The Shane Delia Layla restaurant opens in the West End
In a West End point listed in the heritage, it is serving chicken with Moroccan spicy butter and Turkish gnocchi with XO of mushrooms together with seasonal cocktails and 150 wines.
Shane Delia wants you to know that Layla is not a theatrical restaurant.
Yes, it is in the Thomas Dixon Center, home of Queensland Ballet since 1991. And yes, suspicions that a central dining group will try by those who attend shows in the 350 -seater auditorium in the center. And, yes, the restaurant will show up for the functions in the center bar and on its terrace.
But it is perhaps better to think of Layla, which opens on March 28, as part of the new wave of restaurants that slightly pulls the center of gravity of West End dining from Boundary Street and down to Montague Road.
“It’s not a theatrical restaurant at all,” says Delia. “We have nothing to do with ballet or theater.
“Obviously we will serve people who go to the theater. But this is an autonomous restaurant. I want people to come and have a great experience, regardless of whether they go to the ballet or not.”
Delia has maintained Shutm on Layla’s details since she announced the restaurant for the first time in mid-November-did not even launch its name and the brand until a month ago.
But good things come to those who wait, apparently. Layla is located at the end of Raven Street of Thomas Dixon Center, in the section of the building listed on the heritage, and is a low -key stunner.
The architecture study based in Melbourne Studio Y, who worked with Delia in his bar Jayda in the CBD of the Victorian capital, lent Layla a moody, dramatic interior, with the original walls of branding bricks of 1908, blue on the ground, graffiti, in graffiti in graffiti.
The lighting of intelligent characteristics gives the dining room an intimate and welcoming appearance.
Outside, there is a terrace section covered with green. A softer treatment was given, with beige umbrellas, stone tables and yellow coating.
Managing the daily cuisine for Delia is chef Simon Palmer. If you are a local hot table, there is a good chance that Palmer has had a hand in your food in restaurants like Urban, Gerard’s and then it is and Black Hide of Gambaro, where he was head that chef.
“When I met Simon, it was really discreet, talked gently, but really well informed and super, super calm,” says Delia. “I phoned the people I know worked with him and played the suppliers and I didn’t hear a bad word.
“He is always on the phone and super passionate. He has a lot of humility and I thought:” Here is someone who will support the values of what we are trying to achieve. “”
Delia is known for his Middle Eastern food in his places in Melbourne Maha, Maha East, Maha North and Jayda. Layla, however, takes a slightly different turn introducing influences from the traditional commercial routes of spices, and in particular in the Indian subcontinent.
“It is inspired by spices trade,” says Delia. “Everywhere the Middle East (spices) has gone, there is so much influence in those areas.
“(But) why must Middle Eastern food have such an impact and influence others (kitchens), yet those places to which it goes cannot influence Middle Eastern food?”
Delia and Palmer divided the menu into appetizers, then increasingly large plates, followed by sides and desserts.
To start, you could order a half -dome half a shell Hervey Bay with carrot hummus, Persian lime and a toasted coconut sambal; Ring crab dressed with coriander and lime and finished with charred pineapple and smoked pepper; Or a sandwich in Borek by Petto Moro with sticky turmeric and chilli and sesame jam.
The smaller sharing plates include Salmon Kbbeh Nayyeh with Burghul, Mint, sweet onions and a Sambal Aleppo, served with Lebanese bread; Brasate carrots with yogurt, toasted carraway and curry leaves; Quaglia of the Brisbane Valley with pistachio crust, served with a fiery tahini; and Turkish beef gnocchi with a mushroom xo, sujuk, yogurt and spicy burned butter.
A shorter selection of larger dishes includes a “habibbi” butter chicken by Ras El Hanout; a shoulder of eight -hour slow cooking lamb with smoked eggplant, roasted lemon and za’atar sauce; And a coal grilled swordfish bone with burnt orange and saffron.
For drinks there is a list of seasonal cocktails and a list of 150 -bottle wines in the Globe treated by the sommelier Darcy Curnow which turns to the subtropical climate of Brisbane with a focus on whites and crispy and red roses with the lighter body. Delia states that there is also a “single bottle club” of rarer wines selected by Curnow by the group melbourne cell.
“It was really interesting to see the reaction of friends and friends in the sector in Melbourne, when I tell them that I am expanding to Brisbane,” says Delia. “Some say:” Good luck, it will be fantastic. What a beautiful scene of food. “And then other people will say:” What are you doing? “
“There is a great opportunity in Brisbane, but the money is not enough … I thought more, ‘Well, I think I can contribute with something to this landscape that I found so impressive and be part of an extraordinary movement in this city.” “
Tui-Wed open 5.30-PM-Lete, Thu-Sun 12 PM-Lilate
406 Montague Road, West End
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Matt Shea He is the publisher of food and culture at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and publisher in general at the Brisbane sheet of sheet and wrote for Escape, Qantas Magazine, The Guardian, JetStar Magazine and Silverkris, among many others.
