As you enter Gerard’s Bistro in Brisbane, reach out to touch the massive rammed-earth columns that flank the entrance. For an instant, you could be worshipping at the Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek in Lebanon, instead of dining at one of Australia’s most fêted Middle Eastern restaurants.

It’s the temple’s ruins that inspired co-owner Johnny Moubarak’s brief to interior designer Jared Webb. The goal was to refresh Gerard’s after an 11-year run, and the result is remarkably timeless – light, fresh and textural, with concrete slabs softened by pale fabric and given an edge with stainless steel.