Latest news with #Kuhnemann
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
One of Brisbane's best small restaurants arrives at Fish Lane
Eating out Food Two of the city's best young chefs now have a home fit for their talents. They're cooking seasonally inspired local produce accompanied by Aussie wines. Clarence is complete. Yes, Ben McShane and Matt Kuhnemann's new 60-seat take on Clarence in Fish Lane, in a ground floor tenancy of the Cremorne apartment building, is finished, and looks fetching in all its Alkot Studio-designed finery. But Clarence as a concept finally feels complete. The restaurant's original premises in the old Shop Row building on Stanley Street in Woolloongabba were intended to skate through on their heritage charm – all the better to keep the focus on McShane's food – and they did for a while. But as McShane and then Kuhnemann's ideas grew in intention and execution, the old brick lined space seemed less fit for purpose. And it was a pain to get to, meaning the restaurant never attracted the number of diners it deserved. And not for lack of effort, either: the Clarence team at one point added to the kitchen out front, and ran a brilliant but short-lived deli operation during the day Talking to McShane and Kuhnemann about these days, and you sense the frustration. But that's in part because it's packaged with a relief to be in these new premises. 'With the old space you had those restrictions of a 130-year-old building,' McShane says. 'You can't get bigger bits of equipment through the door. To change the hoods is too much.' 'It felt like we were scrapping, just trying to make something happen,' Kuhnemann adds. 'It never felt permanent. It always felt like we were just trying to pull something together, and this feels like everything's been done intentionally for the purpose of being in this restaurant.' The new Clarence exists in a corner tenancy where Fish Lane crosses Merivale Street. Yes, it's brand new but Alkot's design has leant it a charming, lived-in feel with a purposeful use of materials such as ribbed timber, globe pendents, green and white tiled walls, and green upholstered banquettes and seating. Counter seating is a neat addition, allowing you to get up close and personal with the chefs – something that should suit Clarence particularly well – and McShane's brother, Ryan McShane (who from day one has been responsible for the restaurant's cute branding) has contributed a pair of vibrant artworks. Outside, instead of cars jammed along Stanley Street, it's pedestrians wandering the strip from Lune at one end of the lane to Julius at the other, or vice versa. If the old Clarence sometimes felt like a long-term pop-up, the new Clarence feels like it belongs. The food has had minor changes as well. McShane and Kuhnemann still intend to keep it seasonal and hero producers such as Tommerup's Dairy Farm and Neighbourhood Farm, but they talk about there being a little more permanence on the menu. Appetisers and entrees include Nashville-seasoned tropical rock lobster with pickles and white bread, Jerusalem artichokes with a sunflower miso cream and yuzu, and gnocchi served with caviar and a dashi cream. For mains, there's wild caught barramundi with dill-pickle butter and carrots, dry-aged duck with witlof and a cumquat yuzu kosho, and a rack of wild-shot venison with blueberry and beetroot. There's a couple of mains to share – a half coral trout meuniere, and a five-score grass-fed sirloin – and a three-course prix-fixe menu for $85 per person. There's also a cold and raw seafood menu that includes yellowfin tuna with peas, grapefruit and ginger; and Hervey Bay scallop with tiger milk, caper and radish. 'Our draft menu was quite seafood heavy and I think we've even doubled down on that a little bit,' McShane says. 'We're pushing that cold seafood side a little bit more. We have this amazing access to seafood and that was a way to showcase that.' Wines are still all Australian, with front-of-house manager Zoe Mahoney managing a list that now runs close to 100 bottles. 'We have some realms we like to work in with the Australian wines,' Mahoney says. 'We have some smashable stuff but then we have wines that can really converse well with the food.'
The Age
a day ago
- Business
- The Age
One of Brisbane's best small restaurants arrives at Fish Lane
Eating out Food Two of the city's best young chefs now have a home fit for their talents. They're cooking seasonally inspired local produce accompanied by Aussie wines. Clarence is complete. Yes, Ben McShane and Matt Kuhnemann's new 60-seat take on Clarence in Fish Lane, in a ground floor tenancy of the Cremorne apartment building, is finished, and looks fetching in all its Alkot Studio-designed finery. But Clarence as a concept finally feels complete. The restaurant's original premises in the old Shop Row building on Stanley Street in Woolloongabba were intended to skate through on their heritage charm – all the better to keep the focus on McShane's food – and they did for a while. But as McShane and then Kuhnemann's ideas grew in intention and execution, the old brick lined space seemed less fit for purpose. And it was a pain to get to, meaning the restaurant never attracted the number of diners it deserved. And not for lack of effort, either: the Clarence team at one point added to the kitchen out front, and ran a brilliant but short-lived deli operation during the day Talking to McShane and Kuhnemann about these days, and you sense the frustration. But that's in part because it's packaged with a relief to be in these new premises. 'With the old space you had those restrictions of a 130-year-old building,' McShane says. 'You can't get bigger bits of equipment through the door. To change the hoods is too much.' 'It felt like we were scrapping, just trying to make something happen,' Kuhnemann adds. 'It never felt permanent. It always felt like we were just trying to pull something together, and this feels like everything's been done intentionally for the purpose of being in this restaurant.' The new Clarence exists in a corner tenancy where Fish Lane crosses Merivale Street. Yes, it's brand new but Alkot's design has leant it a charming, lived-in feel with a purposeful use of materials such as ribbed timber, globe pendents, green and white tiled walls, and green upholstered banquettes and seating. Counter seating is a neat addition, allowing you to get up close and personal with the chefs – something that should suit Clarence particularly well – and McShane's brother, Ryan McShane (who from day one has been responsible for the restaurant's cute branding) has contributed a pair of vibrant artworks. Outside, instead of cars jammed along Stanley Street, it's pedestrians wandering the strip from Lune at one end of the lane to Julius at the other, or vice versa. If the old Clarence sometimes felt like a long-term pop-up, the new Clarence feels like it belongs. The food has had minor changes as well. McShane and Kuhnemann still intend to keep it seasonal and hero producers such as Tommerup's Dairy Farm and Neighbourhood Farm, but they talk about there being a little more permanence on the menu. Appetisers and entrees include Nashville-seasoned tropical rock lobster with pickles and white bread, Jerusalem artichokes with a sunflower miso cream and yuzu, and gnocchi served with caviar and a dashi cream. For mains, there's wild caught barramundi with dill-pickle butter and carrots, dry-aged duck with witlof and a cumquat yuzu kosho, and a rack of wild-shot venison with blueberry and beetroot. There's a couple of mains to share – a half coral trout meuniere, and a five-score grass-fed sirloin – and a three-course prix-fixe menu for $85 per person. There's also a cold and raw seafood menu that includes yellowfin tuna with peas, grapefruit and ginger; and Hervey Bay scallop with tiger milk, caper and radish. 'Our draft menu was quite seafood heavy and I think we've even doubled down on that a little bit,' McShane says. 'We're pushing that cold seafood side a little bit more. We have this amazing access to seafood and that was a way to showcase that.' Wines are still all Australian, with front-of-house manager Zoe Mahoney managing a list that now runs close to 100 bottles. 'We have some realms we like to work in with the Australian wines,' Mahoney says. 'We have some smashable stuff but then we have wines that can really converse well with the food.'
Int'l Cricket Council
a day ago
- Sport
- Int'l Cricket Council
Australia forced into squad changes for South Africa series
Both Kuhnemann and Hardie are already in Queensland as part of the squad that is contesting the T20I portion of the white-ball series, with the series heading to a deciding third match on Saturday. The opening match of the ODI series will be held in Cairns, before the series switches to Mackay for the final two contests on August 22 and 24. Australia ODI squad: Mitchell Marsh (c), Xavier Bartlett, Alex Carey, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Aaron Hardie, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kuhnemann, Marnus Labuschagne, Adam Zampa
The Age
05-06-2025
- Business
- The Age
Top small restaurant takes on one of Brisbane's best dining precincts
Eating out Food It's to join some star laneway neighbours in a larger space from an in-demand Emme and Pilloni designer. What won't change? The exceptional, produce-driven food. Clarence is getting an upgrade. Ben McShane and Matt Kuhnemann's little Woolloongabba restaurant that could has become a favourite among diners in the know since opening in 2022. But in a 40-seat heritage tenancy in the old Shop Row building, there's an argument it's a touch too little and, given its quality, should be better known. Also, its location, at the Annerley Road end of Stanley Street, can be hard to travel to. But a move to Fish Lane in 10 weeks is intended to change that. Clarence will close on Stanley Street in late July and reopen in a new tenancy tucked underneath the Cremorne apartment development. 'I think we were looking for what the next thing would be,' McShane says. 'But it's obviously a huge commitment, something like that. So we were a little apprehensive. 'The last few years haven't gone quite as well as we'd hoped, so it can be hard to double down on [the concept].' Fish Lane, though, is very different to Stanley Street. Over the past decade it's become one of the city's best dining precincts, second perhaps only to James Street. Southside, Julius, Maeve Wine, Hello Please and Lune all call the area home, among a bunch of others. It's surrounded by stacks of residential apartments, has ready access to public transport, is just across the road from QAGOMA and the Queensland Museum, and QPAC is scheduled to unveil its new 1500-seat theatre towards the end of the year. 'There's everything here,' McShane says. 'There's residential. It's a little bit more eclectic than, say, James Street. It's a little more relaxed … but you're still very well-connected to everything. 'I don't think we'd fit on James Street. It makes sense here.' You can understand how the building's landlord, Stockwell, got McShane and Kuhnemann over the line. Clarence 2.0 will be a precisely designed open-air 60-seat evolution on its predecessor. Alkot Studio, recently celebrated for its work on Pilloni in West End and Emme on James Street, is overseeing a space defined by green and white tiled walls, globe pendants and banquette seating. 'I don't think we'd fit on James Street. It makes sense here.' Clarence co-owner Ben McShane The restaurant will carry over Clarence's distinctive green colour and also its open kitchen, this time with counter seating so you can get up close and personal with McShane and Kuhnemann as they go about their cooking. Clarence's approach to food will remain much the same, with McShane and Kuhnemann continuing to leverage close-knit relationships with producers such as Tommerup's Dairy Farm and Neighbourhood Farm to power a menu that constantly evolves depending on what's in season. 'But then there will be a few more comfortable, accessible dishes that will stay on a little bit longer,' McShane says. 'It might be coral trout with new potatoes and a meuniere sauce, or something like a steak frites. 'It's great to have those vibrant, interesting dishes [typical of Clarence], but there will just be a few more things – objectively good dishes that everyone's going to want to eat every day of the week.' Drinks will continue to be anchored by a tight all-Australian wine list that favours 'funky, smashable' drops. 'There's that population density here that means we can be that great neighbourhood restaurant,' McShane says. 'We can be part of your evening before the theatre, or after. We don't have that versatility where we are at the moment. So it's about adjusting what we're doing to suit that.'
Sydney Morning Herald
05-06-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Top small restaurant takes on one of Brisbane's best dining precincts
Eating out Food It's to join some star laneway neighbours in a larger space from an in-demand Emme and Pilloni designer. What won't change? The exceptional, produce-driven food. Clarence is getting an upgrade. Ben McShane and Matt Kuhnemann's little Woolloongabba restaurant that could has become a favourite among diners in the know since opening in 2022. But in a 40-seat heritage tenancy in the old Shop Row building, there's an argument it's a touch too little and, given its quality, should be better known. Also, its location, at the Annerley Road end of Stanley Street, can be hard to travel to. But a move to Fish Lane in 10 weeks is intended to change that. Clarence will close on Stanley Street in late July and reopen in a new tenancy tucked underneath the Cremorne apartment development. 'I think we were looking for what the next thing would be,' McShane says. 'But it's obviously a huge commitment, something like that. So we were a little apprehensive. 'The last few years haven't gone quite as well as we'd hoped, so it can be hard to double down on [the concept].' Fish Lane, though, is very different to Stanley Street. Over the past decade it's become one of the city's best dining precincts, second perhaps only to James Street. Southside, Julius, Maeve Wine, Hello Please and Lune all call the area home, among a bunch of others. It's surrounded by stacks of residential apartments, has ready access to public transport, is just across the road from QAGOMA and the Queensland Museum, and QPAC is scheduled to unveil its new 1500-seat theatre towards the end of the year. 'There's everything here,' McShane says. 'There's residential. It's a little bit more eclectic than, say, James Street. It's a little more relaxed … but you're still very well-connected to everything. 'I don't think we'd fit on James Street. It makes sense here.' You can understand how the building's landlord, Stockwell, got McShane and Kuhnemann over the line. Clarence 2.0 will be a precisely designed open-air 60-seat evolution on its predecessor. Alkot Studio, recently celebrated for its work on Pilloni in West End and Emme on James Street, is overseeing a space defined by green and white tiled walls, globe pendants and banquette seating. 'I don't think we'd fit on James Street. It makes sense here.' Clarence co-owner Ben McShane The restaurant will carry over Clarence's distinctive green colour and also its open kitchen, this time with counter seating so you can get up close and personal with McShane and Kuhnemann as they go about their cooking. Clarence's approach to food will remain much the same, with McShane and Kuhnemann continuing to leverage close-knit relationships with producers such as Tommerup's Dairy Farm and Neighbourhood Farm to power a menu that constantly evolves depending on what's in season. 'But then there will be a few more comfortable, accessible dishes that will stay on a little bit longer,' McShane says. 'It might be coral trout with new potatoes and a meuniere sauce, or something like a steak frites. 'It's great to have those vibrant, interesting dishes [typical of Clarence], but there will just be a few more things – objectively good dishes that everyone's going to want to eat every day of the week.' Drinks will continue to be anchored by a tight all-Australian wine list that favours 'funky, smashable' drops. 'There's that population density here that means we can be that great neighbourhood restaurant,' McShane says. 'We can be part of your evening before the theatre, or after. We don't have that versatility where we are at the moment. So it's about adjusting what we're doing to suit that.'
