Ahhh Chirn Park, you’re the northern GC’s answer to Burleigh…minus the traffic and with an intimate village vibe. Embracing its increasingly trendy rep, Chirn Park is welcoming more and more cool/interesting/unique businesses to this once underrated neck of the woods.

Being the fans that we are, here are 10 reasons why locals…and not so local locals….are flocking to Chirn Park en masse!

Basque
As it stands, the humble cheesecake is a universally beloved sweet treat that few desserts can rival. And when it comes to rivalries, few can contend Basque’s heavenly cheesecakes. We’re fast approaching two years since this artisan bakehouse arrived in the north city burb, yet they’ve become a fast fixture on dessert plates of locals and passerbyers alike. They do many great things, but pairing cheesecake with champagne may just be their finest idea. Once savoured, you’ll forever be at the mercy of their scrumptious slices. You’ve been warned.
Where: 33b Musgrave Avenue, Southport

Walk Ins Welcome
This double-establishment beauty may just be the coolest hangout on the Gold Coast for tattoo fiends and ink dabblers alike. It’s a bar, adjoined to a tattoo studio by a flash art-lined corridor. The fit-out is like a retro time capsule with pinball machines, classic arcade games and walls filled with artwork and tattoo flash; a collection of the founder and his team’s work over the years. They have a cocktail menu that makes you want to work from top to bottom, coupled with Connect 4 and Jenga available for some light-hearted fun. The allure of yet another tattoo begins to brew once again…
Where: 3/37 Musgrave Avenue, Southport

Quan 55
‘Quan’ is Vietnamese for bar, so no prizes for guessing what this Chirn Park fave serves! Host and owner Wynn serves up the same food as she does at home, even using her mother-in-law’s treasured 20-year-old crock pot! Now that’s authenticity personified! It boasts fabulous food and cocktails and ambience galore, thanks to the awesome interior and never-ending rotation of bums on seats.
Where: 4/55 Brooke Avenue, Southport

Cruize Espresso
It was love at first sight when we spotted the adorable logo alone. With a beautiful soft colour palette, swoon-worthy serve-wear, phenom wall art (Jai Vasicek, we see you…everywhere) and the instagrammable “I love you a latte” neon sign, the menu is as delicious as the fit-out. Think modern brekkie and lunch dishes beautifully presented with pretty-as-a-picture floral garnish, epic coffee, and the friendliest service in the land.
Where: Shop 6/37 Musgrave Ave, Labrador

Little Barista Espresso Bar
Looking for a consistently high-quality caffeine hit, all day breakfast or lunch? Call off the search coz Little Barista delivers all of the above. Perched in arguably the most prominent corner position in Chirn Park, this rustic coastal gem is always buzzing. You can smell the glorious aroma of award-winning brews as you walk up the street, and don’t forget to bring Fido as pooches are welcomed with open arms.
Where: 3/39 Musgrave Ave, Labrador

ATTO
Serving up serious Seoul food (pun intended), ATTO is one of Gold Coast’s newest Korean Cuisine machines. They too have decided to call Chirn Park home…to all y’all Northern residents, we’re starting to get a little envious of you now. At ATTO, you’ll find authentic and elevated East Asian eats and stone cold Sapporo on tap- a fine duo indeed. Sink your teeth into their charcoal grilled free range pork jowl with enoki mushroom, garlic, chives, hot english mustard and soy jus or the crispy eggplant made with sweet n sour doenjang sauce, grapefruit, and sesame seeds….just some recs.
Where: Shop1/55 Brooke Ave, Southport

5B2F Bakehouse
If you’re mad for a bakery, and seriously who isn’t, step this way and tell us you’ve had better! When it’s brought to you by the renowned pastry chef extraordinaire, Moonsun Yoo, you know you’re in for a real treat– classic French pastries and artisan sourdough for days. One look in the cabinet filled with THE most spectacularly crafted baked goodies and you’re sold. Consider us buttered up.
Where: 55 Brooke Ave, Southport

Daark Espresso
It’s known for its exceptional coffee, and as a go-to for the professional brunching set (aka, well worth the queue) is Daark Espresso. The nosh is truly next level, from the Salmon and Feta Croquettes to the Southern Chicken Fried Waffles and everything in between; bagels, crumpets, acai bowls, you name it. Pull up a pew inside this rustic gem, or opt for a table outside on the wraparound balcony. Add a super buzzy vibe and friendly staff and you can why it’s a Chirn Park institution.
Where: 2/41 Musgrave Ave, Labrador

Ground & Sound
Perched at the end of a street-art adorned alley, lies this offbeat café-come-bar, a cosy space combining two of life’s greatest pleasures: music and coffee. By day, they serve up specialty single origin PNG caffeine. By night, a mix of entertainment including local live acts, stand up comedy, music trivia nights, and open mic action for your Sunday sesh pleasure. What a vibe!
Where: 6/23 Musgrave Ave, Chirn Park

Moss n Stone
Moss n Stone offers the freshest and most on-trend blooms, arriving in-store daily. Delivering to all areas of the Gold and Tweed Coast, there are flowers and foliage for all occasions and persuasions.  Also stocking an exquisite range of giftware, babywear and homewares, it’s your one stop shop for all things lovely, with a hint of uniqueness.
Where: Unit 4/41 Musgrave Ave, Chirn Park

Words by Chelsea Ipsen

From sizzling, hibachi-style bulgogi beef (served straight from the grill #drool), to sticky and Crispy Fried Chicken as-if teleported straight from the streets of Seoul – lately it seems Gold Coasters can’t get enough of the lip-smacking flavours of Korea. Which is why you’ll be extra delighted to join us in giving a very (spicy kimchi-sized) warm welcome to ATTO Korean Cuisine, the new elevated East Asian eats darling for Chirn Park.

Lucky duck northern residents can officially tuck into banchan specialties of House kimchi, served alongside sensational mains such as Kohlrabi-infused kingfish sashimi and Char-grilled baby snapper served with ginger and fermented chilli… before finishing the delectable experience with Mango Bingsu, a traditional dessert served with lashings of Dulce de Leche.

Offering a modern showcase of Korean cuisine, ATTO’s elegant approach to the cuisine is one our foodie scene has been crying out for. Hot on the heels of Pac Fair’s NeNe Chicken and the arrival of Robina’s new KBBQ haunt, Hwaro92 – ATTO’s addition to our roster rounds out a rather delectable trifecta of Korean-style noshers we’ve scored of late. There’s absolutely no denying the cuisine is currently having its moment in the sun – and who among us isn’t here for the GC officially entering its Korean eats era?

While Chirn Park’s latest addition is a particular triumph for owner Yongsul Lee, the road to seeing his long-held dream realised hasn’t always been a ‘wok’ in the park. But with dishes like the katsu prawn stuffed Atto prawn burger to wrap the laughing gear around, we can all agree it is one worth celebrating (several times over).

Showcasing exceptional eats from his homeland Monday–Saturday, ATTO Korean Cuisine aims to marry traditional, cornerstone dishes of Yongsul’s childhood, with contemporary takes ‘that everyone can enjoy easily and deliciously’.

Yongsul, a civil engineer in a past life, has certainly never been one to shy away from a challenge – making the mammoth move across the Pacific to Sydney some 20 years ago. Rather serendipitously for Yongsul (and now our tums) it was this sea change of epic proportions that uncovered his love of food, after getting his start down south as a kitchen hand.

Working his way up the ranks in the decades that followed, Yongsul worked in respected kitchens across the country from Spice Temple (Sydney) to local darlings like Etsu, where he was Head Chef and Rick Shores, where he was Sous Chef.

For his restaurant debut, Yongsul opted to set up shop in Chirn Park’s up-and-coming eats scene – charmed by the locale’s chic yet cosy atmosphere. Joining the community’s small but mighty culinary cohort – Atto shares a ‘hood with two of 2023’s stellar additions, Walk-ins Welcome and our new fave cheesecake purveyor, Basque.

Yongsul’s long held dream to deliver a modern Korean establishment has come to life in the funky, 40-pax warehouse-vibing venue, tucked off the suburb’s Brooke Ave stretch. Surrounded in moody greys, the space packs in a surprising amount of warmth – from the eclectic furnishings to homely touches like the traditional Korean folk paintings adorning the walls.

The proof of course, is in the pudding, with a menu where mouth-watering signatures like the LA Galbi – a Hibachi grilled Black Angus beef short rib, served with spring onion salad and spicy ssamjang sauce, mingle with mains like the Bossam, a sticky-soy Braised Pork Belly.

So really, the only question here should be, not if (or even when) – but how soon you can swing by and say “annyeong” (or hello, works too) to ATTO. Our recommendation would be to go ahead and skip the socks though, because they’re bound to be knocked off anyway.

Where: Shop1/55 Brooke Ave, Southport
When: Monday-Wednesday 5pm-9pm, Thursday-Saturday 11:30am-2:30pm and 5pm-9:30pm.

Words by Kellie Leader.
Images by Mathilde Bouby.

Every once in a blue moon, we get whispers of a newcomer so epic, we can’t say for sure if we’re actually dreaming. Something truly delicious has been baking in Chirn Park, with the impending arrival of a new artisan bakehouse concept, Basque, set to combine two signature specialties: cheesecake and champagne #isthisevenreallife?! Yep, we might have just died and gone to heaven.

There are few sweet treats so universally beloved as the humble cheesecake, with its irresistible allure and ability to send even those curiously dessert-averse individuals weak at the cheese. And when you hear that a newbie is coming to town specialising in not only that, but bubbles too, you know it’s gonna be When Harry Met Sally levels of OMG-good.

A duo that certainly needs no reminding of the sorcery that unmistakable sweet, rich and tangy combo holds are owners Laura and Zachary Guertin. They are thankfully here to reassure us that the dream-like existence of Basque Cheesecake & Champagne is in actual fact, very real #praisebe. The pair are certainly not alone in their view that “there isn’t much on this planet you can’t solve with cheesecake. And anything you can’t solve with cheesecake, you can usually solve with Champagne.”

This hospo super duo are both bringing their respective industry experience to Basque. The kitchen will be headed by Laura, formerly a head pastry chef for 4 years at two hatted restaurant Aubergine in Canberra, in addition to head pastry chef at Rebel Rebel. Zac brought his drinks wizardry to the table to curate the fun and varied selection of bubbles. Having sampled some of his creations at TØKOH we can happily attest to his genius. He spent 10 years behind the bar honing his talent in Canberra hospitality and led the team at award winning whisky bar Molly for 6 years.

“Basque exists to ensure that any truly special occasion is matched by a truly memorable cake”, with its arrival also offering the perfect solution to the age old question: ‘what should I bring?’. The couple adds, “We can help you say congratulations, thank you, sorry, goodbye, happy birthday or welcome”. Though in our humble opinions, ‘just because’ is just as valid, too #lifeisshort #eatthecake.

The locale for the new space was a no brainer for the pair, saying “We fell in love with the community at Chirn Park”, though we have little doubt that feeling will be very mutual indeed. In the ultimate win for both Laura and Zac and lucky locals, “The space was also a bakery beforehand so it came with a massive commercial 4 deck oven ready to go. This was a big drawcard for us being able to move in and start baking.”

The new venue will include intimate seating options both indoors and outdoors on the front deck, welcoming customers to partake in an obligatory slice of that signature cheesecake, or a convenient pit stop to pick up a celebratory cake on their way past. The fit out is every bit as chic as you’d expect, with a boutique feel to match the artisan-style baked goods. Timber herringbone floors frame the light-filled space, complimented by an array of elegant ambient lighting features.

With the venue’s signature sweet originating from Basque Country on the border between Spain and France, the menu offers a taste of the best of both worlds countries, with a Spanish Cheesecake and French Champagne selection.

To complement will be a rotating selection of sweet treats, batch brew and cold brew coffee, as well as a variety of gift pack options to suit every occasion.

Officially redefining (or forever ruining) the standard coffee catch-up with the gal pals, the most notable highlights will of course be that signature Basque cheesecake in addition to Champagne & sparkling wines available by the bottle.

The couple has worked hard to curate a “fun selection of bubbles across a few styles that we hope will cater to all taste palettes and budgets. Everything from Australian Pet Nat & Prosecco, Spanish Cava and of course a variety of French Champagnes including some of the big houses and some independent grower Champagnes.”

We’re not sure which part we’re most excited for, but it doesn’t matter bc we can have our champas and cake (and eat it too, obvs). But for now, our cravings remain well and truly off the Richter scale.

Where: 33b Musgrave Avenue, Chirn Park
When: Wednesday – Thursday 10-4, Friday & Saturday 10-6 (Sundays at HOTA Markets)
Website: Basque-cheesecake.square.site
Instagram: @basque.goldcoast

Words by Kellie Leader.
Images by Mathilde Bouby.