Just In: Gerard’s Bistro on James Street Will Close Next Month

Gerard’s Bistro has been a mainstay in Fortitude Valley for 14 years. Throughout several distinct eras, it’s maintained a reputation as Brisbane’s best Middle Eastern restaurant and an incubator for cooking talent. 

Now it’s called time, with the final service on July 4.

Owner Johnny Moubarak, who’s keen for a break, has sold the business to what he describes as “interstate hospitality professionals”.

“It’ll be a new restaurant,” he says. “There will be a new name. There will be a renovation to it. I can’t say too much, but they’re amazing. They have venues in other states. What I can say is, I can’t wait to go there. It’s my cup of tea, and I’m excited.

“It’s exciting that people from down south are looking at Brisbane as a place to create amazing venues, and I think it’s going to be so good for Brisbane, you know? I really do. I mean, we have such a beautiful, vibrant, diverse city.”

Gerard’s has consistently evolved over the past 14 years. There was the 2023 J.AR Office renovation that felt “like entering an ancient tomb”, of course, but the biggest changes took place in the kitchen.

“I've worked with three brilliant chefs: Ben Williamson, Adam Wolfers and Jimmy Richardson,” Moubarak says. “They will all go to do better things – I mean, Ben already has, and so has Adam, and Jimmy’s on his way.”

Williamson – the first executive chef at Gerard’s – is now culinary director and a part-owner of Brisbane’s prolific Anyday Group. Wolfers later joined Anyday himself before moving back to Sydney, where he’s running the kitchen at the highly regarded Aalia. And Richardson, who’s still at Gerard’s, surely has some plum job offers already.

“All of them offer something so unique and so exceptional,” Moubarak says. “Ben cooked really beautifully with wood. He created that whole charcoal flavour. Adam treated vegetables with so much elegance and refinement. And Jimmy then refined the steak and meat – what he does with meat is phenomenal.”

Despite the good memories, Moubarak is tired. He needs a rest from hospitality, even if it doesn’t last long: “I’ve already got bloody fomo, but I need a break so I’m gonna take it.”

Gerard’s final service is on July 4.