Sneak peek: The Rustic Olive reopens

Popular Italian restaurant The Rustic Olive will reopen to the public this evening in its new home at 75 Redcliffe Pde, Redcliffe.

The new venue, just a few doors up from the restaurant’s home of 12 years, is a larger location with bigger street and water frontage.

See the photos at the end of this story

Invited guests enjoyed the restaurant’s soft opening last night, with a full house giving staff the chance to familiarise themselves in their new surroundings.

The new venue has a warm ambience, aided by lighting and timber touches, and a more spread-out floor plan for dining inside and alfresco.

Owner Sam Ayache, who opened the restaurant at its original Redcliffe location 17 years ago, is thrilled with how the restaurant looks.

“It’s more than I expected the result to be,” he says.

“You see things and you visualise things, but you get blown away when it’s more than you expected.”

He’s grateful to the team of builders and tradespeople who made it happen.

“If you’ve got a good team and a vision, it comes together nicely. It’s very inviting and warm. That’s what I wanted to create … to bring the outside in. It’s perfect,” Sam says.

“It makes you feel comfortable and everybody has been raving.”

Sam says the response from guests at last night’s soft opening was heartening.

“It was exceptional. They were blown away by it. They didn’t expect anything like this. A few of them have said, ‘you’ve set a high bar for Redcliffe’,” he says.

“We’ve got a good, strong following and now we’ve got the good premises to go with it.”

The restaurant has the same number of tables as it did down the road, but they are more spread out so diners are more comfortable.

The kitchen is now at the back, so the main dining area is quieter.

“With the frontage of the window, it opens it right up and the light comes inside,” Sam says.

“Here, we’ve got this warm, natural light coming through and then the warmth of the lighting inside.”

The corner location will make it easier for people to pick up takeaway.

The menu and opening hours will remain the same as they were in the old restaurant for the next couple of months, until the team settles in.

At that point, the new beverage list will be accompanied by a bar menu which will be served between lunch and dinner. The Rustic Olive is now licensed but remains BYO for customers who prefer to bring their own alcohol.

Sam also plans to open on Tuesday nights in a couple of months.

He thanked his team, of existing and new staff, for their hard work in the lead-up to the move.

Bookings are limited for the next week or so, while the team settles in and they manage demand.

The writer of this story was a guest of the Rustic Olive at its soft launch last night.