Brisbane’s Ghanem Group has opened the doors on Lúc Lắc, a South-East Asian restaurant fusing Vietnamese and Thai Flavours.
The restaurant is located on The Terrace, on level four The Star Brisbane’s Queen’s Wharf development.
Lúc Lắc (prounounced look luck) is named for the traditional Vietnamese dish called Bo Lúc Lắc, meaning shaking beef, referring to its wok-shaking cooking method.
The menu is a collaboration between Ghanem Group Executive Chef Jake Nicolson, who curated the a la carte and banquet menus, and Head Chef Dann Rowell, who will lead the kitchen day-by-day.
“The menus are inspired by Vietnam and Thailand, taking the best of those worlds and combining them into something super-exciting,” says Nicolson. “Guests can explore a delicious pairing of local produce and Asian flavours.”
Locally grown tropical Queensland fruits such as pink pomelo, green mango, green papaya, jackfruit, and dragon fruit, are used alongside house-made Nahm ji and nuoc cham dressings, and locally grown Thai basil, perilla, Vietnamese mint, and coriander.
“Red, crispy, whole roast ducks hang in a traditional display with the rich meat featuring in dishes such as our signature roasted red duck curry with lychee and beansprouts. Several dishes showcase baby goat from Meredith Dairy in Victoria, which is renowned for its goat cheese and has recently started selling the beautiful meat,” says Rowell.
“In addition, we’re using native tamarind in a Thai-style three-taste sauce to accompany our show-stopping whole crispy speckled blue grouper, and we’re sourcing hand-caught periwinkles from Port Fairy and the youngest commercial diver in Australia, which feature as periwinkle escargot with ginger and garlic.”
The menu also features chicken wings that are poached before being battered, fried, and tossed in shrimp paste caramel; a ‘Viet misu’ which incorporates Vietnamese coffee in a tiramisu-like desert; and a coconut sago pudding with pandan jelly, pineapple, and dragon fruit.
Rowell boasts a raft of international and Australian experience. Most recently he was Head Chef at the Vietnamese-inspired Balfour Kitchen & Bar in Spicers Balfour Hotel. He has also worked at Baillie Lodges’ Longitude 131° luxury wilderness camp in Uluru, Silky Oaks Lodge in the Daintree Rainforest, as Executive Chef at Kangaroo Island’s Southern Ocean Lodge, and as a chef aboard luxury yachts.
“I do love the South-East Asian vibe, it’s what I eat and it’s what I cook,” says Rowell. “It’s my passion. I love the complex flavour profiles, yet the simplicity of the food, and how they let the ingredients do the talking.”
The chef says this role is one he is “most excited about”.
Ghanem Group has operated in Brisbane for over four decades. Lúc Lắc is joins the family-owned group’s portfolio as its tenth restaurant.
Photography: Markus Ravik
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