Long-awaited Supernormal finally opens in Brisbane, but not as you know it
A plush, light-filled, mirror-lined dining room. A completely different menu (from a hatted chef). So what makes Supernormal Brisbane, Supernormal?
How long does it take to open a restaurant? As in, truly open a restaurant.
There’s a discussion in food criticism circles about when it’s best to review a new venue. An eatery on its first day is often very different to an eatery on its 60th day: the menu evolves, the kinks in service are ironed out. There’s usually been a little (or a lot) of staff turnover.
“It takes a year to open a restaurant,” Andrew McConnell declares. “It really does. To explore the seasons, to understand the ebb and flow of customers – busy periods, quiet periods, peak times, off times – and actually really be able to provide the best service and the best product.
“It takes time to hone the craft. That said, I’m really happy with where we are two weeks in.”
Star chef McConnell is sitting in the plush dining room of Supernormal Brisbane, which he and wife and business partner Jo McGann opened beneath the 443 Queen residential development in mid-July. It’s their Melbourne-based hospitality group Trader House’s ninth restaurant opening – and second in Brisbane after Bar Miette upstairs in June – but McConnell says this process doesn’t get any easier.
“We don’t make things easy for ourselves, I guess,” he says. “I always want to create something special, something fresh and something that’s not just for our customers, but for us as well.”
Supernormal Brisbane is this city’s most anticipated restaurant opening of the year. But on first impression, it’s starkly different to its iconic Melbourne sister venue. Instead of a grungy CBD laneway, it has a prime spot overlooking the Brisbane River and the Story Bridge. Instead of hard surfaces, bench seating and lashings of neon, Supernormal Brisbane is all carpet, mirrors, rattan furniture and cushioned banquettes.
It feels – for now – more formal, and more angled towards the top end of town where it’s located.
On hatted executive chef Jason Barratt’s (ex-Paper Daisy) menu, the only import from Melbourne is the iconic New England lobster roll.
Which all raises the question: why call this Supernormal? Why not brand it something else?
“It’s a good question,” McConnell says. “I think [the through line is] just the style of cooking, and what we do at Supernormal is really well suited to the climate and environment up here, maybe even more so than in Melbourne. And there’s a lot of goodwill associated with it. People know it’s relaxed, smart, casual dining anchored to south-east Asian cuisine.
“It takes a year to open a restaurant ... To explore the seasons, to understand the ebb and flow of customers – busy periods, quiet periods, peak times, off times – and actually really be able to provide the best service and the best product.”Andrew McConnell
“It would’ve been a lot easier if we just picked up the menu, half the management team in Melbourne, half the menu … and just put it on the plane and dropped it here. You can do that with a degree of success, but I don’t think it ever will translate the soul or the essence.”
So what else is on Barratt’s menu?
Across appetisers, entrees and dumplings, you might order mussel and kimchi flatbread, Moreton Bay bug fritters, crispy quail with a wedge salad and smoked chilli, char grilled Yamba prawns with shio koji, and vegetable dumplings with a red vinegar.
For mains, there’s slow cooked Szechuan lamb shoulder with coriander and mint; whole steamed coral trout with a brown butter and lime dashi, and shaved kombu; and salt-baked free-range chicken with spring onion sauce.
There are two signature dishes: the lobster roll of course, but also a half crispy duck that’s been salt-cured, spiced and twice cooked, and is served with steamed bread and condiments.
Among the desserts there’s Valrhona chocolate with caramelised miso, peanuts and sesame, and a strawberry, yuzu and pineapple sage meringue.
It’s all prepared in an open kitchen that’s powered by an extensive MKN induction cooking system – another big change from the Melbourne restaurant.
“It’s incredible,” McConnell says. “It’s cleaner, quieter, healthier. The technology is mature, and the brand is now at a size where there are always spare parts in the country.”
For drinks, there’s a 400-bottle wine list that favours aromatic drops that can converse with the spice of the food, and a Tiki-inflected menu of signature cocktails, alongside a collection of classics.
Not that Supernormal Brisbane is the finished article – not quite – with an 80-seat outside dining area to be added in the coming weeks.
“It will have 30 tables and 30 umbrellas and really change how people look at the venue,” McConnell says. “So when you’re looking outside, you have this outdoor area that’s relaxed with people kicking back … I don’t think just the inside is a true representation of where I want to land here. It has this formality to it different from Melbourne, but that will balance out – [outside] will talk to the bar and you’ll get a bit more of a buzz here.”
Open daily 11.30am-11pm
443 Queen Street, Brisbane, 07 3524 2000
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Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.