2 weeks Ago By Matt Shea
Brisbane has plenty of steak restaurants, including two – Fat Cow and Rich & Rare – from prolific restaurateur Michael Tassis. Now Tassis wants to do the same for lamb. “It’s something I’ve been aiming to do for a long time,” Tassis says.
“No one else is really doing this style of restaurant.” That style of restaurant is Dark Shepherd, which opened on Friday on the fourth-level dining terrace at Queen’s Wharf. Dark it says and dark it is, regular Tassis designers Clui Design lending the eatery its usual signatures of semicircular booths, slatted timber features and stacks of marble.
But Dark Shepherd sets itself apart with textured walls, sheer curtains and sunken dining section, lending it different dining areas to suit different moods. “I knew straight away what I wanted,” Tassis says. “Sanny and Callum from Clui – we’ve built such a strong relationship [with them].
The tenancy already had the sunken floor and I thought, ‘Instead of wasting money to fill it in, let’s embrace it.’ It gives the restaurant another dimension and sets it apart from the other [Queen’s Wharf dining] tenancies.” Rick Shores team set to unleash its spectacular Gold Coast follow-up The cornerstone of Dark Shepherd’s menu is White Pyrenees Lamb from Victoria, which Tassis calls the “wagyu of lamb”.
Over 15 years, the Victorian company has crossed different breeds to produce a protein prized by some of the country’s best restaurants. Dark Shepherd’s various cuts hang in a dry-ageing fridge in the corner of the dining room. “You need to have the right fat content, especially when cooking it in the woodfire oven,” Tassis says.
“We have the main cuts, like the lamb leg, shoulder and lamb ribs. But we also have different cuts, such as a lamb tomahawk.” Lamb is the cornerstone of husband-and-wife chefs Vangjel Jorgo and Dianna Jorgo’s menu (previously Opa Bar + Mezze, another Tassis restaurant), which Tassis says isn’t specifically Greek, but ranges across the Mediterranean.
It’s split into snacks, small plates, large plates, the “Shepherd Menu”, which presents the different cuts of lamb, and a series of smaller “From the Village” plates that play the role of sides. Much of the food is cooked in a rotating Marana Forni woodfire oven. “It’s like the Lamborghini of ovens,” Tassis says.
“We’re cooking everything in there from breads to the lamb. It’s a really great tool for the chefs.” For snacks and small plates you might order woodfired scallops with tyrokafteri butter, a lamb pastitsio bite with bechamel, tomato, Greek cheese and crumb; woodfired octopus with onion, stock and a white balsamic sauce; or woodfired quail with onion, red wine and grapes.
Larger plates include woodfired cabbage with garlic, tahini and pistachio and soft herbs; youvetsi (a Greek stew with orzo pasta) with soft spices, Greek pastry bread and flamed cognac; gigandes with prawns, mussels, fish, scallops, white beans and a rose sauce; and a five-score Imperial Blossom beef tomahawk with burnt butter and two sides of the guest’s choice. “The Shepherd” menu presents lamb shoulder, lamb leg, lamb tomahawk cutlets and lamb ribs, all of which are served with woodfired peppers, oven potatoes and tzatziki. There’s also live lobster and oysters from the tanks that backdrop the dining room, and a dessert menu that includes a signature woodfired cheesecake with soft apple, cinnamon and ice cream, and a kataifi served with a coffee cream mousse.
For drinks, there’s a 140-bottle wine list that has a focus on pinot noir and drops sourced from around the Mediterranean, and a cocktail list that includes both signatures and classics. “I don’t think people know how much you can do with lamb, particularly when you cook it over woodfire,” Tassis says. “It doesn’t need to taste gamey if you have good suppliers serving you a good product.
It comes out like butter – it’s very soft and tender.” Open daily 11am-late The Terrace, Level 4, Queen’s Wharf, (07) 2111 6869 darkshepherd.com.
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