Meet Sauce Bistro – the neighbourhood haunt with a fine-dining backbone
Ashgrove’s new Sauce Bistro keeps things casual on the surface, but there’s serious technique simmering underneath. Chef Stuart McGill and sommelier Misa Ohshige bring fine-dining polish to a neighbourhood-friendly format. House-made everything, clever Japanese and European influences, and a standout wine-and-sake list set the tone. Sound like your kind of restaurant? Here’s what you need to know …
Undersell but overdeliver.
That’s the mantra that underpins Ashgrove’s newest restaurant, Sauce Bistro, according to chef and co-owner Stuart McGill.
Nestled on Frasers Road, Sauce Bistro is the latest in a string of new neighbourhood nosh spots carving territory out in Brisbane’s suburbs. The venture sees Stu and fellow co-owner, sommelier Misa Ohshige, applying their considerable hospitality expertise to a concept pitched towards a broad demographic, with the duo cloaking their high-end skillset in a format that is approachable to all comers.
“Initially we were thinking of just purely focusing on the wine offering – something akin to a wine bar,” says Stu. “But given where we are and the local demographic, we thought it was important to offer something that’s accessible to everyone.”
With some serious firepower in the kitchen and overseeing the floor, Sauce Bistro is bound to surprise.
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Stu oversees a menu that the duo describes as “modern Australian-ish” – a reflection of the country’s melting pot of culinary influences that is underscored by Stu’s own formidable background in Japanese cuisine, honed at venues like Tetsuya’s in Sydney and Etsu Izakaya in Mermaid Beach.
“I spent a bit of time in Japan and worked in quite a few heavily Japanese-influenced restaurants, so that’s informed my palate,” says Stu. “I want [Sauce Bistro] to be something that’s on par with some of those high-level places.”
Though concise, the menu is packed with an intriguing amount of complexity, courtesy of Stu’s technical prowess. Where possible, everything is made in house – including the smoked and cured meats that are showcased across the menu.
“That was really important for us, along with the fermentation that we do, making our own creme fraiche, our own kefir cream and making our own bread – all this is what we think a bistro should be,” explains Stu. “What it came down to was doing what we would be proud of, and not compromising our own values, our own goals and what we wanted to achieve.”
Japanese and European influences are woven throughout, with snacks like smoked beef brisket party pies with stout-and-cheddar sauce sitting next to house-made wagyu pastrami with Pernod sofrito and Neufchâtel cheese, house-smoked salmon with kafir cream, and sashimi of Spangled Emperor with avocado, cured tomato and shiso.
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Sauce Bistro also serves a trio of pasta dishes (right now including pork-and-fennel sausage rigatoni and spaghetti with pancetta, smoked tomato and bonito butter, and junmai sake), followed by mains including dry-aged Berkshire pork chop with radicchio and sauce charcutier, pan-roasted baby chicken with aleppo pepper butter sauce, and Riverine sirloin with sauce bearnaise.
The menu will change every few months, with Stu keen to experiment without falling into fusion-related pitfalls.
“Whether it’s Japanese, Italian or French, there are still certain rules that you have to work within,” says Stu. “I feel like there’s a very fine line that you can tread and risk doing something that’s not doing the culture or the cuisine justice.”
Misa has crafted Sauce Bistro’s 120-strong wine list, which spans independent, biodynamic and international producers, flanked by approximately 20 kinds of junmai sake (including Daigo no Shizuku). When compiling the list, Misa worked with two goals in mind – to ensure the list was complementary to Stu’s menu, while also spotlighting makers with substance.
“I think that’s a theme of the wine list – every single varietal actually has something to match with,” says Misa. “Pairing Italian wine with sashimi or French steak with sake is quite phenomenal.
“I like storytelling winemakers – especially Australian producers that go into how their wine is made and why they do it. I think that’s the fun part of being a sommelier. You have priority access to their story and then you can deliver it to the table.”
Roughly 15 wines are available by the glass (with a further nine options under Coravin), with familiar labels like Margaret River’s LS Merchants, McLaren Vale’s Ministry of Clouds and Spinifex from the Barossa featured alongside drops from Loire Valley, Beaujolais and Veneto. Also available are a clutch of classic cocktails and a rotating selection of Australian craft beers.
Since softly opening on Wednesday November 12, Sauce Bistro has welcomed in a steady stream of locals. Though boasting its own culinary complexity, Stu says the venue is still framed as a welcoming neighbourhood bistro – one he believes is suited to any number of occasions.
“I think the main thing about opening a place together was that we wanted to be somewhere where people could stop in and have a drink, a quick bowl of pasta or just a snack and then head off, or they could be a place where they could come and settle in for the night,” says Stu.
“We’ve been pretty lucky how it’s been received, to be honest. People have been very complimentary – we’ve been really fortunate.”
Sauce Bistro is now open to the public – head to The Directory for booking info and contact details.