California Tacos, a taco chain known for its massive burritos and awesome cocktails, is coming to Brisbane with a new location set to open in West End.
The menu, highlighted by what California Tacos refers to as “the #1 largest plate of nachos in Australia” will be similar to its other locations in the country–expect nachos, tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and fries in generous servings.
Photo credit: California Tacos/Facebook
Slated to open in late January or February 2023, the new taco spot in West End will be located at 120 Boundary St, in a space formerly occupied by Indian restaurant Kulcha’d. Here, guests will be greeted by a tequila-inspired mural, which leads to a large courtyard and a dining space for up to 120 guests.
Photo credit: Ty Yturralde/Google Maps
One of the highlights on the menu is the nacho, served with fresh corn chips, cheese, black beans, avo-peño crema, sour cream, baja aioli, guacamole, salsa fresca, and your choice of protein.
The chain, founded by Mexico-born Ty Yturralde in 2013, makes tacos inspired directly from the beach suburbs in Southern California and Mexico. They proudly use 100 percent homemade, preservative-free corn and flour tortillas.
Photo credit: Adam. Fowles/Google Maps
Aside from giving guests a seriously epic Mexican feast, owners are also planning to introduce live music on Thursday nights and on Sundays. Guests can enjoy a wide range of beverages, including a margarita menu with six varieties, cocktails, local craft beers, wines, and softdrinks, whilst listening to live music.
Besides the one soon to open in Brisbane, California Tacos also has locations in Burleigh Heads, Broadbeach, Caloundra, and Townsville. Stay tuned on California Tacos’ Facebook page for updates on the West End location’s opening.
Did you know that the team behind the famous Kuon Omasake in Sydney will soon open Ippin Japanese Dining in West End? Look forward to more good food and a great time once this 140-seater dining spot welcomes its first guests.
Construction of Ippin is slowly coming together at the Garden Pavilion in West Village. Owner and restaurateur Kenny Lee secured a section of the second floor overlooking The Common outdoor area. Vie Studio, a Sydney design company, has given the restaurant a semi-open layout that will allow diners to enjoy a fantastic view of the green space below.
Slated for an April 2023 opening, the Japanese restaurant will be headed by Chef Tatsuya Miwa in the kitchen, where dishes like yakitori, cuttlefish tempura and lobster popcorn will be prepared using locally-sourced seafood, meats and vegetables and then paired with authentic Japanese ingredients.
Mr Lee and his chef, along with co-owners Helen Lea and Jane Ma, are offering Brisbane a menu similar to Kuon Omasake and will occasionally showcase a ticketed tuna auction or a sake-centric event, just like how it’s done in Japan. So, Brisbane foodies looking for a Japanese dining experience don’t have to travel too far.
Ippin will also have a pastry chef who will be concocting mouthwatering desserts. To complete the menu, French, Australian and Italian wines, along with sake and a host of cocktails, will be on offer.
Home and business owners in West End are advised to have their properties checked and treated for termite infestations before the situation gets worse this summer.
After the dampness brought about by La Niña, termite infestation has gradually worsened in the last two years, based on observations by exterminators such as Gavin Shill from All Year Pest Solutions.
Mr Shill revealed that his team has been doing more active treatments than ever before and the demand for treatments has “gone through the roof” from seven to eight in a month compared to just a couple of services a month in the previous years.
He said that termites are attracted to moisture or damp spots in wooden structures, and was recently shocked to find a rubber doormat filled with termites because it was too damped.
Biosecurity Queensland confirmed an increased detection of harmful West Indian drywall termites (WIDT) in many homes and businesses, especially wooden buildings and timber structures.
The agency said that it has sent out advice to 30,000 residents in West End and Coorparoo, Woolloongabba and Manly to help these owners know what to look for and what they must do next. They advised calling an expert to exterminate and eliminate these pests.
“WIDT is difficult to detect, and it can establish colonies in concealed areas of houses and buildings that are not easily accessed, Tenting is a very effective treatment method for WIDT.”
Meanwhile, Mr Shill also warned that the upcoming summer heat might trigger an increase in other pests like cockroaches, rats, spiders, and mosquitoes. Thus, a preventative pesticide treatment, alongside general cleanliness, will come in handy for home and business owners.
A group of West End locals is spearheading the Montague Road Project, with several project ideas being discussed that reflect the community’s shared vision, in line with a citywide improvement plan ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Following the release of the 2019 South Brisbane Transport and Mobility Study, $1 million has been earmarked for the upgrade of Montague Road. In line with this, groups like Kurilpa Futures and the Queensland Ballet formed the Montague Road Project, an initiative to ensure that there will be a community consensus on the best ways to make use of the funding.
In September 2022, the Montague Road Project conducted a community survey and received more than 750 responses, which was followed by a community forum attended by more than 60 residents and business owners in West End.
The group is initially proposing to improve Montague Road into the Kurilpa Boulevard “green road” with green side streets and “food forests” connecting to the riverside parklands. The group also wants visible recognition of First Nations culture, and potentially opening a new First Nations Cultural Centre.
Montague Road must be made into a “climate resilient destination” that will allow Brisbane to achieve 43 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.
“The 2032 Olympics would enable us to showcase to the world Australian expertise and our three levels of governments’ commitment to climate change adaption,” the group stated.
The Montague Road Project continues to conduct meetings with different communities to document more data that will help bring the vision to the next stage.
“We invite all people who live, work or visit the Montague Road area including local businesses, community and sport organisations and special interest groups in the broader community to participate,” the group said.
“We hope everyone will get involved and especially people living in apartments along the river as well as those living on the other side along the length of Montague Road up to Hardgrave Road and northwards from there.”
A 15-storey residential building with a childcare centre would be built on the former site of ABSOE along Boundary Road in West End, if a developer’s plans are granted approval.
To be called ‘Callista on Park,’ the mixed-use tower designed by fjmtstudio, would be the final stage of West Village’s redevelopment, which includes a previously approved and constructed basement parking and podium level.
Photo credit: fjmtstudio/BCC
“The proposed final West Village development ‘celebrates the existing garden character of the precinct’ and will be ‘the most sculptural and refined offering in the Village,” planners at RPS Group said.
“Callista on Park will celebrate its garden character by wrapping Mollison Park up its façade plateauing on a true sky garden with watering holes, conservatories and intimate hidden gardens,” the planning documents read.
Residential Tower
Photo credit: fjmtstudio/BCC
The residential building would be a mix of one two-bedroom, 34 x 3 bedroom, 35 x 4 bedroom, and two penthouse apartments.
Each unit will have a highly functional private open space, ranging in size from 15sqm to 91sqm. It will also feature balcony areas which will be directly accessible from main internal living areas.
A communal rooftop garden, with an area of 1,370sqm featuring hard and soft landscaping and open space, has also been proposed.
As for parking, the development proposes to supply a total of 178 residential component car parks including 161 residential spaces in dedicated areas across Basement Levels 2, 3 and 4.
Childcare Centre
Plans for childcare centre (Photo credit: fjmtstudio/BCC)
The previously constructed podium level (Level 1) will house the childcare centre, spanning 1,192sqm and will have an outdoor play area on the Mollison Street side which is located across the road from the residential apartments.
The rooftop area will feature outdoor seating, kitchen, dining, sauna, spaces, wellness studio, swimming pool, and landscaping to provide communal areas for residents.
For the childcare centre alone, provision has been made for six car spaces within Basement Level 2 which are to cater for the childcare centre staff parking.
To learn more about the proposed development, see Brisbane City Council’s website and use the reference A006116369.
Following a cold and wet QLD winter, Harris Farm Markets West End is celebrating the advent of spring with five of its best produce, highlighting locally grown products and helping to ease those winter lurgies.
Strawberries from Stothart Family Farm in Moreton Bay. Broccoli from Windolf Farms at Upper Tenthill in the Lockyer Valley. Carrots from Kalfresh in the Scenic Rim. Corn from Mulgowie in the Lockyer Valley. Avocados from Balmoral Orchards in Toowoomba.
These are the Top Guns of Spring 2022 – locally grown stars at Harris Farm Markets.
1. Stothart Family Farm in Moreton Bay: Strawberries
Bryan and Jane Stothart started growing strawberries five decades ago on the family’s 20-acre farmland in Bellmere. David Fairweather, a son-in-law, now runs the farm and has introduced new ideas to improve what his parents-in-law started. He developed The Hanging Gardens of Bellmere, an innovative system of growing strawberries without any soil. Instead, the plant is cultivated in a hydroponic system using coil, a coconut fibre mix.
Stothart Family Farm’s quality strawberries are tabletop grown, easily picked from the hydroponic system with its nutrients and deliciousness well-contained. The strawberries are protected from pests and diseases.
2. Windolf Farms at Upper Tenthill, Lockyer Valley: Broccoli
Henry Windolf founded Windolf Farms in the 1930s in Lockyer Valley and is now managed by third-generation family members Paul and his wife Sharron, alongside Paul’s cousins Jayson and Jillian. The farmland primarily produces broccoli, lettuce, parsnips, washed potatoes, watermelon and pumpkin.
Photo Credit: WindolfFarms.com.au
Photo Credit: WindolfFarms.com.au
Their broccoli production is for export quality. The family has been exporting to Singapore for more than a decade, aside from supplying local supermarkets.
3. Kalfresh in the Scenic Rim: Carrots
Kalfresh Vegetables, based in Kalbar in the Scenic Rim, has operated for three decades. The farm was established by father and son Barry and Robert Hinrichsen.
The company has built a solid reputation as one of the leading producers of juicy and nutritious carrots in Australia, picking, washing, packing and shipping the produce in minimal time so its quality is maintained. Kalfresh also provides premium prepared vegetables to the food service industry as well as ready-to-eat products for retail.
4. Mulgowie in the Lockyer Valley: Corn
The farming company developed by the husband and wife team of John and Dell Emerick started more than 70 years ago. Today, Mulgowie Farming Company spans five locations across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, as it has become the largest sweet corn grower in the country.
Mulgowie started growing super sweet corn varieties in the 1980s and then launched baby corn varieties around 2004. The farming company has received awards for its streamlined operations, allowing the supply of sweet corn for 12 months a year.
5. Balmoral Orchards in Toowoomba: Avocado
Established in 1988, Balmoral Orchards in Toowoomba South grow avocado trees, with fruits that have a distinct buttery-nutty flavour, in free-draining, volcanic red soil so the environment remains disease-free. The harvest is done by hand with the help of a Nifty Lifty and the fruits are then decanted into bins and moved to cold storage before it’s carefully inspected, graded, and classified for distribution.
Photo Credit: Balmoral Orchards/Google Maps
Photo Credit: Balmoral Orchards/Google Maps
Balmoral avocados are packed with vitamins and minerals. Their products are highly sought after for their excellent value and supply.
In addition to the spectacular, Harris Farm Markets is shining the light on Imperfect Picks, Harris Farm Markets’ seasonal range of fruit and vegetables that might not look perfect from the outside but are as perfect and full of flavour as ever on the inside.
“Our Imperfect Picks program helps reduce the astonishing statistics that *25 per cent of Australian crops currently never leave the farm gate because they are a bit, well, unattractive, and do not meet the visual specifications of some supermarkets and consumers,” said co-CEO Tristan Harris.
“It means that every time you buy an Imperfect Pick, you are helping us take more from our farmers, you are helping reduce food wastage, and importantly, you are saving up to 50 per cent!”
So, if you see Pudgy Imperfect Pears, Lumpy Pink Lady Apples, Warped Eggplant, Twisted Sweet Potatoes, Unruly Imperfect Zucchini and Scruffy Mangoes in the aisles, remember they taste just as good as their “perfect” looking cousins!
Harris Farm Markets along Boundary St, West End is open daily from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
After nine years of serving locals with locally grown and healthy food, West End’s Plenty has closed for good as of the end of July 2022. The owner admits that the decision-making process “was tough.”
On 31 July 2022, Plenty served its final batch of meals. The business folded up after months of struggling with the impact of the pandemic coupled with staff shortage and the devastation of the recent severe weather event. Unable to bring the business back into the black, owner Karyn Hodges decided that it was time to close the cafe for good.
Photo Credit: Plenty / Facebook
“Running a small business takes courage,” her heartfelt farewell message on their social media read. She stated that “choosing to close took emotional fortitude.” She had to set aside sentimentality, acknowledge that an energy has run its course, and convince herself that “perseverance wasn’t the only honourable option.”
“We are not walking away from Plenty, so much as wrapping her in a loving embrace and telling her to rest in peace. We’re proud of what we achieved. We ran a gentle business. We nourished meaningful relationships with small scale farmers and producers.
“But most of all, we built a family of loyal hard working hospo workers who believed in our ethos and showed up for it every day. And we had fun doing it. So much fun.”
Plenty used to occupy a refurbished warehouse at 284 Montague Road in West End. The cafe’s kitchen served a small menu of brunch fare whilst its retail shelves were stacked with fresh produce, artisan bread, sauces, condiments, jams, marmalades, and organic pressed olive oil.
Plans to turn a glass manufacturing site on Montague Road in West End into “South Bank 2.0” have inched a step closer to fruition after the acquisition of the property for $165 million.
The precinct has been envisioned as an inner city multi-use parkland that will also house the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) in time for the 2023 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympic Games.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said that the West End site “will be the global nerve centre of the 2032 Games.” The 9-hectare property will then be added as a permanent asset for Brisbane, thus creating the future for a world-class parkland similar to South Bank.
Initially, a temporary venue will be constructed for IBC. After the games, the building will then be removed and then converted into parklands. The state government will be closely working with Council in the site’s transformation.
Ms. Palaszczuk said South Bank 2.0 would be a mixed-use facility with heaps of green spaces and restaurants. The governments have more than a decade to develop the revitalisation and a masterplan is yet to be prepared.
Photo Credit: Google Maps
“The mayors of South East Queensland began the journey to pursue these Games because they realised the incredible legacy this would create for Brisbane and the rest of the region,” Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said.
“This new area on the banks of the Brisbane River is precisely the type of legacy they envisaged, great new assets that would benefit all residents and make our wonderful city even better.
“For a decade and more, people have talked about South Bank being extended along this part of our river and I am so pleased we’re now moving forward to make those dreams become a reality.”
Meanwhile, Visy, the current occupant, will move its operations to a new site in Stapylton. The company will also build its cardboard box factory in Hemmant. Both businesses will bring in 600 new jobs for Queenslanders.
The residential dwellings , consisting of 78 two-, three- and four-bedroom units, will take up eight levels, with each storey consisting of individual private balconies or courtyards facing the streets.
Site plan (Photo credit: Brisbane City Council)
The subject site is on a 2365sqm corner site spanning four lots at 4, 6 and 8 Bailey Street and 10 Kurilpa Street. It’s currently occupied by warehouse buildings which will be removed once the application is given the green light.
It would have a rooftop communal space, which would have a swimming pool, barbecue, recreational areas and pergola.
Designed by MODE Design, the plan incorporates Buildings that Breathe principles, with landscaping and deep planting zones proposed “to ensure the interface contributes to an attractive streetscape.”
Photo credit: Brisbane City Council
It would also feature two levels of basement car parking which will accommodate 138 car parking spaces including 12 visitor parking.
The DA highlighted that residents of the proposed building will benefit from the ferry services, given the proposed ferry terminal at Victoria St.
“The proposed development is an appropriate density and mix of dwelling types to achieve the dwelling targets to accommodate the future population for Brisbane City under the Regional Plan,” said planners at RPS.
Rooftop recreation space (Photo credit: Brisbane City Council)
Stockwell has a number of established properties in West End, such as Riverpoint, which was completed in 2016, Muse (completed 2018), and Virtuoso the River (completed 2019).
The company has many residential projects across Brisbane, including apartments along Fish Lane and Dutton Park. They are also behind the controversialBoggo Road Gaol development, which was granted approval in 2021.
The new West End development will be one of their projects for 2022 along with another one in Noosaville.
Fore more details about the proposed residential building, see Brisbane City Council’s website with the reference A005984925.
Here are some fresh and delicious ideas for the Easter weekend! Harris Farm Markets West End shares six new recipes for Easter, using seafood and some of the best produce in season.
Whilst the kids prepare for Easter hunts at home, keep an eye on Pink Lady Apples, avocados, pears, and red grapefruit, as well as raspberries, broccolini, white grapes, lemons, limes, chestnuts, carrots, red capsicum, plums, sweet potatoes, blackberries, zucchini, bananas, passionfruit, celery and truss cherry tomatoes at the fruits and vegetable section of Harris Farm Markets.
Swing by the seafood aisle as well and check out the ingredients and supplies you can use to prepare these meals below:
Easter Tom Yum Gravalax
A simple and quick dish to make, this cured salmon recipe incorporates tastes of Thai soup with coriander, lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves. For that little bit of extra preparation time, place the gravalax on fried rice paper crisps with pickled radish, fresh truss cherry tomatoes, and crème fraiche.
The best thing about a platter is that it caters to every palette, even the pickiest of people. This recipe couples the most mouth-watering lamb cutlets and vegan sausages with eggplant, capsicum, broccolini, and truss cherry tomatoes, seasoned with rosemary and a touch of garlic.
For the love of all seafood, you can’t give this one a miss at Easter. A dish of art with octopus and marinade, black mussels, king prawns, and scallops. The platter is placed with final touches of freshly made saltbush butter, capers, and lemon wedges.
This recipe is one not spoiled by the overindulgence of Easter chocolate, with all ingredients carefully selected to harmonise perfectly with eggs in this Easter dish. A traditionally Turkish take with emphasis on spices, sided with Macadamia Flatbread to dip into the delights.
Hot Cross Bun Ice Cream Sandwiches with Chocolate Sauce
You can’t go wrong with a classic hot cross bun recipe, but maybe you can do a little better. This possibly controversial take on Hot Cross Buns provides an option for the warmer days of Autumn. We’ll leave you to decide if it’s worthy.
Adding in-season Pink Lady Apples, or any red and green apple of your choice – this recipe allows you to pick the apple from whichever tree you prefer. Still focusing on a classic cinnamon flavour with a dash of lemon juice, you can share this dish with all your guests – vegan or not.
