Brisbane’s acclaimed chef leaves GOMA for Emporium
One of Brisbane’s best known chefs is switching venues.
Josue Lopez, who spent five years at the two-hatted GOMA restaurant, is heading off for the new Emporium Hotel Southpoint, scheduled to open down the road at South Bank next year.
Lopez had helped turn GOMA into one of Brisbane’s top restaurants.
He will finish up at GOMA on September 22.
The 33 year old chef’s new job will be to design a fine-dining menu at the yet to be named restaurant.
The place will also be offering in-suite feeds, a rooftop bar, piano bar, patisserie, conferences and events. The restaurant will seat 40-50. The menu will offer both a meat-featuring and vegan food.
“I think I've got a fabulous opportunity to start afresh,” Lopez told the Brisbane Times.
“It will be sad to leave iconic dishes like wattle seed custard but I believe that dishes such as that are so entrenched in the gallery’s walls.”
The El Salvador-born chef is best known for sourcing local food from south-east Queensland.
People are still talking about his emu dish where the bird is cooked three ways, with six different takes on beetroot.
He plans to continue doing that when the new venue opens mid-2018.
In the meantime, the Brisbane Times Good Food Guide 2016 Chef of The Year is taking a six week break between gigs.
That will see him meeting up with as many producers as possible.
He will also take trips to Sydney and Melbourne.
And then of course, there will be a family break on Stradbroke Island.
Located in the heart of Moreton Bay, he will be enjoying the seafood and drawing inspiration from that.
“For me it’s near on heaven on earth, you know, I’m such a Brisbane-centric person and knowing you’ve got Straddie just there on your doorstep,” he told the Brisbane Times.
“When you’re there it feels so far removed but you know you’re always like two hours away from actual home."
After the break, he’ll start work on the design process with the Anthony John Group on November 1.
by Leon Gettler, September 6th 2017
image - West End Magazine
