L.P.O. is giving emerging chefs the keys to the kitchen with its new residency series

You might not believe him at first, but Dan Wilson reckons there are some exciting similarities between Brisbane and London’s hospitality scenes. He’s one to know – Dan spent a decade helping push London’s food scene forward with venues like P. Franco and Dandy.

While he’d agree that Brisbane and London are still leagues apart in terms of scale, he reckons there’s a bubbling undercurrent of culinary activity that echoes the vibrant underground he immersed himself in over the pond.

Here, young chefs are in abundance – many forming the backbone of kitchen brigades in top restaurants across the city. Every now and then, one or two of these chefs break away and open something of their own, resulting in venues like August, Snug and Monal Dining, to name a few.

Back in the day, incubators like Wandering Cooks helped numerous people get their foot in the door, spawning a raft of owner-operated concepts – many of which are still operating today.

And while the city has plenty of success stories like this, Dan reckons Brisbane still has some ground to make up when it comes to its grassroots hospitality ecosystem – the breeding ground where up-and-coming chefs can fully express their talents and take the next step in their careers

“I was really lucky enough to be part of the inception of P. Franco, before it became one of the best places to go and eat in the country,” recalls Dan. “What it ended up doing was creating a landing place for the new voices of food – for the chefs who were changing the nature of the city.

“There’s nowhere really in Australia that can offer a position like that, where chefs can test things and really work on their own voice. I think it’s something that’s really missing in Brisbane.”

That’s why Dan and business partner Matt Okine have installed a kitchen in their Tarragindi wine shop, L.P.O.

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When the duo opened L.P.O. a year and a half ago, there was talk of adding a kitchen setup of some kind in the venue’s rear storage room. The idea was put on the back burner while L.P.O. built its following (and while Dan opened Fountainhead Winehouse in Newstead), but after trialling a few catered events at L.P.O., Dan and Matt decided to pull the trigger on the kitchen expansion.

“Seeing how the space transformed as soon as people had food in front of them, it just felt so right,” recalls Dan. “So it was like, cool, we’ve got to get this done now.”

In September, L.P.O. officially commissioned its kitchen, kickstarting a residency series that Dan says will give emerging chefs the chance to run their own operation, from sourcing produce all the way to plating up. Every six months, a new up-and-coming talent will take the reins, fashioning a menu shaped by their own ideas.

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“There aren’t many pathways for young creatives in hospitality in Brisbane,” Dan says. “This is about giving these young hotshots a crack – allowing them to understand what the systems will look like when they eventually do their own thing.”

Taking the reins of L.P.O.’s kitchen for its inaugural residency is New Zealand-born chef Jimmy Whitefield, whose career already includes stints at Fhior in Edinburgh and Michelin-starred London restaurant Da Terra. When Dan heard Jimmy was looking for a short-term gig before a planned move south, he reached out with the offer.

“I asked him, ‘Why don’t you come and do this?’” says Dan. “‘Do six months, do the first residency and see how it feels to cook your own food.’ I said, ‘This isn’t you being the chef at LPO – this is about you and your food.’”

For Jimmy, the opportunity to run his own kitchen – even for a short period of time – was appealing.

“Getting an opportunity like this as young as I am … it’s not the easiest door to open,” says Jimmy.

“That jump from sous to head chef to doing your own food is quite a challenge. Especially in the high-end kitchens where they don’t really look outwards – they hire within and they make people grow within. So, unless I was going to commit to three or four years at the same venue, at the places I like to work, I was never going to see this.”

An L-shaped kitchen has been installed in the rear of the venue, with the former storeroom transformed into a dining space that can accommodate eight guests across reservable, kitchen-table-style seats (though guests can also enjoy food in the main retail and bar space).

The kitchen setup itself is bare bones by necessity. With only the essentials at his disposal, Jimmy has taken a stripped-back approach to creating his menu.

“I said to myself, ‘This is all I’ve got. What can I do with that?’ I needed to go back to basics, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised that’s the fun of it,” Jimmy says.

Aside from the spatial limitations, Jimmy says there are no rules when it comes to his creative choices. With that in mind, his debut menu is filled with global inspirations.

“Living in London for a few years you see everything – people do whatever cuisine they like,” says Jimmy. “Dan told me to have cheese, anchovies and some bread at the top for people who don’t want to fully commit to a meal. Other than that, I can do what I want.”

Jimmy’s debut menu kicks off with Turkish-inspired sweet potato flatbread with labneh and shatta, best paired with beef tartare coated in pomegranate molasses, sumac and mint. From there, plates of Falls Farm asparagus with peas, strawberries and goats curd lead into fried polenta topped with anchovies, tomato and pepper.

A bit of Mexican-inspired flavour comes through in the Falls Farm carrot tostada, crowned with coconut sambal, curry leaf and macadamia. In our opinion, the star of the show is the potato rosti – a crispy golden number Jimmy tops with snapper crudo and kumquat kosho.

Expect the menu to change frequently, with Jimmy eager to play around with small allocations of hyper-seasonal produce – whatever is fresh and exciting at the moment. Rest assured, every morsel emerging from the L.P.O. kitchen has been designed with wine in mind.

“The idea around the menu is to be complementary to L.P.O.’s styles of wines,” Dan explains. “So bolder flavours and things with a little punch, but also things that just meld well with a lot of the acidity, the texture and minerality that you taste in these wines.”

“I think that’s the really cool thing about this project,” says Jimmy, who adds that his partner, Cass, is overseeing L.P.O.’s front of house throughout the residency.

“We have amazing glasses that are open every day, but people can also look at the shelf and know that they can crack open a nice bottle, have a really good time and they don’t have to go to the city.”

Later this month, Jimmy and Cass will host a degustation-style dinner takeover for their pop-up restaurant concept, Gosling. The first event is already booked out, but diners can expect Jimmy and Cass to host similar events monthly. Dan is also eager to offer a brunch service once a month, with dates and details to be confirmed soon.

While it’s still too early to say where L.P.O.’s residency goes next, Dan hopes that the concept helps give homegrown culinary talent a platform, empowering emerging chefs to learn the ropes of kitchen operations and instilling in them the confidence to back themselves in the industry.

“I just think that if we can promote these people who have great talent, then hopefully that will open up other people’s eyes to their skill, help elevate them in the conversations they can have, and give them a bit more power in terms of their own professionalism in the community,” says Dan.

L.P.O.’s kitchen operates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Head to The Directory for more info.