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.”
Clarence will open at 51 Fish Lane in mid-August.
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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.
