Gianni Restaurant & Wine Bar

Ph: 3221 7655; 12 Edward St, BRISBANE 4000 www.giannisrestaurant.com

French, Spanish/Portuguese, $$$, ** for Food & Ambience, Good Wine List
Open Lunch Mon-Fri noon-3pm dinner Mon-Sat 6.30-10.30pm, Closed Suns; Licensed; AE DC MC V EFT
Chef Javier Codina (12-03-08) Owner Gianni Greghini & Javier Codina (12-03-08)

Mietta's Review
Gianni, founded in 1999, has carved out a niche for itself at the top of the Brisbane dining firmament. It is also priced at the top of the fine dining end of the market but the food is excellent, the service professional, the greeting effusive and the wine list is an obsession of owner, Gianni Greghini. There is also a well priced lunch menu available which is served in the courtyard.

Other published opinions

Brisbane Times Score: 15/20 "Gianni's alfresco courtyard looks out on to a tree-lined street for a relaxed business lunch. After dark it's a magical setting of historic sandstone buildings and twinkling fairy lights that carefully balances formality and tasteful opulence with a relaxed atmosphere and a touch of European class"

Brisbane News David Bentley, 12-3-2008 Score: Food 9 Wine 9 Service 8.5 Ambience 8 "Gianni is named after its Italian co-owner Gianni Greghini - but the flavours at this inner-city fine diner owe more to Spain, or more specifically to Catalonia, than to Italy. That is because the other half of this partnership, chef Javier Codina, is a proud Catalan who celebrates his birthplace through the highly realised food he prepares"

Courier Mail food and wine guide Queensland 2008 Score: 17/20, Two Hats "A formal covered courtyard in an airy garden setting is home to most of the tables on a balmy evening, whereas on scorching summer days the upstairs dining room provides a cool retreat"

Gourmet Traveller 2008 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: * "IN The courtyard - surrounded by hedges, romantically lit - was always the casual component of Gianni Greghini and Javier Codina's fine diner, but with a makeover, and leather chairs to sink into, it has acquired a new level of elegance simpatico to the glassed mezzanine level"

Brisbane News Dining Out Guide 2007 "Javier Codina trained in his home town of Barcelona and worked in Europe and America before landing in Australia"

Gourmet Traveller 2007 Australian Restaurant Guide Score: * "Nestling quietly down the pretty end of Edward Street, this fine diner has withstood the test of time under the firm and passionate guidance of its two owners - frontman Gianni Greghini and chef Javier Codina. Codina is passionate about quality. It's evident not only in the produce he uses, but in the establishment and maintenance of one of the most talented kitchen brigades in town."

Courier-Mail Goodlife Restaurant Guide 2006 *** "One of Brisbane's most glamorous venues with picturesque courtyard out the front and Italianchic bar inside, Gianni is the perfect spot to celebrate a special occasion. The dining room is upstairs on a glassed-in mezzanine and overlooks the garden which, in the evenings, is softly lit."

Gourmet Traveller 2006 Australian Restaurant Guide ** "Many restaurants open, peak early and plateau, then cruise along with a loyal, ifstatic, fan base which asks only for consistency, and, in turn, delivers the bottom line. Occasionally, however, restaurants break the mould, and Gianni is one such example."

Brisbane News Eating Out Guide 2006 "Once inside the wrought-iron gates, the leafy courtyard (which sparkles with fairy lights at night) and elegantly designed interior immediately transport you to Europe."

Courier-Mail Goodlife Restaurant Guide 05 *** "As dining experiences go, this is one of the country's finest. The gorgeous fit-out, oozing contemporary Italian style, makes a great backdrop for the beautifully refined fare of Spanish-born chef and co-owner Javier Codina. A stickler for quality produce, Codina sets about combining flavours, distilling sauces and presenting the dish ... perfectly cooked and rested."

Courier-Mail Goodlife Restaurant Guide 05 Best date restaurants "Gianni seamlessly merges between high-end Italian chic and casual Australian courtyard dining. The bar is all lights and mirrors, high-fashion seating draped with glamorous beings. Upstairs it's chequerboard chocolate-and-cream leather chairs, intimate banquette seating and vast cellar displays. Out the front is a pretty, leafy courtyard, shaded from climatic extremes."

Gourmet Traveller Australian Restaurant Guide 2005 ** "At Gianni, set your own agenda and pace upstairs in the gorgeous dining room, or downstairs in the pretty, leafy courtyard."

Brisbane News Dining Out Guide 2004 "Dine outside in the courtyard, admiring the jacaranda tree by day and fairy lights by night, or head upstairs to the formal dining room and sink into divine chocolate leather chairs."

Brisbane News 09/04 Natascha Mirosch score 9.5 "one of Brisbane's finest, the award-winning Gianni Vintage Cellar Bar Restaurant. Gianni - named Restaurant of the Year 2004 on Monday in the Queensland Restaurant and Catering Awards - is an unusually pretty restaurant for its urban setting. "

SMH GFG 2004,'Gianni Greghini's smart eatery continues to roll on,with a great take on mod-Mediterranean.'

Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide 2004, 2 Red Stars, Excellent wine list,'Gianni lends its special brand of Itailan style to any occasion, from a big night out in what is arguably the city's most elegant dining room, to a simple family dinner...blends his rustic Mediterranean culinary roots with those of the more traditional kitchens of France to create exquisite dishes that are full of flair but always approachable.'

The Brisbane Times, Restaurants, Alison Walsh, May 2002, "A classy city restaurant offers diners a choice between courtyard casual and fine-dining ambience."

Brisbane News, 2002 Eating Out Guide,'Along with the fine food, a climate controlled cellar is one of the main attractions and the wine list'