Lune’s Kate Reid. Supernormal’s Andrew McConnell. Shane Delia.
Now, Daniel Chirico. It used to be the Sydney restaurateurs, chefs and bakers coming to Brisbane. These days, it’s Melbourne’s.
And this isn’t a half-hearted play at the Queensland capital, as was the case in the 2000s and 2010s. Delia announced last week that not only was he opening his first restaurant in Brisbane, he was planning to move his family to the city. Chirico, it turns out, migrated months ago.
“I spend most of my time here and shoot down to Melbourne every couple of weeks for a few days,” Chirico says. “I check on the bakery down there, but it has a stable team that’s been there for a while. It’s more about the occasional problem solving.
” Top Melbourne chef Shane Delia to expand empire to Brisbane You can’t imagine there being many problems to solve at the Baker D. Chirico shops in Melbourne. Chirico was one of the first of Australia’s new wave of cult bakers, originally opening in Carlton in 2000; on weekends, both that outlet and its South Yarra sister venue absolutely heave with punters enamoured with its sourdough loaves, cannoli and bombolini.
Now, finally, Chirico has opened a new outlet on Longland Street in Newstead. Finally, because it’s been six years since he signed the lease on the 100-square-metre premises. “We couldn’t do much about COVID,” Chirico says.
“We just had to deal with that, but the later [delays] were just little things that got postponed.
