There are very few good things we Gold Coasters do not have within our beloved beachside city. Particularly since our dining and drinking scenes have absolutely exploded with beachside bars, world-class eateries and hidden gems created by locals who are as passionate about such things as we are. It’s been a good time.

If there was one thing that was missing though, it was a perfectly put together alleyway bar with lowset seating under the stars that glows under the rays of the setting sun. Specific but true.

That particular good time is missing no longer though friends. Fig + Frankie’s opened their pretty peach doors in the last few days and it is all that and much, much more.

The newbie can found in Broadbeach down a little alleyway (next to Cha Cha’s) we had no idea existed and bringing a sweet, sophisticated new vibe to the bustling suburb.

It’s an intimate, 45-seat space all peachy pinks and whites, cactus accents and a beautiful, lightweight concrete bar. A window swings open to the alleyway outside and you may sit at said bar, in the one interior booth or outside under strings of fairy lights (and of course, the sparkly stars). It’s a magical little fitout and you’re gonna love it.

Now let’s discuss the cocktail menu because it’s one of our new favourites and we’re fairly sure it’s going to be one of yours too.

Drinks are numbered rather than named and each is absolutel perfection to be honest. We particularly loved Number One (aptly named) because it is made up of MAC by Brookies, clarified green apple and house lemonade and we cannot overstate the tastiest enough. We were also big fans of Number Two with Johnny Walker Gold Label whisky, sherry caramel and cascara verjuice.

We’ll stop because surprises are fun but they’re all mind-blowing so prepare to sample a few.

Eats-wise it’s a share plate-style situation but not as you know it.

Think Fig’s on Toast with homemade fig paste, whipped ricotta, truffle honey and fresh herbs on rye bread. Who even thinks of that but WOW what a treat.

There’s also Truffle Honey + Haloumi which is basically the of the love of our lives (haloumi) with rosemary salt that you dip in truffle honey. Life changer.

The Lemon and Paprika Hommus is exceptional too, it all is.

So who’s behind all this magic? It’s the work of four people and two pets; Euan and Bella Lovell, Tom and Sammy Angel, Fig the cat and Frankie the dog and they’re all five-star venue creating geniuses. Except Fig and Frankie, they’re just cute little namesakes.

Anyway, it’s not often venues of this calibre come along Gold Coasters, Fig + Frankie’s is one not to be missed.

Go tonight.

LOCATION: 2707 Gold Coast Hwy, Braodbeach
HOURS: 4pm until 12am Thursday to Monday

Words and photos by Kirra Smith

They’re the delightful pair behind your sweet, lifesaving cuppa every morning so, for Mitch and Hayley of Social Espresso, let’s all take a minute to give thanks.

The clever couple started their business just a few short years ago and, in that time, have amassed a huge following of loyal Gold Coasters in love with their unique blends.

We sat down for a chat with Mitch and Hayley about what it takes to create a brand new coffee blend (yes it’s a lot of coffee) and how they came to be stocked in so many locally loved cafes. 

How long have you been Gold Coast locals?
We moved from WA to the Gold Coast about five years ago now for Hayley’s work at the time. Fell in love with it immediately and very quickly made it our home.

What do you love most about living in our beachside city?
We are both from small coastal towns so we love that it has beautiful beaches and that laid back coastal vibe but there is also a great buzz! There is an awesome cafe and restaurant scene (we are both foodies) and so much growth and opportunity for business. We feel there is a great sense of community here where startup businesses are encouraged and small businesses support each other and work together and that’s pretty special!

Tell us how your business, Social Espresso, came about?
Mitch: I’ve always worked around coffee and while on a surf trip through Central America I visited some coffee plantations and my real interest in coffee began. When I moved back to Australia I began deepening my experience as a barista. From there it progressed to managing cafes. When we moved to the Gold Coast I had the goal of eventually starting my own business. I started working for several cafes and I felt there was a gap for local coffee with a strong focus on service and so I just started learning everything I could and took the leap.

What’s the process of creating such a unique blend?
It’s quite a journey the coffee bean takes from crop to cup. But keeping it short and simple; we start with an idea of a flavour profile we want to achieve. We generally find the most crowd pleasing is a full body with smooth caramel and milk chocolate sweetness and a slight berry or dried fruit acidity. We source a variety of beans from around the world and sample them through a process called cupping. Here we look for different characteristics in each bean, some offering body, some sweetness, others a fruity acidity. From there we build the flavour profile through these layers to give our drinkers the best experience. 

Why do you think people grew to love it so quickly?
It took time and lots of trial and error to come up with a few blends we are really proud of. We had the Gold Coast market in mind and are constantly asking the public what they look for in their daily brew. I think that’s the most important thing, keeping the end consumer as top priority and not getting too carried away with trying to be too different. We also make sure we work with good machinery and train our baristas thoroughly in weighing and timing each shot in order for them to deliver consistently delicious coffee every time.

What does a normal day look like for the two of you?
Starting bright and early serving coffee in our coffee bar in the Burleigh industrial area. We open from 5.30am to 10.30am for the morning rush – it’s our favourite way to start the day – chatting to our regulars and having a few laughs, networking and solving the problems of the world. Once that shift is done we then pack both cars up, split ways and pop into each of our cafes with their weekly delivery. Mitch looks after all barista training so he may have a few of those booked in each week. The rest is filled in with time at the roastery, machine maintenance, sales enquiries, packing online orders, marketing and back end admin. It’s just a two-man band so we do it all. 

How do your beans come to be brewed by some of the most loved cafes across the Coast?
We feel extremely lucky to work with some of the top cafes on the coast. We have formed great relationships in our coffee community and have been lucky enough to get most of our business through these friendships, customers and word of mouth. Service is a priority for us; we make sure we are in our cafes each week checking that everything is running smoothly. We really love what we do and I think that’s the key to a successful business.

What else is involved in the business we might not be aware of?
We partnered up with our friend Jeremy at Raw Earth Organics to start our own cold brew company, Two Amigo’s Cold Brew. It’s really taken off nicely and we are stocked in several cafes, bars, restaurants, markets and supermarkets throughout the coast. That’s been an exciting little venture and one that we are hoping to keep growing.

What’s the plan for 2019 for the two of you?
Further growth hopefully in both Social Espresso and Two Amigo’s cold brew. There are still so many areas we would love to branch into. And a holiday! It’s been a while.

Tell us your favourites on the Coast…
Beach: We live right on Talle Creek, so we feel like that’s our little local sanctuary. But our favourite beach has to be Cabarita. For Mitch it’s wherever there is surf.}Cafe: This is a hard one, it’s a little like asking who your favourite child is. Obviously we love all our Social Espresso cafes! But depending on what mood we are in, we usually can’t go past breaky at Cafe Caribou. Cafe Dbar also do a great feed and they have incredible views! Mitch loves a pie on the go at Fuel Bakehouse or on treat day a coffee and donut at D point 10…if you haven’t tried one of their donuts, you haven’t lived! We are also really excited for our newest partnership, Burleigh Co-op who’ll be opening their doors in a few weeks!
Restaurant: Etsu. We love Japanese and this place never disappoints! It’s our go-to when we need to treat ourselves (which is quite often) or impress visitors. We also love Baskk in Kirra. Epic food and cocktails and a really fun vibe.
How does your weekend usually look: Getting up early (cant sleep in to save ourselves), Mitch usually goes for a surf, I go to yoga and then meet at home to make a cold brew coffee, throw the mattress in the back of the van and cruise down the coast for an adventure. We love finding cool new cafes, a quiet beach to surf and relax and a nice spot to park up for the night (preferably with ocean views)

Hands down, our favourite meal is brunch. It brings together the best of breakfast and lunch and srsly who doesn’t love a two-for-one. In particular, a brunch affair with the word ‘bottomless’ at the start gets us all kinds of woo-girly, and that’s before we’ve even had a drop of booze.

We’re so passionate about this mid-morning (usually) weekend ritual that we felt compelled to pen a list of GC places serving up bottomless brunch bonanzas.

From north to south, gather your mates, don your stretchy pants and jump on the brunch bandwagon!

The Langham Gold Coast
If it’s a super bougie bottomless brunch you crave, the Taittinger Champagne Brunch at The Langham Gold Coast’s Akoya restaurant is calling your name. Overlooking glittering aquamarine waters and miles of beautiful coastline, Akoya presents some of Australia’s finest meat, fish, and poultry, as well as handcrafted cocktails. Getting down to brunch business, choose from the buffet style food-only option for $165 per person, or do the brunch name proud and upgrade to the $258 per person option, which includes a bottle of Taittinger (per two people). #HowNowBrownCow! Available 11am to 3pm Sundays.
Where: 38 Old Burleigh Road, Surfers Paradise

Surfers Pavilion
The Surfers Pav always delivers the goods and this is especially so when we’re talking about their Brunch Club experience. The perfect waterfront setting, DJs will be on the decks from midday to set the mood. Choose from the $59 per head package including a selection of oysters, or the $99 per head package with a choice of cauliflower popcorn, calamari or chicken riblets, followed by either nachos, lamb ragu, fish and chips, or mushroom lasagne. Both packages entitle you to Prosecco, bellinis, mimosas, pineapple mimosas, mango mimosas, Pav lager, soft drink and juices, kicking off any time from 12.30pm.
Where: 30 – 34 Ferny Avenue, Surfers Paradise

Hyde Paradiso
It’s the ultimate beachside brunch overlooking the ocean and yeah, we had you at beachside. For $99, tuck into the Standard Brunch with a four-course mixed Mediterranean inspired tapas feast and two hours of Chandon Brut, Chandon Rosé, premium tap beers, Aperol Spritz, Bellini Spritz and Limoncello Spritz (#Limoncello4Life). Or for an extra $40 per person, they’ll fancy-up your champers to Veuve Yellow Label, Veuve Rich and Veuve Rosé. OR, if you’re a sucker for a mojito (duh), sign up for the mojito upgrade. An additional $40 per person gives you access to classic, strawberry, watermelon, and lychee mojitos. Minimum of 2 people and available Friday, Saturday and Sunday between 12pm and 2pm.
Where: Peppers Soul, Level 2/8 Esplanade, Surfers Paradise

The Island Gold Coast
The Island knows the way to our hearts, bringing us not one but two brunch offerings.

Grazy Days Lunch
Firstly, check out Grazy Days Lunch and yes, it’s technically a lunch but details #samesamebutdifferent. Enjoy a menu featuring charcuterie to start, followed by Asian shredded coleslaw with karaage chicken, edamame with a ginger peanut dressing, and wood-fired pizzas. Wash it all down with mimosas, blueberry and peach fizz, passion fruit and vanilla spritz and watermelon margarita spritz. Available Saturdays and Sundays (two sittings) for $79 per person.

Brunch with Bite
For something a little (or a lot) sparklier, Duke’s Parlour is once again hosting the popular Brunch with Bite series. Enjoy the divalicious and hilarious antics of our finest drag queens while you kick back with a welcome drink, and a two-hour grazing brunch and drinks package, including jugs of spritz (jugs…hehe), mimosas, bloody marys, premium beers, sangria, soft drinks, juice and mocktails. Always on a Saturday, check the website for available dates. $79.90 per person.
Where: 3128 Surfers Paradise Boulevard, Surfers Paradise

Elk Espresso
Grab the gang and rock up to Elk (no bookings required) for their famous bottomless brunch. Select any dish from the sumptuous menu and receive bottomless mimosas for an hour. That’s sixty minutes of mimosa action and nope, we sure as heck ain’t driving. Pouring three refreshing types of mimosas to sample coz variety is the spice of life, try the classic, strawberry lime and tropical varieties. You certainly don’t have to tell us twice! Available daily from 10am. $49 per head.
Where: Oasis Shopping Centre (opposite the beach), Broadbeach

Ally Chow
Ally Chow dishes up Asian fusion done right, and their two brunch options do not disappoint. For $99 per person, the Chow Out features the Chef’s choice banquet with two-hours of bottomless thai basil caprisokas, Asahi beer and prosecco. Or, have a go of the Margarita Lunch Banquet and yes, this has us written all over it. For $120, enjoy the same offerings mentioned above, only substitute bottomless caprioskas for bottomless margis! Once again recognised with the Australian Good Food Guides Chef Hat Award, this one is a no-brainer.
Where: Lavarack Road, Nobby Beach

Mr Hizola’s
Your numero uno contemporary Cantonese restaurant invites one and all to partake in a bottomless brunch, with a bowl and booze picked by you! Choose your bowl with either the duck spring roll, veg spring roll and kung pao chicken, wok vegetables with sesame dressing, or the yang-yang crispy beef with yang zhou fried rice. Pair it two hours of bottomless tap beers or endless Shaojiu spirtz in peach strawberry, mango, watermelon, passionfruit or our pick, lychee. Available from 12pm – 4pm Saturday and Sunday. Minimum of two people for $65 per person.
Where: 1730 Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads

The Tropic
The GC’s favourite ocean-view venue, The Tropic, offers a solid ten bottomless brunch and absolutely nobody is surprised to hear this. Taking place exclusively on the terrace, not only will you be privy to multi-million-dollar views and DJ beats, but deliciously fresh seafood and innovative fare. Think oysters, spiced bread, burrata, tuna tartare, chocolate fondant and more. Pair everything with bottomless Chandon for $145 per person, or up the ante for an additional $32 per head and sip bottomless Veuve Clicquot. Don’t mind if we do! Available on the last Saturday of every month – see you there!
Where: 43 Goodwin Terrace, Burleigh Heads

Words by Bianca Trathen.