Agnes has lived many lives.
At the start of 2020, the Anyday team’s Agnes was one of Brisbane’s most anticipated new restaurant openings. Then 2020 happened. The crew pivoted, opening Agnes Bakery in the space, which went on to become a fixture on James Street and later got its own identity in the form of Idle. After a year of delays (not all of them due to Covid restrictions), Agnes opened in August 2020.
Instantly, it became known as one of the city’s best restaurants. And that’s still true today.
Almost six years in, co-owner and culinary director Ben Williamson has unveiled a new menu with 25 new dishes. The revamped menu comes after group chef Adam Wolfers stepped away this past summer. Wolfers has now taken on a similar role at Sydney restaurant group Esca.
The 25 new dishes heavily draw on Spanish and Mediterranean influences and return to the restaurant’s ethos of fire-fuelled cooking.
“Working with fire is the art of managing a primal element, compelling our team to cook with intuition. This is a living creative process that continuously evolves with experience and knowledge,” Williamson said in a statement. “Our new menu reflects this philosophy, stripping back unnecessary elements and focusing on quality produce, allowing the ingredients and fire to speak for themselves. I wrote this menu from the ground up to take Agnes back to its roots.”
New dishes include scorched Mallorquin toast with honeycomb, fennel seeds and juicy guindillas; chistorra – Catalan-style chorizo – roasted in cider; and coral trout served in pil pil sauce with burnt lemon.
Some favourites remain, including the smoked tomato toast, and sourdough crumpet with yellowfin tuna and crème fraîche.
There are also two new set menus, priced at $89 and $139, each with a mix of classics and new dishes.
There’s also a new cocktail menu, with a Once Upon a Time in Hollywood twist. Two of the new drinks are the Did I Say Something Funny, Stuntman – kalamansi, chamomile, gin, apricot and peated rice – and the Spahn Ranch, which is made from tequila, bee pollen, raspberry and lime.
The new menu at Agnes is available now.
Dining and Cooking