Osso Bar Italia
A rapidly evolving part of the inner city is set to welcome a brand-new drinking and dining spot in less than a fortnight. Osso Bar Italia – the newest concept from Malt Group (Malt Dining and Malt Traders) – will open on the corner of Edward and Mary Street in the space previously home to Raw Energy on Wednesday March 19. The culinary team from Malt Group’s Spanish-inspired Albion restaurant Vaquero (which closed late last year) has come across to helm Osso’s kitchen, which will deliver a casual-yet-refined take on classic Italian cuisine – think pizza, pasta and flame-licked morsels fresh from the venue’s charcoal oven. In addition to the Italian-inspired fare, Osso’s impressive stone bar will dispense a cracking beverage program, anchored by tight list of wines (showcasing a range of Italian varietals), classic cocktails and pre-batched summer-inspired concoctions, effervescent spritzes, and four beers on tap. Malt Group is working with Alkot Studio on Osso’s design, with the 85-seater venue boasting an internal dining room, casual dining on the alfresco terrace and a laid-back area near Osso’s statement fixture, a Brutalist-inspired stone bar. Once open, Osso Bar Italia will trade from 10:00 am to late Tuesday to Saturday – keep your eyes peeled for an up-close look in the coming weeks.

Wild Legs Wine Room
Next week, Newstead oenophiles will be blessed with the opening of a brand-new wine bar. Wild Legs Wine Room is the sibling sip spot of Adela Wine Bar, with the crew behind the Albion vino joint taking over the cosy site formerly home to Carl’s and Ardo’s Wine on Wyandra Street. The team is giving the venue a cosmetic touch-up, transforming the haunt into an unfussy and unpretentious place for the community to gather over a glass or two and some tasty small plates. Wild Legs Wine Room will specialise in natural wines – sustainably made, low-intervention drops from small producers from Australia and abroad. The offering will be finely curated, with 60–80 wines available upon opening. On the food front, Wild Legs will be ditching overwrought formalities, serving up a succinct, easy-to-navigate menu of dishes that blend flavours from around the world – fashioned by husband-and-wife chef duo Jean-Antoine Jeffrey and Priscila Hoerau, who have cooked for the likes of HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Bill Gates and Boris Johnson. Expect a tight selection of small plates to start, with larger portion plates and weekly specials to be introduced over time. Wild Legs Wine Room is targeting a Wednesday March 19 opening date. We’ll be popping in for a gander as soon as it opens, so check back soon!

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Pavement Whispers: Volume 500 March 25

Soirée of Kaviari Caviar at C’est Bon
Got a taste for the finer things? Caviar fans are encouraged to snag the final few tickets to a one-off dinner event taking place at C’est Bon on Wednesday March 26. Soirée of Kaviari Caviar is the name of intimate event, which will see guests treated to a sumptuous offering of champagne, caviar and top-tier fare from C’est Bon’s head chef Andy Ashby. The event will begin on C’est Bon’s La Terrasse, where attendees will enjoy a glass of Champagne Lacourte-Godbillon and a taste of premium Kaviari Caviar. From there, guests will move to C’est Bon’s private-dining space, where the kitchen team will deliver a multi-course menu designed to match and enhance the flavours of Kaviari’s world-class selection of caviar. The evening will be hosted by Kaviari Caviar’s Laureline Perraudeau, who will be sharing insight into the nuances of caviar pairings. Only a handful of tickets remain for the event – snag yours from C’est Bon’s website before they’re all gone.

Yo-Chi West End
If we were to list the biggest food trends of 2024, the advent of Yo-Chi would be near the top of the list. The surging soft-serve frozen yoghurt specialist has become one of the most popular concepts in the entire country, with new locations popping up all over Australia. In the next three months alone, Yo-Chi will open five new locations and, in good news for Brisbane-based fanatics, one of those locations will be opening on Boundary Street in West End. Though the exact opening date is still being kept under wraps, we hear the team is targeting an April launch date. Stay tuned for more!

Mango Hill Tavern
A much-loved community meeting point has unveiled the results of a substantial refurbishment process. Earlier this month, Mango Hill Tavern lifted the cloche on a suite of new and improved amenities, starting with an all-year-round outdoor deck (equipped with a dedicated bar and seating for 200 guests) and kids’ indoor playroom. The pub’s bistro has also been upgraded, with a retooled menu showcasing classic pub fare, exciting seasonal dishes and share plates perfect for big groups. There’s also a new build-you-own soft-serve station for those that love to design their own dessert. Mango Hill Tavern’s sports bar has also been on the receiving end of a sprucing – with punters able to enjoy marquee sporting fixtures at their best thanks to advanced audio-visual systems and new big-screen televisions. The venue will be hosting a locals weekend on March 14–16, with two days of live music, free gravy rolls and canapes, a pig on the spit, giveaways and raffles, and free fairy floss and popcorn for the kids.

Baker D. Chirico now open wednesdays
In great news for fans of Baker D. Chirico’s drool-worthy delights, the Newstead bakery has announced the expansion of its operating hours. Starting this week, Baker D. Chirico will open on Wednesdays from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm, which means you have a whole extra day to get your fix of the bakery’s croissants, custard-filled bombolone, tamago mayo brioche rolls and gianduia-filled pain Suisse.

If you’ve heard something that’s worth mentioning in The Weekend Edition’s Pavement Whispers, email [email protected].