A top trio to deliver a considered take on Nordic cuisine at new West End restaurant Venner
West End is set to welcome a new season-led restaurant next month in the form of Venner. The dining room is the latest project from Milquetoast’s George Curtis and James Horsfall, who have teamed up with Blume’s Jack Stuart to deliver a take on Nordic-inspired cuisine, viewed through an Australian lens. Built around seasonality, sustainability and careful craft, Venner looks to champion a more deliberate style of dining. Here’s what we know …
George Curtis and James Horsfall have had their hands full in recent years. The duo has been busy overseeing their inner-city wine bar and dining room Milquetoast, which became an instant smash-hit when it opened mid-way through 2024. George has also been splitting time between Milquetoast and his first endeavour, acclaimed amaro-led cocktail spot Before + After.
But, somehow, the duo has managed to cultivate an appetite for more. That’s great news for us, because pretty soon the guys will cut the ribbon on Venner in West End, a 50-seat restaurant exploring Nordic culinary discipline through local Australian produce.
Venner will open at the end of February in the Boundary Street space recently vacated by Gum Bistro – a prime piece of real estate that proved to be the catalyst for George and James’ newest project.
“It took a while for the motivation to do something else after Milquetoast, but when it did we were pretty set on doing something on the south side in the suburbs – whether that was a restaurant, wine bar or whatever,” says George Curtis. “When we saw that Gum Bistro had sadly closed, we got on the phone and, pretty soon after, it was ours.
“It’s the perfect spot for what we wanted to do as a three.”
Yes, you read that right. Three. Joining George and James in the Venner endeavour is none other than Jack Stuart, head chef and owner of widely praised destination restaurant Blume, out in Boonah.
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“The collaboration between the three of us starts with Milquetoast,” reveals James. “George and I were thinking about getting someone in the kitchen, so we approached Jack. He wasn’t in the space to go ahead with that at the time. When we started playing with the idea of opening up a new place, Jack’s name came up again. We reached out, and then it just went from there.”
Together, the trio has devised a concept inspired by the ‘Nordic vanguard’ – the contemporary Scandinavian hospitality scene, which itself operates with an approach informed by a sense of disciplined creativity, tasteful minimalism and a sustainable relationship to the land.
“[Venner] means friends in Danish,” says George, who reveals the idea for Venner can be traced back to his time working alongside James at now-closed fine-diner Elska. “We wanted to create a space that’s not just a restaurant, it’s somewhere that friends can gather and have a great time. It’s not just about a transaction of food and drink and money – it’s about people creating memories with each other.”
Though loosely inspired by lauded Copenhagen restaurants like Amass, Slippurinn, Jatak and Silberbauers Bistro, Venner’s provenance is rooted firmly in the Australian landscape. Jack, alongside Venner’s head chef Jack Burgess (previously of Milquetoast and Essa), is fashioning a menu that champions Queensland and Australian produce, with dishes crafted with purpose, precision and intent to allow ingredients to shine at every turn. A waste-conscious approach will be core to the endeavour, with preservation techniques employed to ensure sustainability.
“[Venner] is going to have Australian bones in a sense, but Neo-Nordic is more about time and place, sustainability,” explains Jack. “Everything in the kitchen will be utilised, whether it’s fermented down the track or preserved, every part of the vegetable and meat and fish will be used. That’s what we’re really, really focusing on.”
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Once open, Venner will serve a la carte and set-menu offerings (as well as a Sunday brunch menu) following strict seasonal movements. Jack will be engaging with a number of suppliers from the Scenic Rim and beyond – as well as the restaurant’s own herb and vegetable garden in the backyard – to fill Venner’s larder, which will then be transformed into dishes like kangaroo æbleskivers, squab with pickled rosehip, butter-poached trout roulade, Ulladulla blue mackerel with Tasmanian wasabi and cauliflower, and venison tartare with rugbrød (a dense traditional Danish rye bread that will be made in-house).
Jack will also be reaching into his bag to deliver signature dishes from his previous postings, including his signature Congress dish of kangaroo pastrami with cultured Jersey cream and fried onions. Across the board, the menu speaks to restraint and purpose.
“There’s a rugged purposefulness in Neo-Nordic cuisine that I really like,” says James. “It’s not too fussy, but things are on the plate for a reason. Things are sourced purposefully, it’s not overly worked.”
“We are doing things on a more fine dining scale, but we’re still very approachable,” adds George.
On the beverage front, James will oversee Venner’s 60-bottle-strong wine list, adhering to his personal ethos of quality, authenticity and integrity over locality, with sustainable farming practices also a point of interest.
“It’s a small list, informed by the menu and its ethos of local and sustainable,” says James. “It’s leaning towards organic and biodynamic, with a mixture of international and Australian wines. The menu will inform the wine list, which is predominantly written with this season in mind – lighter red styles and brighter styles in general.”
Approximately 12 wines will be available by the glass, including rotational Coravin pours propping up the top end of the list.
Aidan Perkins is pulling double duty as bar manager of Venner and Milquetoast, drilling down into themes of minimalism and sustainability for the West End restaurant’s cocktail program. Five or six cocktails will rotate monthly, each infused with two seasonal ingredients, with ferments and house-made vinegars expected to feature heavily.
The back bar will be streamlined, with Venner eschewing gin in favour of aquavit – a distilled white spirit commonly infused with caraway, fennel and dill. Expect to find an aquavit martini (poured directly from the freezer and served with a sidecar of seasonal pickles) and an aquavit sour. Digestifs, bitters and liqueurs like Gammel Dansk will also feature. Non-alcoholic options will be plentiful, too, with boozy and non-boozy menu pairings available.
George, Jack and James are currently in the elbow grease stage of Venner’s fit-out. Once complete, guests will find themselves in a space aesthetically distinct from Gum Bistro. Light timber and natural light will anchor the vibe, coupled with decorative additions like paintings by well-known Australian landscape artist Tony Rice, plants, food art, knick knacks, books, wine bottles and ceramics.
“Elegant is the main word,” says George. “It won’t be too busy like Milquetoast – it’ll be a little bit more stripped back.”
Out front will be a casual footpath area with a long dry bar, while inside will boast window seating, internal banquettes, a circular communal table and, if in the mood for something special, seats at the kitchen counter, which will double as a chef’s table. A small but workbench-style bar at the rear will also offer a perch for those seeking a simple snack and a drink, or a post-meal debrief.
All told, Venner is looking to occupy a space between worlds – Nordic restraint, Australian produce and a dining room defined by focus rather than flourish. Deliberate, thoughtful and quietly assured, it’s a restaurant that will ask diners to slow down, pay attention and trust the season to lead.