So What Stereo drops the needle on Thai-style breakfast in Fortitude Valley
So What Stereo is part vinyl shrine, part Thai breakfast haven – and fully worth the hunt. Hidden in the back streets of Fortitude Valley, this retro-inspired cafe pairs rare records with bold Thai flavours, serving everything from khao soi to Coltrane deep cuts. Take a look inside …
Any die-hard vinyl collector will tell you that the best thing about crate digging are the records that are unearthed by accident. Like a rare pressing sheathed inside a dusty sleeve or an obscure collection of jams from an underground musician, it’s often the unexpected finds that become the most memorable additions to any collection.
The same can also be said for cafes – sometimes the haunts you come to love are the ones that you just happen to stumble upon. For many foodies, So What Stereo in Fortitude Valley is that place.
Tucked away off the beaten path on Little Street next to The Valley Grocer, So What Stereo is the kind of place you might miss unless you know it’s there. But word of its Thai-style breakfasts, vibrant retro decor and impressive collection of vinyl records is spreading – and fast.
But So What Stereo might never have happened had owners Kawid Brikshavana and Ratinan Rattanathai not made their own unexpected discovery.
The duo (also the brains behind home-style Thai eatery MaMeek in Hawthorne and its market-stall offshoot MaMeek on Charcoal) have long wanted to open their own cafe – they’d even spent years amassing secondhand furniture and vintage audio gear with which to fill it. It wasn’t until they were shown the Little Street site – a fully enclosed box invisible to passers by – that they knew they had found the right place.
“[The owners] showed me this space without any windows – it was all closed up,” says Kawid. “It was fitted-out by some people before my time, probably five years ago. There was a whole kitchen – the whole space was stainless steel and had a canopy system.”
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So What Stereo, named after the first track of Miles Davis’ seminal 1959 record Kind of Blue, is a distillation of Kawid and Ratinan’s tastes. After knocking out internal walls and adding some windows, the duo implemented a kaleidoscopic aesthetic that is heavily influenced by mid-century design and art – particularly the work of Brisbane artist Gina Ward, who Kawid credits with providing the initial spark of inspiration.
“She influenced a lot of the thoughts in my mind, connecting things and colours,” says Kawid, who gestures to So What’s variegated decorative items and mismatched Facebook Marketplace finds, including orange pendant lights, red and white chairs, The Simpsons paraphernalia and much more.
But the biggest influence on So What’s look and feel can be traced back to Kawid’s familial roots, particularly his father – a pottery maker whose tastes had a profound impact on Kawid’s own aesthetic eye.
“My father and my mother were from that [mid-century modern] era,” Kawid reveals. “Every piece of treasure I collected reminded me of my parents and my family back home. Even the speaker stereo system and everything – it reconnected me to my family.”
Speaking of stereo systems, So What’s JBL monitors play an assortment of tunes plucked from Kawid’s personal collection. The team cycles through everything from The Alan Parsons Project and the Carpenters to The Dave Brubeck Quartet and John Coltrane – Kawid is even known to pop on some punk and metal, if the mood is right.
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“When I put a record on – it doesn’t matter if it’s an analogue remaster, a new pressing or the old pressing – the speakers give the same feeling of when the artists made the original recordings,” says Kawid.
In addition to the music and ambiance, So What is setting itself apart with its menu, which sees Kawid and Ratinan endeavouring to broaden the boundaries of what’s familiar, as far as Thai cuisine in Brisbane is concerned.
“We try to sell things that people don’t normally sell in Thai restaurants,” says Kawid. “I don’t want to say we are a Thai cafe, but I want to introduce Thai food into breakfast.”
So What Stereo’s menu starts with kao lao sets (broth served with rice and your choice of slow-cooked beef with offal or pork) before segueing into two noodle dishes – Thai boat noodles and khao soi (a northern-Thai specialty boasting soft and crispy egg noodles in a flavour-packed golden curry broth).
You’ll then find rice dishes like kai kon (Thai-style scrambled egg on rice with either coal-grilled beef scotch fillet, spicy Chiangmau pork sausage or coal-grilled tiger prawns) and congee, plus chorizo toasties and garlic chive cakes. Coffee – both espresso and filter – is by Single O.
Though So What Stereo’s star is rising, expect the crew to continue to experiment further as the months progress.
“Being closer to the city – and in The Valley itself – it gives me the opportunity to cater for a wider variety of palates,” says Kawid. “I can do food that’s a little bit more in your face – more spicy. I tell myself to change something quarterly, so we’ll introduce more weird things.”
So What Stereo is now open to the public – head to The Directory for operating hours and other details.