Groove Train, an institution on Melbourne's café scene, recently opened in Brisbane at the Riverside Promenade of the Riverside Centre. The prime waterfront location doesn't hint at what might have been built on the site, if plans from the 1980s had gone ahead. It was meant to be a freeway!
But since March 2008, Groove Train, with its chic hessian covered low lights, orange feature walls, French-inspired wallpaper and wood-fired pizza oven, sits on a river location where there used to be plans for a freeway.
Trading towards the CityCat terminal end of the Promenade, Groove Train seats 150 people and offers an Italian inspired fusion menu.
Groove Train is open every day from 7am.The hip new café bar is open every day, starting from 7am with yum breakfasts and heart-starter coffees. It keeps serving up the good food and great atmosphere (minus cars) until late.
Bob Rice, manager of Riverside Centre, said in the mid-80s the Riverside Promenade as we know it was flagged as a potential freeway and you can still see where the road was planned to be built above the water. This infrastructure was hidden from public view by a thick concrete black wall.
"The architects needed vision to create what you see now from this space," he said.
Architect Greg Holman from Harry Seidler & Associates said the freeway never eventuated but the Riverside Centre concealed a 130 metre long and 12 metre wide water-filled tunnel.
"Once the floor was in place and the screen walls to the Riverwalk removed, there was no indication of the complexities involved to achieve some of the best restaurant spaces in Brisbane."
Groove Train's owners from Melbourne started scouting for possible sites for the first Brisbane Groove Train in 2006 and decided on this space in mid-2007. They are now on the lookout for more locations in Brisbane and possibly on the Gold Coast as well.
The first Groove Train opened on Bridge Road in Richmond, Melbourne 13 years ago. Since then another three Melbourne cafes opened, with two more being built.
