After opening North Adelaide wine bar Pastel last year, James Brown, Saba Maghsoudi and Elijah Makris aren’t putting the brakes on any time soon. The trio have bolstered the partnership by merging their respective design and creative agencies into 2049 and are now gearing up to launch a CBD burger bar – Jumbo – in March.
To do it, they’ve brought in the big guns – specifically, Jimmy Garside, the former executive chef at influential Sydney burger joint Mary’s. Garside had previously linked up with Brown on Motel Mexicola in Bali and Aalto in Vietnam, but a burger restaurant has been a long time coming for the pair.
“James has been talking about a burger venue non-stop since we met,” says Garside. With the chef now settled in Adelaide, it’s the right place, right time. “I’ve got a young son, I don’t want to be in the kitchen 23 hours a day like I was in Sydney. And there are a lot of gaps in the market here. Burgers being a massive one.”
The chef has assembled a tight menu of five burgers, among them a Filet-O-Fish-style fried fish sandwich with zuni pickles, curried tartar, cheese and iceberg, and a classic American cheeseburger with thick-cut pickles, double cheese and a smashed Rangers Valley Black Angus beef patty slipped between a hybrid potato-brioche bun.
“We don’t want to mess around,” he says of the short, sharp menu. “People think a burger’s easy to make but to make one that stands out takes a lot of time and effort.”
There’ll also be a chicken sandwich and a plant-based burger – though the latter is still being fine-tuned. “I’m finding some amazing producers at the moment – I found a really cool mushroom guy. So it could be we do a Nashville-style fried oyster mushroom burger.”
The casual diner will sit at the base of a Pirie Street office tower (with entry from Exchange Place) and feature interior design by 2049 (naturally) and an outdoor courtyard. Expect burgers till late (Maghsoudi reckons midnight on Fridays and Saturdays) and a top-notch wine list by venue manager Melissa McLarty, who also co-owns Forlak Wines.
“We want to bring a bit of a night scene to that zone,” says Maghsoudi, who also co-owns Pinco Deli with Makris. “We’re excited to put all our worlds together – coffee, food, liquor and design. It’s vibe dining, which is what we’ve always gone for.”
Jumbo will open at G5, 12 Pirie Street, Adelaide in March.
This article was originally published on December 12, 2023 but was updated on February 9, 2024 to reflect the fact that Jumbo's opening has been rescheduled from February to March.
