Raising the steaks – Black Hide Steak & Seafood by Gambaro opens at The Star Brisbane
When it comes to the restaurant business, Gambaro Group’s director John Gambaro believes you’re only as good as your last meal.
It’s a refreshing take to hear, especially from the head of a storied hospitality group that boasts name recognition and a reputation earned over decades of operation. While many restaurateurs that have been in business as long as Gambaro Group run the risk of getting complacent, John chalks up the family-run group’s successful innings to consistency – an all-encompassing fixation on maintaining standards across the board. In addition to this, John’s a firm believer in growth – in his mind, staying in one place tends to lead only to stagnation.
“We’ve been around for a long time, but we always want to be evolving,” says John of the Gambaro Group’s ethos. “Every time we’ve done something new, we think about what diners are expecting. People are worldly, people travel. There are also many great venues in Brisbane, so we need to make sure that we’re matching with the best in Brisbane and keep on growing.”
Black Hide Steak & Seafood is the third iteration of Gambaro’s famed steakhouse to date, following from its OG site on Caxton Street and another that had operated at Treasury Brisbane since 2018, only shuttering recently in anticipation of the venue’s transition to The Star Brisbane. Having managed to secure one of the largest tenancies available along the glamorous river-facing strip (a convenient 20-m skip from the Neville Bonner Bridge), the Gambaro team decided to maximise the opportunity by evolving the Black Hide brand and introduce it to a new generation of diners. To do this, John, Frankie and Donny have taken the best parts of the restaurant’s DNA (namely it’s trademark steak-centric menu and approach to service) and elevate it to match its glamorous sun-drenched surroundings.
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“When you look at our other Black Hides, they were moody, old world and very clubby feeling,” says John. “Here, we really wanted to have a palette that was Queensland – fresh, inviting and also timeless.”
“When people come through the doors, they get this connection to the water and the lights of South Bank,” says John. “And at night, it glows – the underlining lights and the details that you can see are just dreamy. That’s what we wanted.”
It isn’t just the look of Black Hide that has been reconsidered. The restaurant’s menu has been retooled as well, with a more equal emphasis on seafood. “Everyone is aware of Black Hide – we’re known for our steak, but we’ve always had seafood there,” says John. “Because of the location, we wanted to combine the best of both.”
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The Black Hide kitchen has been improved well beyond the capabilities of previous iterations, with a lengthy counter equipped with an oyster bar, a fresh seafood display and an open kitchen pass. In addition to its staple Montague broilers, Black Hide Steak & Seafood’s kitchen is equipped with a charcoal wood oven and a charcoal grill, which lend a smoky flavour profile to an assortment of morsels.
“We’ll have fresh grilled bugs on there, we’ll have charcoal squid on there and we’ll do the steaks,” John tells us. “We’re changing the flavour component – enhancing the flavours and upping the game, with charcoal vegetables and charcoal chicken.”
Black Hide Steak & Seafood’s menu leads with oysters and Kaviari caviar (including bumps served with a shot of Tattinger champagne or Belvedere vodka), before segueing towards snacks and entrees (which are also available at the cocktail lounge) like miso-glazed beef skewers, kingfish crudo with avocado puree and finger lime and sesame dressing, grilled scallops with garlic, parsley butter and pangrattato, prawn cocktails with baby cos and Marie Rose sauce, Black Hide’s signature pork and beef meatballs, and steak tartare with parmesan, egg yolk and pickled cucumber.
For mains, there’s lobster (either grilled or poached, with lemon herb and garlic butter), grilled U10 Mooloolaba prawns, chargrilled spatchcock, and casarecce with Warrigal greens and zucchini. One aspect of the Black Hide menu that remains largely untouched is its steak selection. Black Hide has continued its partnership with Stanbroke Beef, offering cuts of Angus MBS 3+, wagyu MBS 5+, dry-aged beef and high-end wagyu MBS 9+ alongside classic steakhouse sides.
“Even though we’re a local Brisbane brand that’s well known, we’ve still got to prove ourselves,” John admits. “But as long as we do the little steps right – and we get them right consistently – we should be here a long time.”