Nothing bland about Milquetoast, the new laneway wine bar from drink-savvy duo
While new openings from big restaurant groups, hatted-chef appointments and city-altering developments nab headlines, the true markings of a thriving drinking and dining scene is typically found outside of the limelight. The smaller operations â your suburban cafes, gourmet delis, neighbourhood restaurants and small bars â are often the venues where one finds the most interesting, authentic and original ideas at play.
Itâs these kinds of places that most locals (and the odd well-informed traveller) seek out on a regular basis â spots where risks are taken and hearts are worn on sleeves. Itâs these kind of places that George Curtis and James Horsfall believe Brisbane could use a lot more of.
âBrisbane needs more original concepts,â remarks George, and heâs one to know. His out-of-the-box cocktail and amaro bar Before + After is the kind of idea-driven haunt that discerning drinkers are crying out for.
And though James works predominantly in fine-dining environments, his most recent postings â as sommelier at Elska and restaurant manager at Blume â are both smaller chef-owned and operated venues that have famously matched their big-budget peers in prestige and acclaim.
The duo has taken it upon themselves to add more essential texture to the tapestry of Brisbaneâs hospitality scene with Milquetoast â a laneway wine bar and dining room thatâs thumbing its nose at banality and blandness with an offering predicated on creativity, fun and passion.
Though built on four key fundamental tenets of hospitality â food, cocktails, wine and service â George and James are looking to do something different with each aspect, creating an experience that purposefully belies the connotations inherent in the venueâs name.
It all starts with the space. Milquetoast inhabits a garage at the end of a nondescript laneway off Elizabeth Street â the same alleyway home to bourbon-soaked boozer, Alice. At 4:00 pm, when the roller door entry lifts, guests are greeted by a venue that has softened its gritty surrounds with character elements â a mismatched collection of pre-loved mid-century furniture, a timber bar and a streamlined kitchen setup.
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Pendant lights are suspended from the metal girder supports (which also double as wine display) and, at night, Milquetoast exudes a warmth that travels down the laneway. Though George and James describe Milquetoastâs build as an intense Rubikâs Cube-like problem-solving exercise, theyâre both incredibly pleased with the results.
âI think the bar and kitchen looks great, especially the fact that you can see it from the street,â says George. âIâm really happy with the way the lighting turned out and the way the warmth spreads through the venue when itâs the evening. And then the furniture, to pull all of this from Facebook Marketplace was really quite fun. Itâs created exactly what we wanted it to create.â
A vast portion of Milquetoastâs beverage program is dedicated to wine, with James applying his curatorial ethos to a list favouring small-scale independent producers doing interesting things.
Nudging 50 bottles (including a clutch of by-the-glass options and a number of top drops available via Coravin), James applied a âquality first, process secondâ approach that ensures the wine list is filled from top to bottom with incredibly drinkable and engaging gear from all around the globe.
âThereâs a quote from Thomas Keller of French Laundry that I always bring to my lists, which is âlocal is great, but always reward qualityâ,â says James. âIf someone is making the best of something, you need to reward those producers. Thatâs an ethos that Iâve taken in the past with my lists at Elska and Blume, and thatâs the same here. There are skin-contact wines, natural wines, and natural wines that you wouldnât even know are natural on there.â
Being a smaller venue with limited storage space, Milquetoastâs list will be fluid â changing and evolving daily out of necessity. But James sees this as a benefit, more than a hinderance, as this gives him the opportunity to showcase rarer drops.
On the cocktail front, George is handing over the mixology reins to venue manager Aidan Perkins (formerly of Exhibition, Hôntô and Agnes). Aidan is overseeing a list that champions seasonal ingredients and utilises contemporary techniques ranging from fermentations to house-made tinctures and sodas.
âWe just wanted to be super creative â we didnât want any boundaries to what we wanted to do,â George tells us. âThereâs no set template to each drink. Of course you need balance on the menu, but we just wanted to do cool stuff.â
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Of the barâs house signatures, standouts include the Caspar Milquetoast (a spritz-style sip that mixes Four Pillars rare dry gin, sparkling wine and vanilla with lacto-fermented rhubarb and clarified toasted milk-toast soda), the No Loitering (Batanga blanco tequila, house wasabi liqueur, elderflower and citrus) and The Big Stick (Gospel solera rye infused with cacao butter, strawberry brandy, toasted fennel, Peychaudâs and absinthe).
Milquetoast is also collaborating with premium mixer brand StrangeLove to showcase an array of light and low-ABV drinks, while a dedicated martini selection features a clutch of house interpretations â all made using spirits from Adelaide Hills-based distillery Full Circle.
âPeople love martinis and are generally proud of the way they order a martini,â says George. âSo we wanted a martini list that was super cool, and an extension of that was to do the mini versions and the highball versions of that as well.â
Milquetoastâs food menu boasts a discernible British tinge, with inspiration drawn from the provenance-driven British food revival. But, much like their approach to wine and cocktails, James and George have sought to infuse the menu with a tongue-in-cheek playfulness, recruiting head chef Solenn dâHeilly (formerly of Bennelong in Sydney) to help shape a vibrantly flavoursome menu that subverts expectations.
Appetite whetters like house pickles and Riser bread with honey butter help prime the pump for the likes of deviled eggs with bacon and leek cream and crumpets with cured fish and curry aioli. Larger plates include Urban Valley mushrooms on toast, cauliflower gnocchi with pomegranate caviar and Cumberland sausage with puy lentils and gremolata. The Milquetoast pudding â a must-try sweet finisher â boasts amaro-soaked raisins and custard.
âItâs not obviously British, and thatâs where itâs really enjoyable and fun,â says George. âFor example, the crumpet has essentially the flavours of fish and chips â the crumpet is the batter, the curry aioli is the curry sauce, the fish is the fish, obviously, and then youâve got the pickles.â
Milquetoast will also be helping to fill a glaring gap in The Cityâs nightlife, with its kitchen open until 11:30 pm on weekends.
Overseeing Milquetoastâs front-of-house is Krysten Swann (ex-sAme sAme, Elska and Tillerman), who rounds out the venueâs elite team of senior staff.
âWe could have opened a bog-standard wine bar, sure, but thereâs no fun in that and itâs not adding to the scene at all,â he adds. âThe cocktails are creative and you wonât get what we do anywhere else. As for the wine, youâre getting allocation drops and access to wines that other bars donât have. The food is nothing like anything else you see in The City and weâre trying to go above and beyond with the way we approach service. This was the bar that we wanted.â
Judging by the rapturous public response over the venueâs opening weekend, Milquetoast was the bar Brisbane wanted, too. Head to the Stumble Guide for operating hours and other important info.
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