After three years in Woolloongabba, neighbourhood bistro Clarence will close in late July. But it won’t be gone for long.

Clarence will reopen just weeks later inside a new development on the corner of Fish Lane and Merivale Street. The turnaround will be tight, but co-owners Ben McShane and Matt Kuhnemann have been quietly preparing for months.

“Over the last six months – especially the last three – we’ve been working towards the move, slowly positioning what we’re doing [at Woolloongabba] with what we want to be doing [at Fish Lane],” McShane says.

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While the character-filled, heritage-listed brick building in Woolloongabba will be missed, the move is driven by a desire to be part of a more vibrant dining precinct.
“It’s more about location than anything else,” Kuhnemann says.

“The way it is, your entire evening is within those four walls at Clarence,” McShane adds. “[In Fish Lane], you can head to QPAC afterwards or go to bars before and after dinner. There’s a lot of residential [properties] and people walking around. Clarence can be integrated into people’s lives in a more regular and meaningful way.”

It’s good timing. With other high-profile openings planned for the area – including the return of Detour, the Ghanem Group’s takeover of The Fox, and a new project from the Southside and Central crew – the western end of Fish Lane is only going to get busier.

Clarence’s Fish Lane space will channel a modern brassiere feel, anchored by an open kitchen with counter seating. The fit-out will feature green banquettes, dark timber and polished concrete.

The menu is also expanding by around 30 per cent, with the addition of more appetisers, a cold and raw seafood section, and a couple of larger-format plates. A working draft includes half a coral trout with meunière sauce, and a Westholme Wagyu rump cap with bordelaise sauce accompanied by duck fat potatoes and creamed cabbage.

Other new dishes include witlof salad with buffalo curd; potato gnocchi with oscietra caviar and dashi cream; and milk-fed pork with winter tomatoes and sorrel sauce. Fan favourites such as the Nashville-style fried bay lobster with pickles and white bread, and raw scallop with XO sauce on fried turnip cake, will remain.

Zoe O’Mahoney will continue to run front-of-house and curate the drinks list. She’s been steadily expanding Clarence’s all-Australian wine program, which will carry over to the new location. There will also be a few cocktails, including a rhubarb gin fizz, a Pickleback and a Paloma.

Clarence will close at Woolloongabba in late July and reopen at 51 Fish Lane in August.

@clarence.restaurant