The Rick Shores team is ready to launch its spectacular Gold Coast sequel

Five years. That’s how long Nick Woodward, David Flynn and Frank Li have been working towards the opening of Norte and Sueno in Nobby Beach.

But these two locations are the sequel to Rick Shores’ Gold Coast, the city’s most iconic modern restaurant. Maybe it was always meant to take this long.

“There’s definitely pressure to get it right,” Woodward says. “But we are blessed to have a great team at Rick’s. And that gives us the confidence that we can make it happen from day one. We checked every box in our power to make this work.”

Norte and Sueno will open together in mid-December on the top two levels of the Oxley 1823 development, serving Latin American-inspired food and drinks, with an emphasis on Mexican cuisine.

Responsible for the design is Jared Webb’s J.AR OFFICE, fresh from work on Brisbane’s Hong Kong-inspired Central – the group’s latest opening – and who won a national design award for the brilliant facelift of Gerard’s Bistro end of 2023, also in Brisbane. The brief was to capture the monolithic boldness of modernist architecture that the team witnessed during research trips to Mexico City.

The result will be a pair of locations defined by black slate, brown limestone, woven textiles and striking vermiculated waffle ceilings. Downstairs, in Norte, the kitchen takes center stage; Upstairs in Sueno it will be a semi-open air venue, designed to capture the feeling of an arid landscape, with pops of colour.

“We didn’t want to make it too kitschy Mexican,” says Woodward. “It had to have its own identity and draw on some of the things we encountered during our travels.”

Woodward and co traveled a lot for Norte and Sueno. Group chef James Brady, a partner in the locations, lived on his own in Mexico City for four weeks, renting an apartment and researching recipes. He also spent time in the kitchen of KOL, the one-Michelin-star Mexican restaurant in London.

“I (also) went to Argentina and worked with a butcher who showed me how to butcher a whole cow for the parrilla,” says Brady. “And then we finally went into the countryside and cooked the traditional way, which was the building block for the hearth in Norte.”

For food, Norte will make good use of its custom hearth, with a menu split into raw dishes, snacks, masa (corn-based plates), main dishes, sides and desserts.

Brady says the signatures will include raw scallop served mango, bee pollen, chili and grapefruit; a flank steak with native chimichurri and caramelized onion; a beef tostada with fermented chili, agretti and taki kombu; and grilled coral trout with koji butter, guacachile and green pico de gallo.

Upstairs, Sueno will focus more on snacks. You can order baby abalone with fermented habanero, bonito soy and pickled red onion; hiramasa kingfish and Ora King salmon ceviche; al-pastor-style Moreton Bay insect tacos with pineapple and a shellfish butter emulsion; and champagne crayfish skewers with chipotle butter.

“There is definitely pressure to do well. But we are blessed to have a great team at Rick’s. And that gives us the confidence that we can make it happen from day one. We checked every box in our power to make this work.”

Norte and Sueno co-owner Nick Woodward.

For drinks, group drinks director Peter Marchant has put together a “killer-all, no-filler” 150-bottle wine collection for Norte, with almost half the list taken up by Central and South American licorice, while Sueno has hard-to-find tequila and mezcal to round out a cocktail menu with a lot of variations on the classics. Marchant has also collaborated with Brisbane’s Newstead Brewery to develop a cerveza for both locations.

“(At Norte) it’s about showcasing the varieties, styles and regions that people haven’t seen yet, in addition to maybe things they know,” Marchant says. “We still need to have reference points there for people to know and trust, like Malbec and (South American carbernets), but part of what we do is also show them different things.

“Upstairs the emphasis will be on wines by the glass. We (also) make a margarita with half tequila and half mezcal, which has a real smoky edge, and at the tasting the other day at Rick’s I think I drank the best caipirinha I’ve tasted in my life.

Norte and Sueno will open their doors at 17 Lavarack Road on the Gold Coast in mid-December.