There are restaurants that alter the culinary landscape, others that merely meet market demand, and there is Esquire. There is, in fact, nothing quite like it in Queensland. Smart, sleek, contemporary mid-century Scandinavian aesthetic; food that strikes an immaculate balance between the suspension of disbelief with mind-bending technique and an innate connection to the most in-season produce.

There are wonderful restaurants that make up this top 10, but Ryan Squires’ Esquire, coupled with the more casual diner Esq., is a truly global restaurant that could hold its own in any culinary capital. It’s brave, avant-garde, but delivers its mantra in a relatively relaxed, intimidation-free setting, too. Waitstaff are as serious as they are approachable, and so too the stellar wine list by sommelier Antoine Heurtier that pleases both the safe and adventurous wine drinker in equal measure.

The open kitchen provides the theatre of chefs crowded around a bench finishing each course of the degustation-only menu before it’s delivered with a brief dissertation. Wild buffalo jerky is tempered by green mustard. Shaved horseradish balances a rich marbled calotte of beef, and cream rounds out a porcini butter cake. For those looking for a more casual offering, try the miso-marinated school mackerel with charred pickles in the adjoining Esq.. It’s a venue every Brisbanite and visitor needs to experience at least once.

Must-eat dish: Adolescent lamb, black cardamom, anchovy, basil