Alfred and Constance Pop Up Festival - Corner of Alfred and Constance street, Fortitude Valley

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Alfred and Constance pop up festival event. A prelude to the upcoming opening to showcase a little of what they have up their sleeve. With the smell of wood fired meat thick in the air, it actually wasn't hard to find because even from Wickham street a couple of blocks over in my car I could smell it. The next day I went with my children without telling them where we were going they exclaimed in the car "What's that smell... I smell BBQ!".

So following the smell of smoking and music I was greeted with a nice relaxed little grassy knoll overlooking the yet to be opened restaurant. A lot was happening. There were delicious whole pigs being carved by David Lindsey head chef overseeing the A&C menu and not to mention amazing desserts and cocktails. There was a good buzz going on and everyone was enjoying themselves.

The food itself was so great and it really made me hungry for more in a restaurant setting where it is literally straight out of the oven. I tried a bit of everything over the couple of days the pop up was on. The meatballs though were children and my favourites and not to mention their other favourite the homemade lemonade.

I was introduced to Kirsty Mundt who is the head pastry chef for Alfred and Constance and currently working out of Damien's latest venture Chester Street Kitchen to produce some really amazing desserts slated for the up and coming dessert bar. The Lemon Meringue was literally a cup of heaven and every part of it was perfect and delicious. Even one of the brownies was a saving grace when I realised I had one in my bag at the hospital the next day.

It's been quite a long time coming waiting for this venue to open which originally was supposed to be July this year. However I can totally appreciate that Damien Griffiths wants to get it absolutely perfect right from the start hence the delay in opening with weather setbacks in construction. Speaking to him it's easy to understand just how keen an eye for detail he actually has. I really enjoyed talking to him about the historical aspects of this building in terms of who built it and lived in it. I was also excited to hear Damien had plans to immortalise some of the original owners history incorporating it into naming parts of the the restaurant.

This has been something highly anticipated by myself and I'm sure others because Brisbane needs places that not only have great food and drink to offer... But places that preserve the history of our city. My excitement was somewhat dashed hearing there were some teething issues getting it open this weekend but I'm sure once it's open it's going to be something great for Brisbane, especially going by how much Damien has put into this project in terms of research and fine detail.

I think it's going to be a great venue and this pop up event really showed how much of a community is already starting to grow in Constance street. Damien even told me that they made sure everything was going to be ok with the tenants living in apartments around the pop up event which says a lot about his plans to nuture an actual community here and add to rather than take away. Much like the way he is building around the houses rather than erasing a part of history all together.

This weekend as part of Valley fiesta you can experience another pop up event for Alfred and Constance at Lime's Hotel. The good thing about this is that Richard Bocatto of Dutch Kills and Painkiller New York will be there to show of his impressive tiki bar skills. Richard who is figure head int he tiki bar scene has been over looking the training of the staff because getting it right is one of the things A&C are keen to do when it comes to every facet of the venue.

So This Friday, Saturday and Sunday get down to Lime's to see a little of what A&C have planned for.

http://alfredandconstance.com.au/gallery.html

http://ittybittybitesbrisbane.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/alfred-constance-pork-fork-and-cork.html

http://ittybittybitesbrisbane.blogspot.com.au/2012/06/alfred-and-c.html