Sandwiches have always been central to Hugo Hirst and Marty Coard’s friendship. When the pair started working at Suburban Social in Chapel Hill five years ago, they often made sandwiches for staff meals. Years later, when Coard opened Ach Wine Bar, Hirst, who was working as a brewer at the time, would drop in to deliver kegs.

“When I was dropping off beer, I’d bring in an ingredient and we’d make a sandwich,” Hirst says. “At some point, we started feeling like sandwiches needed their own stage.”

Enter Sarni, their bright blue venue on Racecourse Road, which they opened with Ach’s Noam Lissner and Mat Drummond yesterday. On the menu are some of their favourites from over the years including smoked beef brisket with beef-fat-mayo and celeriac remoulade; lamb souvlaki with tzatziki, peppers and balsamic onions; and smoked mortadella with ’nduja cream cheese and pesto. There’s also a vegetarian option with cauliflower schnitzel, kasundi ketchup, taleggio and fermented zucchini.

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The team isn’t afraid to take inspiration from the classics, either. Eventually, they will add a sandwich filled with porchetta, pate, carrot and nuoc cham, and one with chicken schnitzel, Japanese curry sauce and pickles. Another will be stacked with kimchi-brined fried chicken, cabbage and kimchi mayo.

Even though their first day was an under-the-radar soft opening, the place was humming with friends and people from neighbouring businesses. “Sandwiches have been a thing we’ve always done with friends,” Hirst says. “It was a back-of-house meal for co-workers or a friend that has popped in. That’s what Sarni is about – it’s a place for friends.”

Coard – who’s focusing on Sarni while Lissner and Drummond look after Ach – is baking all the bread in-house, including focaccia, ciabatta and a Japanese milk bread he’s been perfecting for months. He also plans on bringing in whole animals, such as lambs, and breaking them down. “We’re doing things the hard way,” Hirst laughs.

Hirst and Coard handled the bright and vibrant fit-out themselves. Featuring lots of blue paint, a section of wall adorned with covers of the New Yorker, and furniture handcrafted by Hirst, with help from his dad, using spotted gum sourced from Hirst’s family property in Bundaberg.

Looking ahead, the duo plans to open Sarni in the evenings. “We’ll have some plays on sandwiches and some fun small plates, maybe a steak or two,” Coard says. Once their liquor licence comes through, there will be a concise wine list, a few cocktails and a couple of beers, including a house lager brewed by Hirst.

The duo envisions Sarni as a spot for locals to drop by in the morning for a coffee (they’re using beans from Reverence Coffee), grab a sandwich, or enjoy a snack and wine in the evening. A deli fridge will also be stocked with Section 28 cheese from South Australia and charcuterie for locals to take away.

“Some great places have opened in Brisbane recently, like Snug, Priorities and Straits, that have [built] a really cool community,” Coard says. “We’ll be here 100-plus hours a week, so it would be nice to [create that for ourselves].”

Sarni
143 Racecourse Road, Ascot
No Phone

Hours:
Tue to Sat 10am–3pm

@sarni