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What it’s like to dine 17m above the ground at Brisbane Powerhouse

There’s plenty of adrenaline, some soul-warming food, and even better views. But is it worth the $250 ticket price?

Matt Shea
Matt Shea

My testicles are numb.

Actually, it’s that bit between my butt and my testicles that’s numb. What’s it called again? The perineum, Brisbane Times photographer Tammy Law tells me.

Up here, on top of Brisbane Powerhouse in New Farm, Tammy is calmer than me. She’s great with heights. But then she rock climbs on the weekend. Her perineum isn’t numb at all.

Vertigo diners can walk or drop down after their meal.
Vertigo diners can walk or drop down after their meal.Tammy Law

I’m merely OK with heights. Give me a boat or a diving platform and, sure, watch me jump.

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But the rooftop of the Powerhouse is high. Seventeen metres high. It’s really high. And it’s not the sea or a swimming pool beneath me, but the arts venue’s sun-baked forecourt – plus a few hundred punters who are here for the Night Feast food market. The splat risk seems real.

It isn’t, of course. And if there’s one thing that sticks with you after attending Vertigo, the new sky-high dining experience perched atop the Powerhouse’s intimidating north-west-facing facade, it’s the safety requirements.

Upon arrival, you sign an indemnity form before staff carefully strap you into a harness and take you to the roof via a side stairwell. Once up top, you’re led across a grated steel walkway, up some stairs to a second walkway, tied into a railing to be taken to your table, and then transferred to a second point above your seat.

Diners enjoy the Vertigo view mid-meal.
Diners enjoy the Vertigo view mid-meal.Tammy Law
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On the way up, we run into John Sharpe who, along with Brisbane Powerhouse CEO and artistic director Kate Gould, was one of the driving forces behind Vertigo (the project attracted funding from the state government’s $15 million Tourism Experience Development Fund). It turns out Sharpe is also the operator behind Story Bridge Adventure Climb – which is a bit of a penny-drop moment.

It’s Sharpe’s colleague, Seb Penuela, who attaches my harness to the final point above our table, and I begin to climb over the lip of the wall and into my seat. Well, “seat” is a relative term here. It’s actually a small timber bench that you manoeuvre your backside onto.

At this point, there’s absolutely nothing between me and some stunning sunset views of the city. My feet dangle in the air. Wiggle forward, Penuela says. I wiggle. Wiggle some more, he says. I’m wiggling but apparently not going anywhere.

Eventually, I inch my butt forward enough that Penuela lowers my seat. I slowly swing my feet under the table, clutching its sides a little too eagerly.

The sunset view at Vertigo adds to the experience – once you take your mind off the drop.
The sunset view at Vertigo adds to the experience – once you take your mind off the drop.Tammy Law
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It’s this overload of the senses that’s both Vertigo’s strength and weakness. By the time you take your seat and shakily sip your wine, you’re well and truly adrenalised, to a point where you’re perhaps not paying enough attention to the views or the food. A truly memorable dining experience at a traditional restaurant is a compilation of tens of small moments and details – up here, a lot of that is in danger of getting lost in the noise.

The food, at least, is yummy (if a touch safe, given the seasonal set menu’s need for broad appeal), not that this is a surprise – the meals are emerging downstairs from Bar Alto, arguably one of Brisbane’s most underrated restaurants.

Food at Vertigo is prepared by Brisbane Powerhouse’s Bar Alto.
Food at Vertigo is prepared by Brisbane Powerhouse’s Bar Alto.Tammy Law

A locally produced Casa Motta burrata entree is matched to luscious Spanish heirloom tomatoes sourced from the Sunshine Coast, while a brodetto main of Moreton Bay bug, Mooloolaba king prawns, arrow squid and Jervis Bay mussels is supreme comfort food.

There’s just one other wrinkle in the experience: Vertigo doesn’t have a bathroom. Gotta go? You’ll need to hold on until you get downstairs. Which is a concern when you’re me and need to use the loo more frequently than my 81-year-old neighbour. It’s why I’ve been cradling my single glass of rosé since we arrived an hour ago.

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But it’s Tammy who’s hit the fizzy drinks too hard and cracks first. We ask for our dessert – a velvety bonet made with West African chocolate – and make to leave.

Matt Shea with Vertigo co-creator John Sharpe.
Matt Shea with Vertigo co-creator John Sharpe.Tammy Law

There are two choices: either be escorted back down the stairs, or drop off the edge to be lowered by cable straight down to the ground. I politely opt for the former, Tammy the latter, Penuela ringing a bell as she pushes off to hoots and hollers from a crowd below. It’s a great touch.

Back on solid ground, we get talking to a pair of fellow diners. They’re clearly still buzzing. I am too, to a certain extent, but I wonder if, under all that adrenaline and beyond all the safety, Vertigo’s dining experience is a touch thin. Perhaps the menu could have more options, or perhaps the concept would be better around a communal table, a-la-Dinner in the Sky, which suits groups as well as couples.

The view from Vertigo, Brisbane Powerhouse’s new sky-high dining experience.
The view from Vertigo, Brisbane Powerhouse’s new sky-high dining experience.Tammy Law
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What it comes down to: would you pay $250 for Vertigo? Absolutely, yes, our new friends say.

Tammy enjoyed it, but doesn’t think it’s worth that price. I’m somewhere in the middle – the price feels about right to me, given the expertise and safety involved, but I feel the delivery could be better. Which, in a few weeks or a month, it likely will be.

Meanwhile, Vertigo seems to have captured the imagination of local diners – Sharpe says bookings have been strong. No one else in the country is doing this right now.

It feels very pre-Olympics for the city to try on these sorts of ideas. Expect more in the coming years.

Open Thu-Sun, 5pm-10pm (final sitting 7.45pm)

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Brisbane Powerhouse, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm, (07) 3358 8600.

vertigobrisbane.com.au

Matt Shea and Tammy Law were guests of Vertigo.

Matt SheaMatt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.

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