€€€€ • Weingut • Fortitude Valley
ESSA is a wood-fired restaurant and wine bar on Robertson Street, Fortitude Valley, a short walk from James Street, Brisbane.Chef and owner Phil Marchant builds the menu around relationships with local farmers, hunters and providores. The fire does the work it's good at. What's in season shapes what's on the plate. Dishes that are considered, familiar and honest, without being precious about it.Named Gourmet Traveller Queensland's Best Restaurant (2023 & 2025), ESSA sits comfortably outside the typical fine dining category. The interiors are raw, the wine list is serious, and the cooking is produce-driven in the truest sense.Not fine dining. Not, not fine dining.Open Tuesday–Saturday from 5pm. Friday and Sunday lunch from 12pm.