Continuing its expansion, Three Blue Ducks crosses state lines to open in a new five-star hotel in the Queensland capital.
Sydney’s Three Blue Ducks will open a fourth location – its first outside NSW – at the new W Brisbane hotel this April. The 150-seater overlooks the Brisbane River and will be open from breakfast to dinner seven days a week, offering signature dishes from the Bronte, Byron Bay and Rosebery restaurants alongside new items from the charcoal pit, rôtisserie and wood-fired oven.
“We got asked a lot over the years [about Brisbane] and we checked out many spaces,” co-owner Darren Robertson says. “But this one really jumped out at us as an exciting collaboration.”
Robertson and partners Mark LaBrooy, Jeff Bennett, Chris Sorrell and Sam Reid-Boquist have been visiting farms and breweries in and around Brisbane as they finalise the drinks list and menu, which will feature a collection of favourite Ducks dishes, with new ideas and daily specials thrown in. The spanner-crab scramble or black sausage, say, alongside whole cauliflower, flatbread and lamb shoulder done in the wood-fired oven. A raw bar will serve the likes of Moreton Bay bugs, spanner crab and oysters.
“I don’t want it to be your typical hotel restaurant with a standardised menu,” Robertson says.
Trusted suppliers like Stone & Wood and Jilly Wines will make the trip to Brisbane, with Balter and Green Beacon part of the local contingent.
The design will echo the relaxed feel of Three Blue Ducks’ other venues, with an open kitchen and an emphasis on wood, concrete and greenery.
A standalone bar will complement three others across the hotel, while other restaurants and bars in the neighbouring Brisbane Quarter development are set to be announced in the coming weeks.
W Brisbane is the CBD’s first five-star hotel to open in 20 years and will be the only W in Australia. Its Sydney property, opened at Woolloomooloo in 1999, was sold in 2006 and now trades as a part of Ovolo hotels.
Three Blue Ducks, 300 George St, Brisbane, Qld, threeblueducks.com.au/brisbane/