Shane Delia starts an exciting new chapter with Middle Eastern-inspired restaurant Layla
This week, superstar chef Shane Delia will officially open his first Queensland restaurant Layla to the public. The subterranean stunner, located at the Thomas Dixon Centre in West End, sees the acclaimed restaurateur delivering a brand-new take on Middle Eastern cuisine, incorporating the flavours of the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia across a menu bursting with flavour. Early reports indicate that Layla may be one of the best new openings of the year – read on to find out why …
When we connect with Shane Delia days before the grand opening of Delia Group’s brand-new restaurant Layla, he’s refreshingly honest about his hopes for the dining destination – his first in Queensland.
“I wanted to make a splash when we came here,” Shane admits.
For someone with Shane’s culinary pedigree, his arrival in Brisbane was bound to cause more than just a few ripples of excitement. But the chef and restaurateur – who operates a string of highly praised concepts in Melbourne, including Middle Eastern fine-diner Maha, its wine-focussed offshoots Maha North and Maha East, and opulent cocktail bar Jayda – isn’t interested in doing more of what he’s already done. With his first foray into the Sunshine State, he’s taking the opportunity to challenge himself.
“I want to be inspired,” Shane tells us. “I’ve been doing a lot of things over the last 17 years. I want to be in different environments, I want to cook with different ingredients, I want to talk to different people and have different conversations.”
Layla, which officially opens on Friday March 28 at West End’s Thomas Dixon Centre (home of Queensland Ballet), sees Shane doing all of the above. The 90-seat venue is housed within a heritage-listed section of the precinct, accessed via Raven Street or internally by a spiral staircase or lift from the ground floor. It’s a truly special space – a history-laden bunker-like room boasting exposed-brick walls that date back to 1908.
“I went down there to have a look and I was captivated,” says Shane, “Straight away I thought we could really produce something one-of-a-kind here.”
Alongside Melbourne-based architecture firm Studio Y, Delia Group has leaned into the venue’s character elements, making the walls (and the graffiti that coats them) a key part of Layla’s interior aesthetic. These existing bones are accented by blue velvet upholstery, walnut timber, blue terrazzo floors and brass fixtures, while an open-air courtyard terrace features a softer palette of beige umbrellas, stone-topped tables and lush greenery.
“I wanted a dining room that respects the DNA of the building and doesn’t play it down – if anything, we want to talk it up and really own it,” explains Shane. “I wanted a luxurious and plush dining room that sets a stage of excellence, but doesn’t compete with the food. And I wanted a juxtaposition between formality and informality, because I think that’s where the most excitement and fun can be had.”
Much like its Delia Group siblings, Layla’s menu is built upon a foundation of Middle Eastern cuisine. That said, the offering (overseen by head chef Simon Palmer, formerly of Urbane, Gerard’s and e’cco Bistro) is also imbued with a raft of international influences inspired by the evolution of the spice trade – the cross-pollination of flavours and ingredients between the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.
“Whether you’re looking at Southern Indian food or Sri Lankan food or Malaysian food, there’s an intersection of spice there that really works well with the Middle Eastern overlay,” explains Shane.
“Everything I do is always going to have a Middle Eastern influence – it’s just within my DNA as a cook and it’s how I cook. In saying that, we thought it was time to be a bit more youthful and ambitious, being more brave with our flavours and introducing new and exciting ingredients into our cooking that can help change the way people perceive [Middle Eastern cuisine].”
These ingredients can be spotted all across Layla’s share-style menu, starting with snacks like Hervey Bay half-shell scallops with carrot hummus, Persian lime and toasted-coconut sambal, and Moorish brisket borek buns with sticky turmeric and chilli jam.
Stand-out small plates include salmon kibbeh neya with burghul, mint and sweet onion and aleppo sambal, pistachio-crusted Brisbane Valley quail with fiery tahini tarator, and Arak-cured kingfish with cranberry hibiscus and pickled Turkish chilli leche de tigre.
Larger plates include the Habibbi butter chicken with ras el hanout butter chicken gravy, coal-grilled swordfish T-bone with burnt orange and saffron, and eight-hour slow-roasted lamb shoulder with smoked eggplant, pine nuts and roast lemon and za’atar sauce.
Sommelier Darcy Curnow has curated Layla’s 150-bottle wine list with Brisbane’s subtropical climate in mind, including an abundance of crisp whites, thirst-quenching rosés, textural amber drops and lighter-bodied reds from local and international winemakers – including small-batch labels and sustainable growers. The venue’s cocktail list is produce driven and takes cues from the kitchen, and while the bulk of the menu features new concoctions, Maha’s famous pomegranate sour has made the move north.
Shane Delia’s Brisbane move is the latest in a string of Queensland forays by high-profile interstate figures, including Andrew McConnell, Danny Chirico and Adrian Richardson. But rather than try and shape Brisbane’s dining scene to suit him, Shane is eager to find a niche within the city’s dining landscape and immerse himself in the broader community, which he says has been nothing but enthusiastic about his arrival.
“We’ve been unbelievably welcomed,” Shane says. “I’ve never in my life been to a city where people are so excited. We went around the city for a bit and people just came up and told us how excited they are that we’re here. It brings a tear to your eye, it’s amazing.”
“There seems to be a sense of unity, which is what I’m all about.”
Laya will officially open to the public on Friday March 28 – for operating hours, menu info and booking details, head to The Directory.