Meet Henley’s – the weird and wonderful bar and kitchen inspired by the films of Wes Anderson
If Wes Anderson opened a casual eatery and cocktail joint in Brisbane, what would it be like? Henley’s, the brand-new venue now open at the base of an iconic Teneriffe woolstore on Commercial Road, looks to answer that question. Taking guests on a culinary adventure across Asia, Henley’s is serving a menu of gastronomic wonders and a selection of punchy cocktails in a colourful setting inspired by the distinctive director’s whimsical works. Take a peek inside …
“I want to sell what people don’t know,” says Tom D’Arcy, the owner of Teneriffe newest eatery and bar, Henley’s.
The hospitality veteran, who was previously part of the team behind Fortitude Valley venues Mr. Vain and Dirty Sultan, has struck out on his own with the Commercial Road nosh spot, which has been luring in a healthy mix of foodies and film nuts from the jump.
Here, Tom is funnelling his love of the offbeat into Henley’s, which he describes as equal parts kitchen and cocktail haunt. Tom has woven threads of two of his major passions into the very fabric of the concept – the sights and sounds of his own travels across Asia, and the works of one of his favourite auteurs, Wes Anderson. At its core, Henley’s is an evocation of Wes’ storytelling in venue form – something Tom says is more of a “tribute and fan addition to the world of Wes Anderson.”
“Most of my travelling has always been around Asia,” says Tom. “So what I’m creating is that experience, but in more of a cinematic package.”
After signing the lease on the Teneriffe space – an empty shell at the base of the Willoughby & Co. Woolstores – Tom used his imagination to come up with a tale that would sit at the heart of the project. Inspired by the travels of its fictional namesake Arthur Henley, Henley’s charts the intrepid gastronome’s travels across Asia via a menu filled with unique street-food items from Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines and Thailand.
The venue’s modern-industrial bones could have easily lent itself to a speakeasy vibe, but that was the opposite of what Tom wanted. Instead, he turned to Wes Anderson’s filmography, honing in on an interior aesthetic that paid homage to the director’s detail-oriented eye and colour-soaked sets.
“What makes his world of cinema unique is its beautiful design – the perfectly imperfect symmetry,” says Tom. “The reason that he can capture those shots is because he builds what’s in the scene. I saw an opportunity here to achieve that. I’m not trying to take a Wes-style photo – I’m making a Wes-style set.”
Henley’s is a feast for the eyes. Upon entry, guests are greeted by the bar, which is backed by a shelf display housing booze bottles, plants, bric-a-brac and some easter eggs for fans of Wes’ wacky cast of characters. To the left of the entrance sits a formal dining space and the kitchen, while the right is a more casual area with high tops and window stools.
The entire venue boasts a vivid colour scheme of lemon yellow, mint green and tangerine orange, which is offset by timber fixtures and furnishings. The walls are adorned in framed photos of landmarks captured in signature Wes Anderson style, while a couch is artfully positioned next to a rotary phone, which we encourage Wes-savvy guests to put to their ear.
On the food front, Tom has worked with Henley’s head chef, Korean-born Junwoo Park, to fashion a menu informed by a variety of Asian cooking cultures. The resulting offering mixes some familiar dishes with a plethora of unheralded options – either specialties one can only find overseas, or trendy dishes taking off right now.
“The aim is to serve unique street food items from across Asia – either our own creation, or something that you just can’t buy,” says Tom. “Things do lean a little bit Korean right now, but we have tried to inject things from other cultures as much as we can. There are some Japanese, Chinese, Hong Kong and Filipino influences, and we aim to do more and more of that.”
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Guests can start with snacks like fried enoki mushroom with Sriracha mayo and black sesame pork loin with cabbage salad, before moving onto skewers of gochujang chicken and chilli-glazed rice cakes. From there, diners can tuck into bowls of Coca-Cola fried rice and Taiwanese knife-cut noodles with crispy pork belly and bok choy, before finishing off with a serve of mango pandan crepes with Biscoff crumble.
Tom has also crafted a punchy list of cocktails (all named after iconic characters from Wes Anderson films) that go hard on bold flavours, courtesy of some savvy ingredient substitutions.
“Everything is a little bit familiar, but totally weird in some ways,” explains Tom. “Maybe it’s not lime, it’s calamansi; it’s not lychee, it’s rambutan; it’s not lemon, it’s yuzu – things like that.”
Stand-out sips include the Royal (sesame-washed Johnnie Walker Black with acid-adjusted honey, Chinese five-spice bitters and applewood smoke), the Dmitri (Casamigos mezcal, Tarsier khao san gin, Campari, gochujang honey syrup, lime, grapefruit bitters and saline) and the Rhett (Tarsier calamansi citrus gin, Kikuyasaka yuzu liqueur, jackfruit and passionfruit).
These concoctions lead a beverage program that also includes a range of bright and fun wines curated by Cork & Co., and a clutch of tap and packaged beers. Henley’s is serving Vietnamese-style beers, which come with a cylinder of ice to help with dilution, moderation and keeping cool.
All that said, Tom stresses that you don’t need to be a fan of Wes Anderson films to enjoy Henley’s, envisioning the venue as a multipurpose respite for locals seeking something a little bit offbeat.
“It’s not a themed place – if you don’t know Wes Anderson, it doesn’t matter,” says Tom. “It’s part bar, part bistro, part takeaway – aiming to really cater to everyone in this area. Whatever you want it to be, it can be that thing for you. I just want it to be that weird and wonderful place that you want to tell your friends about.”
Henley’s is now open to the public. You can find all the important details over in The Directory.