Longing to return to London’s The Savoy Grill or wishing for a time you were at The Wolseley? Lovers of travel and great food who are hungry for a hit of timeless London or New York-style dining will feel right at home with the arrival of Rothwell’s Bar & Grill.
Housed in the heritage-listed Rothwell’s building in the city’s luxury Edward Street precinct, opposite Gucci, Rothwell’s Bar & Grill is sure to become a much-need new player on the Brisbane dining scene. Rothwell’s Bar & Grill is the vision of Dan Clark (1889 Enoteca, Addley Clark Fine Wines) and Chef, Ben Russell (Aria Sydney and Brisbane, Est Est Est), who have spent 25 years travelling to most of the world’s iconic classic dining rooms and bars, distilling the essence of those places into Rothwell’s Bar & Grill.
“Reference points for us were places like The Savoy Grill in London or Musso & Frank Grill in Los Angeles. They are the places we love to eat because the food is terrific and the service is warm,” Dan said. When it came to designing the menu, Chef Ben Russell called on his skills of produce-driven cooking and focussed on the freshest local seafood, the best cuts of Australian beef and handmade pasta. “It’s classic cooking techniques and European sensibilities, all the things I learned early in my career that I’ve returned to,” he said.
The menu features favourites such as prawn cocktail, Moreton Bay bugs with café de Paris butter, Beef Wellington and as-you-like-it grass-fed T-bone steak. The pair met during Ben’s time at Aria, where Ben was head chef, and they bonded over their mutual love of The Rolling Stones and great restaurants. “We have similar tastes in a lot of things, while we were planning Rothwell’s Dan would describe an idea and I’d come up with a reference point that was exactly what he was thinking, it’s been a really easy partnership,” Ben said.
Every aspect of Rothwell’s Bar & Grill has been meticulously managed by Dan and Ben, their passion and commitment poured into every element. The centrepiece of the 90-seat dining space is the Marble Bar, an expansive white Italian marble seated dining space where jacketed chefs will shuck oysters onto custom silver trays that were handmade in London exclusively for Rothwell’s. Walls lined with cosy leather banquettes featuring vintage table lamps offer a more intimate dining experience.
The 40-seat Foyer Bar is serving timeless cocktails, the star of the menu being what promises to be the best Martini in town. Served bracingly cold in a smaller coupe glass with a top up served alongside in an iced silver carafe so your drink never strays from the perfect temperature. Other classic drinks such as The Old Fashioned, Gibson, Negroni and Hemingway Daquiri will be prepared to perfection to go with a classic bar menu of oysters, niçoise salad and a club sandwich.
An intimate private dining room, located in the restaurant’s cellar and surrounded by sandstone walls lined with more than 2000 of bottles of wine, is an exceptional space for up to 50 seated or 100 standing guests. Rothwell’s diligently honed wine list will please even the most experienced of oenophiles. This is where Dan’s wine knowledge and experience comes to the fore, with pages of wines from well-known producers plus his little black book of smaller producers from Burgundy, Chablis, Bordeaux, Champagne and Barolo appearing alongside a deep read of classic vintages from Australia’s best-known names including Cullen and Wendouree.
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