Leading chef and wine guru open Rothwell’s Bar & Grill

When word got around that one of the nation’s most acclaimed chefs was teaming up with Brisbane’s wine king there was much excitement in the culinary community. But does this new joint live up to the hype?

Dan Clark is Brisbane’s unofficial wine king; a wholesaler of vino to some of the country’s best restaurants, as well as co-owner of world-renowned Woolloongabba Italian eatery 1889 Enoteca.

Ben Russell is one of Australia’s most regarded chefs, the former kitchen head at Brisbane’s acclaimed Aria restaurant boasting a resume studded with Michelin-star establishments. So when news broke last year that these two hospitality heavyweights were teaming up to launch their first joint venture, childlike excitement thundered through the culinary community.

Rothwell’s Bar & Grill is the result – taking over the former site of Jamie Oliver’s Jamie’s Italian on Edward St in Brisbane’s CBD.

The oyster and charcuterie bar at Rothwell's Bar and Grill in Brisbane’s CBD.

The mission for the two gents was to create a place where they wanted to eat; merging their favourite restaurants from across the globe – think London’s The Savoy Grill and The Wolseley, Los Angeles’ Musso & Frank Grill – and translating them for the Brisbane market in a way that felt warm and accessible. It may have only opened in late November but Rothwell’s feels as established as the heritage-listed building it resides in.

The restaurant plays up to the site’s history with sea green leather banquettes and booths, polished timber floorboards, chandeliers and hints of marble and brass. Exposed industrial ceilings and a central modern charcuterie and oyster bar add a contemporary edge.

But it’s the little touches diners will appreciate: the tiny, brushed brass table lamps, the wooden salt and pepper mills on tables and the menus wrapped in butter-soft leather; the jacket embossed with “eat well”.

The dining room looking towards the bar at Rothwell's Bar and Grill.

Despite the “old money” feel of the venue, there’s an attempt to keep prices reasonable. Entrees start at $25 for a beetroot, radish, walnut and goats’ curd number; while hearty bowls of pasta range from $29 for mushrooms and aged cheddar to $44 for a luxe sea urchin and caviar combo. Then there are mains like duck cassoulet for $44, and a cross section of steaks between $48 and $140. Their signature, however, is the beef Wellington for two. Though this is a time and financial commitment at 45 minutes to prepare and $128.

Classic grill favourites line the list of starters: niçoise and Caesar salads, a prawn cocktail, steak tartare; while steamed mud crab with just-cooked coins of potato and a saffron mayonnaise ($34) will have you scooping out the shell it’s served in for the last skerrick.

The antithesis to the light crustacean dish is the beef ragu ($36). Served with perhaps more undercooked than al dente ribbons of wavy-edged reginette pasta, this is hearty Italian in its most pure form – bitey, layered and intense.

It will leave you little room for a main like the roast lamb ($44) – arguably a share-sized portion of just-pink rump laid across braised lentils and black olives saltier than the sea. Also with a generous kick of salt is the 250g grain-fed, 4+ marble score eye fillet steak ($48), which comes more rare than the medium-rare requested but bursting with juiciness and char from the grill. The steak’s inclusion of onion rings stacked high and celeriac remoulade render the unctuous potato puree ($12) from the list of sides unnecessary for satiety.

The grain-fed eye fillet steak with onion rings.

Classic cocktails like a knock-you-for-six Tom Collins fill the back of the drinks menu, but it’s Clark’s wine list that demands all the attention. There’s Penfolds Grange back to 1982, champagne from all the top houses; as well as a great Italian red for under $75 a bottle; or Aussie or French whites at less than $65. The by-the-glass list is also a treasure trove of interesting European and Australian winemakers.

Unless you have a sweet tooth, consider skipping simple desserts of, say, chocolate trifle or pistachio brulee, for another glass of wine as you also drink in the spoils of what is sure to become a Brisbane stalwart.

ROTHWELL’S BAR & GRILL

235 Edward St, Brisbane City

3038 1169

rothwellsbrisbane.com.au

Open Tue-Sat noon-2.30pm and 5.30pm-late

Must eat dish

Steak

VERDICT

Food 4

Service 4

Ambience 4

Value 4

Overall 4