Bretts Wharf to close 2 September

It is with enormous sadness that the owners of Bretts Wharf advise that this iconic Brisbane Restaurant closed its doors on 2 September 2012.

As you may be aware, Alastair McLeod is also executive chef at the acclaimed Tank Restaurant and Bar which has a different ownership structure to Bretts Wharf. Tank is completely unaffected by the closure of Bretts Wharf and continues to do well. The team at Tank would be delighted to assist you with a reservation – please call 07 3003 1993.

Similarly, Baguette Bistrot in Racecourse Road also has some ownership in common with Bretts and is unaffected and continues to do well. They too would be delighted to assist with a reservation or function enquiry. Call 07 3268 6168.

To explain in brief what happened; the business had been doing very well but suffered a mortal blow in March 2011 when we announced the Brisbane City Council had resumed the land on which we sit. That forced us to cancel all confirmed bookings after January 2012 and to turn away about $2 million worth of future function and catering business for 2012 and beyond. Then, as you might recall, in late November 2011, just 8 weeks before we were set to close, came the news that the Council had changed its mind about Kingsford Smith Drive and we now wouldn’t need to close.

Sadly, what was shown is that the blow by Council meant that we were in the unenviable position of remaining open with the same massive running costs but with a significant part of our business (the functions and catering) removed. Without sufficient forward function bookings to offset costs, Bretts Wharf could not remain trading.