New Farm's got a new Italian restaurant and rooftop bar from an OTTO alum, and Brisbane's already talking about it

Brisbane has been waiting for this one since the rumours started, and Will Cowper is finally opening the doors.

After a decade running the kitchen at OTTO Brisbane, Cowper is launching Pici, an Italian restaurant and bar in New Farm, this September. The site is not new to Brisbane's dining scene either, it takes over the Brunswick Street building that used to house Gerties Bar and Restaurant, a spot plenty of locals already have memories tied to.

Pici is built around handmade pasta and woodfire cooking, with a genuine focus on Queensland produce rather than importing everything that sounds vaguely Italian. It is a tight 60 seat space, which means the food has to do the talking rather than the room.

Cowper is not doing this solo. His wife Gianna Cowper, who he met while she was working as pastry chef at OTTO, is involved in the new venture, alongside Andrew and Andrea Solomon, the pair behind Morningside seafood retailer The Fish Factory. That is a lot of combined hospitality experience walking through one door.

The drink list keeps things simple rather than showy: bottled beer, classic cocktails and a wine list built around Italian producers alongside local interpretations of Italian styles. No 40 page laminated menu, no gimmicks, just food and drink that knows what it is trying to be.

After a decade behind the scenes at one of Brisbane's most respected Italian kitchens, Cowper stepping out on his own is exactly the kind of chef led opening the city's dining scene has been hungry for. New Farm already has a strong food strip, and Pici slotting into a building with this much history feels like a natural fit rather than a forced one.

Get in early once bookings open. A 60 seat room from a chef with this record is not going to stay easy to get into for long.