kōst opens in Broadbeach

When the slick new kōst Bar and Grill opened in Broadbeach in August 2023, it was a dream realised for industry veteran Dave Galvin.

Well known to the coast through his SITE hospitality consultancy business and his own venues including Crafty’s Sports Bar Harbourtown, Mozza Mozza at Sharks and Bird Royale in Ferry Road Markets, Dave had dreamed and planned for this unique dining concept for over three years.

“We have created a coastal inspired concept to deliver a sensory immersion through food, wine, cocktails and live fuel cooking methods; a design-led venue which connects guests to four key coastal elements: Air, Water, Fire, Earth. A place where bar meets grill,” says Dave Galvin, owner of kōst. “After an extensive search, we finally managed to find the perfect location that we could bring this concept to life, and we are so excited to finally reveal kōst…”

Taking over three tenancies in Oracle Boulevard, kōst is a contemporary bar and grill seating 130 patrons, with an additional 50 seats for cocktails and bar dining. Kōst also features a spectacularly designed, fully enclosed, private dining room for 12 guests. With impeccable detailing in design and tableware, the restaurant’s coastal colour palette features accents of gold with pops of greenery add a welcoming warmth.

Arches and booths bring depth to the size of the venue, a huge bar spanning one side replete with bottles displaying a myriad of colours. kōst also features an experiential cocktail programme, and a magnificent 130+ bottle, coastally inspired wine list and an extensive champagne range by the flute, curated by a Master Sommelier.

The kitchen is visible from both outside and in, fire dominating the kitchen landscape. A charcoal wood-fire grill and a two-metre Mibrasa charcoal grill and oven, one of the first in Australia, allow the chef to use an array of different techniques of cooking with fire, tendrils of smoke overlaying spices and garums to add complexity to the dish.

Heading up the kitchen at kōst is Executive Chef, Sebbie Kenyon. North Queensland-born, Sebbie has had a very impressive international career beginning in hatted restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne before honing his skills in Paris (with Greg Marchand at Frenchie), the Beast and Burger & Lobster group (London and New York), Moscow for nine years (where he opened five of his own venues) and most recently at Meatsmith, part of Burnt Ends Group in Jakarta, as Culinary Director South Asia.

He brings a world of difference to the cuisine – different spices and sauces, a bounty of experience cooking with fire in different ways, and the confidence to present boldly flavoured rustic food without unnecessary complication.

“I am really enjoying how good the quality of produce is here,” Chef Sebbie tells us, and his love affair with our local produce shows.

The menu features a wide array of options to share, from snacks and raw bar dishes suitable to snack on with a couple of drinks to grilled meals to share, such as whole market fish, a stunning seafood tower and impossibly succulent dry aged steaks (aged in the purpose-built ageing room), or the ultimate luxury experience of champagne and caviar trolleys, and whole lobsters on request.

While it’s to be expected that luxury items will be extravagantly gorgeous, attention is also paid to the lowliest, often overlooked produce. Chicken, for example, wood-fired then served with garlic yoghurt and chicken sauce never tasted this good.

Vegetables become stars, blackened Hispi cabbage gaining extra dimensions with pistachio and lemon, wood-roasted Japanese pumpkin in a pool of spiced yoghurt and pepita is impossibly rich and moreish, and heirloom cauli gains Middle Eastern flavours of whipped tahini and golden sesame. It’s as though the chef has raided the treasure chest of world flavours and techniques to gain the best of each main ingredient.

We could summarise by saying that kōst’s dining environment is poised in a true balancing act between being relaxed yet upmarket, contemporary yet with classical overtones, bespoke with attention to every detail yet not overworked.

The same comments could be made about the food. Rustic but perfectly seasoned, simply presented but with complex flavours, the overlays gained by cooking over three types of fire added to by garums and spices, kōst has a point of difference to any other food on the Coast. It’s exceptional.

“Think fire-kissed food, immersive drinks, killer cocktails, impressive wine list and impeccable service in a space we have created, led by the best in architectural design. This is 25-years of my hospitality experience all poured into one sleek and sexy venue. We cannot wait to welcome you all to kōst,” Dave Galvin says.