People. Places. Perspective.
What is the BFG Journal?
The BFG Journal is Brisbane Food Guide's growing editorial record of the local food scene. It brings together founder stories, industry interviews, neighbourhood histories and source-backed reporting.
Meet the people behind the businesses, understand the decisions shaping hospitality and explore how our neighbourhoods change. This is a collection to read, revisit and build on, not just a list of places to eat.
Featured / The wider conversation
A closer look at the decisions, pressures and ideas behind hospitality. Space for the conversations that reach beyond a single venue.
The BFG conversation
Luke Nguyen, in conversation
At Brisbane’s Good Food & Wine Show, Luke Nguyen talks about the street-side meal that shaped his first restaurant, the difficulty of closing Red Lantern, and why every chilli and napkin now needs to count.
Interviewed 24 October 2026 / By GP Khehra
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The BFG conversation
Giorgina Venzin, in conversation
At Rising Sun Rituals in Morningside, Giorgina talks about changing a business, learning to trust her team and making hospitality a little less lonely.
Interviewed 21 October 2026 / By GP Khehra
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The BFG conversation
Brendan Pang, cookbook author
Brendan Pang has published four cookbooks, but he is still learning to recreate some of his grandmother's Mauritian dishes. At Brisbane's Good Food & Wine Show, he talks about learning by instinct, building Bumplings and passing family knowledge on.
Interviewed 24 October 2026 / By GP Khehra
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The BFG conversation
Mindy Woods, Bundjalung chef
After her Chef's Table demonstration, I asked the Bundjalung chef what using native ingredients with respect really means, and where a Brisbane kitchen should begin.
Interviewed 13 October 2026 / By GP Khehra
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The BFG conversation
Stefano Spataro, Brisbane pizzaiolo
From winning the State of Origin Pizza Awards in Queensland to finishing second in Pizza Classica at the 2026 World Pizza Championship in Parma, Stefano Spataro has earned his place at the table. His approach remains grounded in curiosity, sharing knowledge and getting the basics right.
Interviewed 13 October 2026 / By GP Khehra
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The BFG conversation
Jamie Gannon, East Coast Collective
From backing your team to looking after the whole room, the chef and head judge explains why good hospitality takes more than a profit target.
Interviewed 13 October 2026 / By GP Khehra
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The BFG conversation
Johnny Di Francesco, 400 Gradi
A title raises expectations. In Brisbane, Johnny Di Francesco talks about returning to competition, keeping a pizzeria honest and making the next pizza as good as the last.
Interviewed 13 October 2026 / By GP Khehra
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The BFG conversation
Wes Lambert, ARCA
A busy room is only part of the picture. Wes Lambert on customer blind spots, menu decisions and the human side of a more automated industry.
Interviewed 30 September 2026 / By GP Khehra
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From our visits
Luma / Newstead / 11 October 2026
Mint-coloured seating, gold-coloured topping bowls and a cup you can build from the bottom up. We visited Luma Newstead before its 15 October grand opening.
Read the storyHosted visit. Photos: Brisbane Food Guide.
From the show floor
Event reports, results and previews from Brisbane's food and hospitality calendar.
Event preview / 21 October 2026
A new Moreton Bay Pavilion and eight bakeries give this weekend's show a local thread to follow between cooking demonstrations and wine tastings.
Read the previewEarlier-show image. Photo: Simon Milder. Supplied by Good Food & Wine Show via Bennett PR.
Event coverage / 14 October 2026
BFG goes inside FHQ 2026: Mindy Woods on native foods, practical advice from chefs, robotic coffee and the people behind the show-floor stands.
Read the recapPhoto: Brisbane Food Guide.
Event news / 13 October 2026
Antonio Masella of Maiori Pizzeria won Queensland Pizza Chef of the Year and Best Classic Pizza at Food & Hospitality Queensland in Brisbane. Anthony Taranto of Otto Cucina won Best Creative Pizza.
Read the resultsPhoto: Brisbane Food Guide.
Event preview / 12 and 13 October
Café systems, bakery menus, live cooking and two state titles: a guide to Food & Hospitality Queensland on 12 and 13 October, and what BFG will follow on the Tuesday.
Read the preview2025 show photo. Photo: Josh Woning / J&A Photography.
02 / Behind the counter
Conversations about starting, making a living and feeding people. Two recent reads from our independent founder collection.
Founder portrait · Underwood · Smash burgers and sandwiches
Fatty Patty · Underwood · Smash burgers and sandwiches
A conversation with Zainuddin, Shehzad and Bilal Ghumra
A steak sandwich they had to rethink, a smoker they debated buying, and three brothers whose different strengths keep bringing them back to the same table.
Founder portrait · Brisbane · Restaurant group
Anyday · Brisbane · Restaurant group
A conversation with Ben Williamson
The Anyday co-founder on delegating earlier, giving his chefs room to contribute and losing the need to prove himself on every plate.
03 / A sense of place
From the Notebook / James Street
Behind the restaurant bookings and shopfronts is a longer Brisbane story: a nineteenth-century house, a flood, working streets and a neighbourhood that changed course.
/ By GP Khehra / 9 minute read
From the Notebook / Logan
Markets, family kitchens and food trailers across Woodridge, Underwood, Slacks Creek and beyond. A closer look at the places building a food culture on their own terms.
Read the Logan feature →