But, like any hospitality venture, 1889 Enoteca had to earn its place at the top. As the restaurant reaches its 15-year milestone, we sat down with 1889 Enoteca’s co-owner Dan Clark to reflect on the last decade and a half, and discuss how the secret to its success comes down to confidence, consistency and comfort.

It’s a Tuesday afternoon and I’m sitting with 1889 Enoteca’s co-owner Dan Clark in one of the restaurant’s recently installed brown-leather booths. Dinner service is still a few hours away but the kitchen is already alive with the sounds of prep.

Soon the dining room’s energy will lift to match the kitchen, as guests – both regulars and newcomers – slide into the booths and congregate around tables to hungrily devour serves of fried zucchini flowers filled with mozzarella and anchovies, gnocchi with pork and fennel sausage, and espresso-soaked tiramisu. It’s quiet right now, though, and Dan is in a reflective mood. This year marks 1889 Enoteca’s 15th year of operation.

For Dan, using the moment’s peace to look back on what the last decade-plus has brought, it feels like the milestone is only just sinking in. “You never really think that you’ll get to ten years, let alone 15 years,” says Dan, who – alongside co-owner Manny Sakellarakis – opened the Woolloongabba restaurant in 2008. “It is nice to reflect, because it’s always just one foot after the other.”

The restaurant started with a simple goal, which was to showcase the timeless magic of Roman cuisine. It also looked to fill a void between casual and fine dining in Brisbane, squeezing in just below the city’s top-heavy epicurean echelon by offering something that was high quality, but affordable. “It was meant to be a really genuine reflection and homage to these great restaurants that I’d been going to for years,” explains Dan, whose hospitality career started in London’s wine sector in 1993. “We saw ourselves as a place where someone could come once a week, grab a bowl of pasta and have a great glass of wine without it being entry-level basic or without the silverware.”

Housed in the Moreton Rubber Works Building at the heart of Logan Road’s heritage-laden cul-de-sac, 1889 Enoteca looks the part of a casual Roman eatery – the kind you’d find a few turns off the beaten track in Trastevere or the Jewish Quarter. Its menu reads much the same as those of its Roman counterparts, too – full of flavours that 1889’s website describes as ‘bold and gutsy’ and dishes that, though undeniably delicious, initially gave diners pause in 2008.

When 1889 Enoteca first opened, even staples like cacio e pepe and (proper) carbonara were regarded as culinary curios. Roman cuisine as a whole was a foreign concept for many Brisbane diners – only those who had visited the Eternal City were familiar with its time-tested recipes, most of which boast only a select handful of specific ingredients. “When we opened people didn’t know what Aperol was, people didn’t know what a spritz was,” says Dan.

It’s crazy to think about now. Anyone spruiking carciofi alla giudia and veal saltimbocca as cutting-edge gastronomy in 2023 would be laughed out of town, but before 1889 Enoteca evolved into the paragon of traditional Roman-style dining it’s regarded as today, it had to make it familiar to the Brisbane palate.

“To try and do something outside of the parameters of what people were comfortable with, it took a lot,” Dan admits. “It took a lot of perseverance and belief that it was the right thing to do and it was good and they’d enjoy it. That’s kind of been the theme throughout the last 15 years of the restaurant, just doing things that are really good.”

Keeping up with food trends is important in parts of the hospitality market, but it’s never been a focus at 1889 Enoteca. “It’s funny, living in an era where it’s all about everything new – we’re kind of the opposite,” admits Dan. “We’ve become a standard bearer for persistence.”

Dan lays a lot of credit at the feet of head chef Matthew Stubbing – who has been a firm hand at the kitchen’s helm for the past ten years – for his commitment to maintaining the standard of excellence across 1889 Enoteca’s crowd-favourite staples. The aforementioned gnocchi, cacio e pepe and carbonara (as well as other stand-outs like the bucatini all’amatriciana and risotto with goats cheese) wouldn’t have reached iconic status without his tireless commitment maintaining their spirit through consistency.

“I think those dishes are classic for a reason,” says Dan. “They don’t need to be changed. They don’t need to reinterpreted. I personally find that trying to reinvent something makes no sense if it’s really good to start off with.” Though certain elements of the menu do change (seasonality is a big focus – we’re currently in peak artichoke season, by the way), it always comes back to the classics. The dishes that were previously obscure are now ubiquitous and 1889 is known for doing them the best.

Roman-style fare isn’t the only thing 1889 Enoteca has had a hand in introducing to local palates. Known from inception as a trove of artisan Italian wines (a sizeable chunk of which fall under the umbrella of ‘vini naturali’), 1889’s wine room and cellar houses one of the most impressive caches in Brisbane.

While terms like ‘small crop’, ‘indigenous yeasts’ and ‘minimal intervention’ are common pieces of vino vernacular now, 15 years ago folks likely thought Dan was speaking another language. “When we first started there wasn’t really natural wine as we know it now,” reflects Dan, whose first-born business, wine importer and wholesaler Addley Clark Fine Wines, turns 19 this year. “Trying to sell something from Mount Etna 15 years ago was crazy talk.”

Through more gentle perseverance, Dan has softened stiff sensibilities and shifted tastes in fun new directions. “At the start it was all chianti, valpolicella and barolo,” says Dan. “But then we got to add cool things like a cesanese from Lazio and the guests here got really into it. Once you know that people are willing to experiment and sort of take your advice, then we could end up doing anything that I kind of thought was remotely interesting.”

Dan’s curatorial efforts were recognised internationally when Gambero Rosso, regarded as Italy’s wine bible, awarded its prestigious Wine List of the Year prize to 1889 Enoteca in 2022, essentially dubbing the restaurant’s cellar as the finest selection of Italian wines outside of Italy. “That’s something that I didn’t ever think was even a remote possibility,” says Dan. “To go full circle and earn that award – even though we’re not really in it for those sort of things – that’s pretty cool.”

It’s easy to attribute 1889 Enoteca’s longevity to its menu and wine list. You’d be justified for doing so to an extent, such is the quality of both, but for a restaurant to survive a global financial crisis and a worldwide pandemic (plus the labour shortages associated with both), there’s got to be something that makes 1889 an example to follow.

To Dan, the secret to the restaurant’s success comes down to the smaller details, from the music (which needs to be just right) to the way staff interact with guests. “Restaurants demand such attention, if you take your eye off the smallest thing then you are in for a bit of pain,” says Dan. “One thing I have learned over the years is that restaurants are all detail – if you can get the details right people subconsciously understand, but if you don’t, then they’ll notice.”

The never-ending learning process as also taught Dan that no matter how beloved a restaurant’s greatest hits are, there’s always room for improvement. “You’ve got to be open-minded and want to get better at what you do,” he adds. “I think if you are just stuck in your ways, then that’s when it can go the wrong way. Our things might be classic, but we’re always trying to work out ways to improve and get better and stay relevant, so that’s part of our journey as well – that’s the next part of the game, just to keep our standards really high.”

It’s this approach that Dan hopes will see 1889 Enoteca through another 15 years. For now though, he’s thankful – to the staff that have helped make the business what it is to the diners that took a chance (and those that keep coming back). He’s not oblivious to the fact that countless memorable moments have been made at 1889’s tables or in its cellar and private-dining space downstairs – a beloved spot for special celebrations.

It might actually be the achievement he cherishes most. “People’s significant events have happened in the restaurant, so you end up part of people’s lives without actually really thinking about it, which is really cool,” says Dan, whose love for hospitality hasn’t dimmed at all in 15 years. Even sitting in the leather booth hours before business time, the restaurant feels full of life. “The thing I really like about this restaurant is that it still feels fresh and warm,” he says. “It’s got 15 years of patina – a sort of lived-in cool. We are that great pair of old shoes that you like wearing, or a great jacket.”

Even as Brisbane’s dining scene has deepened and our tastes have diversified, people are still flocking back because of that one intrinsic quality – comfort. As long as it offers that feeling, one predicts that 1889 Enoteca will operate for as long as the decades-old Roman eateries it’s inspired by.

Right now though, Dan’s still taking it one day at a time. “It is nice to reflect on 15 years,” Dan concedes, “but I want think that the most important thing is what are we doing for dinner tonight”.

1889 Enoteca is open Tuesday to Sunday – head to the Stumble Guide for operating hours, booking details and menu info.