A 22-seat chef’s table restaurant with a superhero focus is unlike anything else around.
Old and new school hip hop pumps through the sound system like a nightclub; diners sing and dance along in their chairs, while the shadowy image of Batman looks down from walls lined with murals of the world’s greatest superheroes.
Welcome to the recently opened 1st Edition in Fortitude Valley.
The work of Marvel and comic-loving mates Marc Grey and Steve Maiden, the venue is a tiny, 22-seater chef’s table experience, but without any of the wankery that sometimes follows such models.
1st-Edition, Fortitude Valley Brisbane
Here it’s all about fun, with diners perched on stools along an L-shaped bar laminated with comic strips, under blue-tinged, ultra-dark lighting, while chefs plate up dishes and bartenders shake up drinks within arm’s reach.
While pretentiousness certainly isn’t part of the package, the blokes clearly take their crafts seriously, with Grey behind a cracking cocktail menu that offers signatures and spins on classics worthy of a superhero; while Maiden combines his love for Mexican and Asian fare with a little French technique to create a share-style menu that’s both approachable yet out of the ordinary.
A salami-infused Ninja Turtle negroni is representative of the quirk hiding in the drinks list, while “Storms old fashion” emerging from a cloche-trapped billow of smoke adds to the venue’s theatre.
But it’s the mystical purple potion, “Doctor Strange”, combining rhubarb, gin, lemon and lavender and delivering citrusy, floral refreshment that you’ll want to smash down faster than Iron Man.
Spidey’s margarita also warrants hero status and will come in handy to tame the flames flickering in your mouth from the Korean-style popcorn cauliflower ($20).
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