Overview
One of Brisbane's most prominent hospitality groups is adding another showstopper to its stable this spring when Fanda Group — the team behind Central, Southside, Rick Shores, Norté and Sueño — will open Marlowe, an elegant Australian bistro set inside a heritage-listed apartment block on Fish Lane.
Marlowe will unfold across nine distinct dining and bar spaces in the 1938 building once known as the Merivale Flats, and will retain much of the building's art deco character as well as the original layout of the four apartments it occupies. Across two levels, the venue will feature a verdant terrace and four enclosed sunrooms alongside intimate dining rooms and bar areas. The design, led by J.AR OFFICE, will set rich walnut timber and polished chrome accents against a palette of sky blue, buttercream and deep crimson, bringing a thoughtful contemporary edge to the venue's heritage bones. It's the fourth Fanda venue designed by the Fortitude Valley studio, with Central recently taking out top honours at the Australian Interior Design Awards.
In the kitchen, Head Chef and Co-Owner Ollie Hansford (Gauge, Stokehouse) oversees a hyperseasonal, produce-driven menu that takes its cues from vintage Australian cookbooks. Dishes might include a prawn cocktail tartlet in crisp pastry with marie rose sauce, braised duck pie with radicchio jam and jus poured tableside, a yabby-topped surf and turf, coral trout wellington finished with a rich caviar butter sauce and a trifle layered with rhubarb jelly, macadamia sponge and custard for dessert.
Produce sourcing is equally considered. Hansford's close relationship with local growers has seen him secure weekly supplies of jumbo yabbies from a Gympie farm, heritage-breed chickens from Harrisville's Joyce's Gold and pure-bred, citrus-fed Chauvel wagyu, with Marlowe set to be the only restaurant in the region serving some of these ingredients. A custom-built woodfire hearth by Sam Fraraccio (The Brick Chef) will anchor the grill offering, while a raw bar will serve oysters and seafood sliced to order.
Drinks also celebrate local makers and ingredients. Group Beverage Director Peter Marchant has curated a 150-strong Australian wine list, balancing legacy labels with new-wave producers plus verticals from icons like Henschke and Grosset. Twenty-five wines will be available by the glass via the venue's Coravin program, while French champagne will be the sole non-local feature. Cocktails will showcase native ingredients and nostalgic twists, like a lemon myrtle and eucalyptus highball topped with house-made Granny Smith creaming soda and a house martini with butter-washed gin and macadamia-infused manzanilla.
With Fish Lane now home to some of Brisbane's most acclaimed restaurants, Marlowe looks set to be one of the city's most-anticipated openings of 2025. "There's real momentum building in Fish Lane, and we're proud that Marlowe can be part of its evolution," says Fanda Group Director David Flynn. "With so many great operators already in the precinct, and some of Queensland's key cultural institutions just a stone's throw away, Fish Lane is well on its way to becoming Brisbane's premier dining destination."
Marlowe will open in Fish Lane this September at 105 Melbourne Street, South Brisbane. For more information, head to the restaurant's website.