue, located on Bridge Street in Fortitude Valley, is expected to open mid-2019 and will be offering a pure tasting room experience. The site will feature a small brewery producing a rotating range of beers, about 600 litres at a time, exclusive for the on-site tasting room consumption.
Photo Credit: Brisbane City Council / pdonline.brisbane.qld.gov.au
“A big part of what we do in our existing Byron Bay tasting room is centred around education and developing people’s appreciation for good beer. We believe we can add value to the emerging good beer scene in Brisbane and continue to grow the market by adding our beer experience into the mix.
“We have found a great space in a building with a heritage overlay, and we’re looking forward to letting our team loose to give it a new lease of life in a very Stone & Wood way,” their website announcement said.
Whilst retaining the external facade of the building, the development proposal will involve internal improvements to the building’s ground floor that will feature an ancillary office space, bar, retail shop, function space, beer hall and dining space.
Brisbane City Council’s Kerbside Collection Day is coming to Fortitude Valley on Monday, 21 January 2019. If one of your goals for this year is to be kinder to the environment, there are several ways for you to up your reduce, reuse, and recycle game.
As part of their promise to make Brisbane clean, green, and sustainable, BCC had lots of ways to encourage residents to recycle and reduce waste.
Recycling at Home
If you are a fan of the trending KonMari method of tidying up, you would probably end up with a pile of things to discard.
Rather than tossing out old clothes to the bin, you can donate them instead to the following organisations in Fortitude Valley:
Suited to Success
Photo credit: Suited to Success Ltd/Facebook
This organisation mainly accept work appropriate or casual clothing donations. Suited to Success helps people on their journey towards career and personal development. As part of their program, they provide interview and job appropriate styling sessions to those in need.
You can donate your clothing to them from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. from Monday – Friday and from 7:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. every last Saturday of each month. Visit their website or call 3216 1969 for further information.
Location: 47 Anderson Street, Fortitude Valley, QLD, 4006.
St Vincent de Paul Society is also accepting clothes donation. Their donation rule is “if you’d give it to a friend, then it’s ok to give to Vinnies”. Apart from men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing, they are also accepting homewares, kids toys, books, CDs, and DVDs.
Vinnies Fortitude Valley is open from 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday – Friday and from 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Check out their website or call Vinnies Fortitude Valley on 3252 9856 to learn more.
Location: 210 Brunswick Street (Corner Brunswick & Alfred Streets), Fortitude Valley
Hosting a Garage Sale
Alternatively, you can set up your own garage sale and turn your pre-loved items into cash. This ‘Get Garage Sale Ready’ guide can help you prepare for a successful garage sale on your own yard.
BCC made it even simpler for households to recycle through the ‘Brisbane’s Best Recycling Guide for Households’. This pocket guide shares the benefits of recycling and provides the following:
the easiest ways to collect recyclables from your house
what can and cannot go in Council’s recycling wheelie bin
answers to frequently asked questions
information on sorting recyclables
answers to recycling myth
guidance on how to recycle items not accepted in Council’s kerbside collection (includes reusable household goods, scrap metals and garden waste).
You can download the Brisbane’s Best Recycling Guide for Households on a pdf or word format.
These are just some of the ways on how you can recycle at home. Start your year right by get your recycling game on for 2019 and do your share in caring for the environment.
One of the latest additions to Fortitude Valley’s ever-growing food and drinks scene, Beirne Lane is a gastropub that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Photo credit: Beirne Lane/Facebook
If you’re looking for a place to eat or drink at any time of the day, Beirne Lane‘s door is literally always open. The gastropub lights up the heritage-listed TC Beirne Building which recently underwent a revitalisation.
Beirne Lane, Fortitude Valley offers a wide range of diverse food options reflecting Beirne’s Irish heritage, as well as his love and fascination with Japan.
One of their best-sellers is their Katsu Sandos. Customers can choose from their pork, chicken, barramundi or tofu katsu which all comes with beer battered chips and Japanese slaw.
Another must-try from their menu is their signature “Shilling Meal” inspired by one of T. C. Beirne’s longest standing employees, Mr. P. Nolan. This signature dish comes with four freshly shucked oysters, rib eye on the bone, onion rings, watercress, horseradish; with clotted cream cannoli.
Coming from Celissa, the team behind CBD’s Isles Lane, it is not surprising that Beirne Lane is lined up to be the newest drinking hotspot in Brisbane. Their bar menu features a constantly rotating selection of craft local beer and interstate breweries. It also includes an extensive wine list and a carefully curated cocktail list.
Photo credit: Beirne Lane/Facebook
Beirne Lane, Fortitude Valley is certainly ready to shake up the entertainment precinct with a gastropub that never closes. For further information, you may visit their official website.
Brisbane’s first overwater bar has opened, located at the Howard Smith Wharves and underneath the historic Story Bridge.
Mr Percival’s officially opened on 29 November 2018, and is the latest drinking and dining destination to open at the Howard Smith Wharves development after the successful opening of Felons Brewing Co.
Anna Spiro was responsible for the impressive design that breathed life to this 340-seat bar and eatery. The inspiration was taken from European beach clubs and rotundas found in Brisbane parks; featuring an octagonal-shape design, terracotta-coloured marble top, salmon pink umbrellas, timber walls, and retro-inspired interior.
Photo Credit: Mr Percival’s / mrpercivals.com.au
The octagonal-shaped bar is helmed by chef Damien Styles, former head chef of The Fish House. The menu features Aperitivo-style inspired bar snacks such as Zucchini fritters, lobster rolls, whipped cod roe served with a warm baguette, and anchovies topped with olive oil, lemon and garlic.
Photo Credit: Mr Percival’s / mrpercivals.com.au
As for the drink selection, the menu features 17 cocktails, 50 wine selections, and four brews courtesy of Felons.
NYE at Mr Percival’s
Mr Percival’s will be throwing a New Year’s Eve party to welcome 2019, and you are invited! Greet 2019 with uninterrupted fireworks views (from 8:30 P.M.until midnight), with music by Niki de Saint and live instrumentalists. The party starts at 6 P.M. 31 December 2018 until 2 A.M. 1 January 2019.
Mr Percival’s, the latest venue where you can unwind, drink and dine, and enjoy the romantic view of the Brisbane river is open 11 A.M. – 1 A.M. Thursday – Saturday and 11 A.M. until Midnight Sunday- Wednesday.
Hellenika, the famous Gold Coast eatery, brings their exceptional Greek dining experience to James Street, Fortitude Valley.
Aptly located at the pool deck level of The Calile, Hellenika Brisbane offers prime alfresco dining and poolside bites paired with exceptional wines.
Photo credit: Hellenika/Facebook
The rooftop Greek restaurant features all of the famed signature menu items of Hellenika. From their famous mix of mezedes and large share plates to their signature fresh fishmarket options, Hellenika Brisbane’s restaurant menu is sure to impress.
Embracing their ideal poolside set up, the restaurant also prepared a dedicated poolside menu which includes their popular zucchini chips, classic Greek salad, a variety of Hellenika wraps, and a list of different poolside drinks.
Fortitude Valley’s new Greek restaurant embraces its owner, Simon Gloftis’s passion for bringing people together over their love for great food and wine. In fact, their extensive wine list boasts a line up of carefully handpicked wines that complement their menu. If you’re unsure of which ones to choose their team can guide you so you can have a great dining experience.
Construction of Brisbane’s first vertical state school — the first to be constructed in the inner-city in over 50 years—is now underway.
In a sod-turning ceremony held 13 November, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and education minister Grace Grace officially marked the commencement of the construction of the Inner City North State Secondary College. The school’s site is located between St Pauls Terrace and Brookes Street in Fortitude Valley.
Once completed, the Inner City North State Secondary College will be inner-north’s educational facility for Years 7-12, servicing communities in and around Fortitude Valley, Newstead, Bowen Hills and New Farm. The new school will also ease enrollment pressure on Kelvin Grove State College.
The new school, designed by Cox Architecture, is set to be the first inner-Brisbane state high school to be built in over 50 years, adopting a vertical design rising up to seven storeys. The school will also feature a roof terrace and each floor will contain a mix of traditional classrooms and flexible learning environments.
“Each level is programmed with a mix of general and specialist learning spaces around a naturally ventilated atrium providing students and staff with a high level of connectivity to nature and the external environment,” Christina Cho, Director-Cox Architecture said.
“The design takes cues from the Queenslander Vernacular with Outdoor learning terraces that wrap and activate the edges of the building, opening out towards the green space for engagement and passive observation.”
“We have retained and reused the existing school building within the new performing arts precinct. While not heritage listed, the building and site has a great historic significance as a place of education in Queensland. We believed it was important to embed historical roots for the new school,” Ms Cho said.
The proposed catchment area for the new school has already been released. Students currently enrolled Kelvin Grove State College now have the option to enroll in the new Inner City North State Secondary College, if their address is within the new schools’ catchment zone.
Interested families may use the interactive map to find out if their property is within the proposed catchment. Also, they may register their interest to enroll their child at this webpage.
The school is scheduled to open in 2020 to Year 7 students, growing each year to 2025 when it is projected to already accommodate about 1,500 Years 7-12 students.
Have Your Say
Since the “Inner City North State Secondary College” is only the working title for the project, the Department of Education will confirm the official name for the school after community consultation. Residents are encouraged to submit ideas for the name as well as values for the new school by 9 December.
From the team behind the famous Rick Shores, Little Valley is one of the newest bar and restaurant in Fortitude Valley dishing up Chinese cuisine.
Little Valley is a neo-Chinese dining hall located at the heart of Fortitude Valley. Just like Rick Shores is famous for their Asian cuisine and cocktails, Little Valley is making waves for their delicious Chinese food.
Photo credit: Little Valley/Facebook
The new bar and restaurant is already gaining a following with their new takes on traditional dishes inspired by the regional cuisines of China. Their menu includes their best-selling chilli crab and pork xiao long bao, truffle and prawn har gow, miso poached chicken with black fungus, and more.
“Amazing new addition to the Brisbane dining scene! Great, friendly and fast service, loved the space and the food – yum! Especially the prawn & truffle har gow, chilli crab xia long bao, spring rolls and twice cooked duck. Can’t wait to come back with a crew! Well done guys.”
Can’t decide what dishes to try first? Customers can also try their Yum Cha Lunch menu which includes all the Little Valley favourites. The menu is available from 12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.
Photo credit: Little Valley/Facebook
Apart from their delicious food, Little Valley also offers a selection of drinks including an extensive Trans-Tasman focused wine and spirit list and cocktails. They also have non-alcoholic drinks which include cold-brewed herbal tea by Tavalon, organic fruit kombucha, and custom-made mocktail.
Little Valley is having a regular event every Sunday. The Lucky Sundays feature their signature cocktails as well as Tsingtao Tallies in their Mezzanine bar and open-air Piijiu garden. Apart from the excellent drinks, the event also delights guests with an all-day dim sum.
Lucky Sundays start from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. every Sunday until 23 December 2018.
Read more about Little Valley’s offers by visiting their website.
