The Red Hook crew opens 90s NYC-inspired burger bar DUMBO at Portside Wharf
If there is one burger joint in Brisbane deserving of a sequel, it’s Red Hook. Happy Fat Group’s grungy New York-inspired street-food dispensary has held a position near the top of Brisbane’s best burger spots since it opened in 2014. To hear co-owner Bonnie Shearston tell it, expansion was something her and fellow Happy Fat head honcho Tom Sanceau have discussed on and off for the past eight years. So, why did they never do it?
Well, it turns out that finding a location imbued with the same grungy inner-city magic as Red Hook’s Gresham Lane digs is no easy task. What’s more, opening another outpost with the same severe spatial constraints as the OG site wasn’t something the team was super keen on. So when Portside Wharf came knocking to offer the Happy Fat Group a spacious tenancy as part of the precinct’s ongoing $20-million redevelopment, Bonnie and Tom figured the time was finally right to give Red Hook a sibling – but not one that long-time fans would be anticipating.
“There’d be no point trying to put Red Hook as we know it here – it wouldn’t feel right,” says Bonnie, referring to Portside’s resurgent waterfront hub. “So we had to rethink it and get a little bit clever with it. We started thinking about how we could create a group of restaurants, rather than a chain of restaurants.”
Turning once more to the Big Apple for ideas, Bonnie and Tom selected another storied Brooklyn neighbourhood to draw inspiration from. Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass – the district more affectionately known as Dumbo – felt like an appropriate pick, thanks to its riverside location and proximity to major bridges (characteristics broadly shared by Portside Wharf). This allowed the Happy Fat team to devise a concept that retained the same spirit as Red Hook, but boasted its own unique qualities.
“For us, we felt if we keep it all as neighbourhoods within Brooklyn we would still have that identity of being that New York street-food concept,” says Bonnie. “DUMBO is right near the river, plus you’ve got the Gateway Bridge just over there. The idea is that you can come here and you can still get your Brooklyn cheeseburger, you can still get your killer wings and you can still get your awesome cocktails and a wicked beer – but, because of its location, it has its own identity.”
DUMBO officially opened to the public last week next door to Aamaya Indian Restaurant and The Ballpark. The team has tailored the 121-sqm space to its waterfront surroundings, recruiting regular collaborator Lamberts to design and construct the burger bar’s interior. “In terms of the design, it needed to be more light, bright and breezy,” says Bonnie. “The brief we gave them was ’90s New York diner, without feeling too kitsch. And I think they’ve absolutely nailed it.”
The minimalist design is pleasing on the eye, with white-brick walls, terracotta tiling, recycled timber panelling and cream-coloured furnishings creating a striking juxtaposition of colours and textures. Seating is divided between cushioned banquettes and booths, as well as freestanding tables inside and in a shielded alfresco area out front. Though different tonally, there’s still a signature characteristic that tethers DUMBO to Red Hook and the Happy Fat Group’s Newstead vinyl bar Ruby, My Dear, thanks to its hand-picked playlist of tunes and a crisp, yet charmingly casual service style.
Aside from aesthetics, the biggest difference between DUMBO and Red Hook is the menu. Equipped with a substantially larger kitchen space (four times the size of Red Hook’s, in truth), the team is now able to go far beyond the tight and tidy list of burgers and street eats their inner-city joint is known for. “There’s a much bigger kitchen here, so it gives us more opportunity to do things,” says Bonnie. “We’ve been able to really expand that street food side and get a little bit more creative with it. And we’ve also added some salads in, as we thought it was important to have some more healthy options there as well.”
The menu starts on a familiar note with its range of burgers, including Red Hook staples like the Brooklyn Cheeseburger (now available with your choice of smash or thick patties), the Uptown Funk, the Grandmaster Flash and the Shaolin Soul. But, if it’s your first time dining at DUMBO, get the venue’s namesake burger, which comes with two Oklahoma-style smash patties (the kind with grilled onions), melty American cheese, special sauce and tangy pickles.
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Over on the other side of the menu is DUMBO’s street-food options, which include Red Hook’s classic chicken wings, plus new items like the Dirty Water Dog (an ode to the franks served from New York’s street-side hot dog vendors), fried chicken with liège waffles, Korean hot honey and buttermilk ranch, a poppy seed bagel with smoked salmon, cream cheese, red onions, crispy capers and fresh dill, and a fried-fish sando with American cheese, house tartare and butter crunch lettuce. There are also two plant-based burgers and three salads on the menu, plus an ice-cream cookie sando.
DUMBO is continuing Red Hook’s legacy of serving sensational drinks, with a boosted beverage menu featuring an extensive wine list (nudging close to 40 options), a playful cocktail menu (featuring the likes of a pickle margarita), four beers on tap and a clutch of ‘Thicc’ malt shakes for that classic diner feel.
As cost-of-living pressures increase, Dumbo will arrive at a pivotal time when diners are looking to make their money stretch further. Red Hook’s early week promo nights on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have been brought over to DUMBO, while the team are considering hosting French champagne and wing nights in the near future.
“We don’t want DUMBO to be somewhere where people come in, eat, and leave,” says Bonnie. “It’s going to be more than your one-stop, quick-service burger shop. We want people to come in, settle down and get amongst it.”
DUMBO is now open to the public.