When it came time for Emily Raven to name her latest venue, she knew it needed to make a similar impression to its predecessor, My Kingdom for a Horse (named after a line in Shakespeare’s Richard III). “Apart from the big bullseye [painting] on the wall, the thing that people most talk about is the name,” she says of her Wright Street cafe and roastery. “But Shakespeare is quite dark, and we don’t need more of that right now. I needed something more light.”
So she looked to playwright Tennessee Williams and landed on A Prayer for the Wild at Heart, a line from his play Stairs to the Roof. The name is also an ode to hospitality workers. “The wild at heart are the misfits that struggle with conformity and the daily grind,” says Raven. “They are the passionate creatives, artists, musicians and, most importantly to me, many of the people that work in the hospitality industry.”
A Prayer for the Wild at Heart, the venue, will be a French-inspired brasserie, opening next month at the base of an apartment building on Hurtle Square. It’s a bit of a full-circle moment for Raven, who opened Cafe 54, her French bistro, 25 years ago. (When she closed it seven years later, she took a job at Le Cordon Bleu before opening My Kingdom for a Horse in 2015, and later its Waymouth Street offshoot.)
APFWH’s globe-trotting menu by Brittany-born chef Stéphane Brizard (ex-Crafers and Cremorne Hotel) will feature brasserie classics like flat-iron steak with cafe de Paris butter and a beef-cheek-and-wild-mushroom pithivier alongside wider ranging fare such as ricotta and truffle gnudi, heirloom beetroot carpaccio, a coconut and chilli sambal chicken roll, a sweet potato and chickpea pastilla (a Moroccan pie), and chermoula lamb shoulder (to share between two or three) with spiced yoghurt. The dishes will be available over lunch and dinner, and there’ll be a smaller snack menu in the afternoons to pair with a classic cocktail or wine (the wine list will have local and international drops that change regularly, as well as a small reserve collection.)
“I don’t want it to be a French restaurant, and it’s not,” says Raven. “We definitely work with lots of other flavours. It’s recognisable food … We have some brasserie classics interspersed with what most people might consider contemporary Australian dishes.”
The venue will also open for breakfast, with a pared-back menu of My Kingdom for a Horse coffee, pastries and eggs. (Kingdom is a 15-minute walk away, for those after a larger morning meal.)
For Raven, who both works and lives in the south end of the city, it’s a much-needed addition to the fast-growing area. “I live on this side of the city, and we do have a few restaurants and a few good operators but it’s a bit sparse,” she says. “We also have a lot of construction and a lot of new apartment buildings. In particular, on Hurtle Square there’s been a lot of buildings go up – by my [A Prayer for the Wild at Heart] landlord.”
Despite being in the city, Raven wants to provide a neighbourhood-style restaurant for those residents. The relaxed spot will look out across Hurtle Square, with half its seating outside under a verandah to take in the leafy setting. Inside, a bronze mirrored bar will be lit up so it can be seen from the outside at night. There’s also an acoustic ceiling to dampen the noise.
When Raven calls this venue her “love letter to the hospitality industry”, it’s not just lip service. She’s also doing the work to keep people in the industry – through a commitment to fair pay; flexible work arrangements, including job-share roles to enable parents to return to the industry; and traineeships.
“It’s up to small businesses like mine to innovate and retain people and give them a future,” says Raven, who was named Small Employer of the Year at the Australian Training Awards in 2021. “You have an obligation to share your skills and try to keep them working in the industry rather than burn them out.”
Regulars to Kingdom’s Wright Street and Waymouth Street locations will see some familiar faces at A Prayer for the Wild at Heart, including Gennie Chee, who is now general manager across the three businesses.
A Prayer for the Wild at Heart will open in early December.
