A WW2-era US Navy base is now home to The Officers Mess – a casual dining hub on New Farm’s riverfront
The story of The Officers Mess is one that can be traced back more than 80 years – to April 1942, to be exact, when the United States Navy operated a submarine base in New Farm.
At that time, Brisbane-based US Navy personnel numbers were small and, for the most part, could be accommodated in local hotels or boarding houses. But by 1943 an influx of USN sailors necessitated that New Farm Park and portions of the suburb’s riverfront land be leased and developed into the USN New Farm Receiving Station, which serviced personnel allotted to the Brisbane base and those transiting onwards.
The station was equipped with a myriad of amenities, including two barracks, a mess hall, galley, a wet canteen, theatre, barber shop and various storage rooms and administration offices. When the station closed on January 12, 1946 the land was transferred back into the ownership of Brisbane City Council and subsequently leased to the Returned Limbless Sailors and Soldiers Association, which converted part of the site into the Riverside Ballroom and another portion into the Limbless Soldiers Bowling Club (now Merthyr Bowls Club).
For the past 25 years, Declan Martschinke’s family has run the sprawling Riverside Ballroom site (now leased by RSL Australia) as a multifaceted events and functions centre. Last year, however, Declan and business partner William Griffin (director of Brisbane-based property developer OneFin) made the bold decision to evolve the site into a multi-outlet dining and events hub – boasting a cafe and a bakery, to start – that was more accessible for the greater community. And thus, The Officers Mess was born.
Naturally, an ambitious project of this scale needs a steady hand to help steer the ship, offering wise. Declan and Will found two sets of hands in the form of Andrew and Amelie Gunn, a pair of top-flight chefs who previously worked at Urbane (as executive chef and head chef, respectively) and at Lobby Bar at The Calile Hotel, where they were head chef and senior pastry chef.
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“We were coming to the end of our tenure at The Calile, and [Declan and Will] asked us to come down and see the space,” recalls Andy. “We were a bit reluctant, but when they showed us the lawn with its beautiful jacarandas and the vision of the project before it was all renovated … we just fell in love with the space and thought, ‘wow’. This is truly a hidden gem in Brisbane.”
“It was really interesting to be part of the design of the back and the front,” says Amelie of the opportunity. “They had this idea of running a bakery and a cafe – obviously with me more looking after the bakery and Andy looking after the kitchen.”
Renovation works commenced earlier this year, which saw the construction of a sleek new teal-and-pink-tiled bar and bakery counter at the venue’s riverwalk end. The mess hall has been re-floored and cleaned up, with new era-appropriate lamps illuminating rows of high-top and low-set tables. Out on the lawn, under the shade of two gargantuan jacaranda trees, are rows of white picnic tables and bean bags – ideal vantage points to watch the river flow by. More work has taken place behind the scenes, with Andy and Amelie overseeing a complete upgrade of the venue’s kitchen, including the installation of a full pastry kitchen.
For The Officers Mess’ debut offering, the Gunn’s are drawing upon their fine-dining pedigree, applying techniques honed working in kitchens across Australia and France to a crowd-pleasing day and evening menu.
“We want to do something that’s not pretentious – just relaxed and family-friendly,” says Amelie. “We’re still using high-quality products, just without falling down into a fine-dining offering that doesn’t match the venue.”
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From Wednesday to Sunday, The Officers Mess serves a cafe menu featuring the likes of French toast-style fruit loaf, crepes with Nutella and strawberry coulis, croque monsieurs, confit duck cassoulet, cured salmon with poached eggs, and shakshuka. From 11:00 am until late, the kitchen starts dispensing snacks like prawn rolls with lemon butter, fish tacos, baked camembert, chicken karaage with gochujang aioli, burgers and cheese plates. Meanwhile, the bar is dispensing coffee, tap and bottled beers, a tight list of wine and classic cocktails.
Across the board, the team is utilising produce sourced from small Queensland farmers and reputable suppliers, including Five Founders Beef, Brisbane Valley Quail, Maleny Dairy and smallgoods from Black Forest Smokehouse. “Everyone goes on about being sustainable – everyone preaches that,” says Andy. “I want everything to have its origins, to be able to source where it came from. We’ve been doing that for years – using good quality products, minimising wastage and just being smart about what we offer to try and to keep it affordable.”
Miche, The Officers Mess’ bakery arm, is Amelie’s domain. Here, a pastry and bread display houses croissants, chocolate swirls, salted caramel and macadamia cookies, canneles, hazelnut and blueberry financiers, lemon cakes, baguettes, sourdough, rye bread, focaccia and rustic miche loaves. Taking similar cues from the cafe kitchen, Amelie is looking to elevate Miche’s classic offering through the use of premium ingredients.
“I’m not doing crazy pastries – everything is very simple, like croissants, pain au chocolat and pain au raisin,” says Amelie. “There’s the same sort of philosophy around the bakery as the cafe – just good produce. The flour is organic, we’re using very high-quality butter, and all our bread is sourdough-based with slow fermentation.”
There is more to come at The Officers Mess, with the team looking to potentially subdivide the mess hall space and build a restaurant, refurb the 500-capacity ballroom and build an umbrella-shaded deck near the riverwalk. Functions are still a big part of the business, with an assortment of menus and spaces available that cater to everything from corporate events and seminars to community gatherings and weddings. As The Officers Mess is leasing from the RSL, Anzac Day services will also be hosted here.
“From the first week to now, it’s already changed heaps,” says Andy. “I can’t imagine next year – I really look forward to that.”
“The potential development is almost as exciting as what we’ve had this past year already,” adds Amelie.
At the end of the day, ensuring The Officers Mess is catering to the needs of the locals is the primary driving force for Andy, Amelie, Declan and Will.
“We just want to create something special here,” says Andy. “This is something that we’ve been a part of since day one and that’s rare, as a chef, to have that position.”
The Officers Mess is now open to the public.