This is ESSA.

You found us.

Behind the brass door on Robertson Street, there’s a warm room filled with fire, food, and people who care about what they do. We built ESSA around the idea of making moments — the kind that stop you for a second. The taste of bread just caught by flame, the smell of wood smoke on your clothes, the sound of a bottle opening somewhere down the bar.

In 2025, ESSA was named Queensland Restaurant of the Year, but awards have never been the point. What drives us is the feeling when everything aligns — the right wine, the right song, the right bite at the right time.

Our kitchen is centred around wood and patience. We cook with what’s in season, what’s been grown with care, and what feels good in the moment — vegetables pulled from local soil, seafood from the coast, meat we’ve dry-aged until it’s ready. We try not to interfere too much. Sometimes the best thing you can do is step back and let something burn just enough.

There’s a rhythm to the week here.

Wednesdays are for our test kitchen — ideas in progress, dishes we’re still figuring out.

Fridays are for long lunches that stretch into the afternoon.

And Sundays are slower, family-style, the kind of meal that feels like home.

We care about where food comes from — and the people who bring it to us. Farmers who know their soil, producers who give a damn, winemakers who respect the land. We cook, pour, and serve in a way that feels real: thoughtful but never uptight, generous without excess.

It’s not fine dining, and it’s not trying to be. ESSA is about rhythm and restraint — food cooked over fire, served with warmth, and remembered for how it made you feel.