Quiet luxury. Loud flavour.
Le Grand Restaurant Russell is a dining room for four, run by Danni Luo and Bill Song from their home in Brisbane.
The cooking starts from Chinese technique: Cantonese for clarity and restraint, Sichuan for depth, fragrance and controlled heat. From there it moves into modern Asian cooking that still tastes like food, not a concept.
There is no fixed service. Dinner happens when the chef is inspired, the manager approves and the cats have been fed.
House rules
- Cooked today
- Everything is cooked the day it's served. Leftovers are a privilege, not a right.
- No added MSG
- The chef insists the umami is natural. The manager has seen the pantry.
- Local, less plastic
- Produce comes from the market. Takeaway containers go home with you, and we would like them back.
The brigade
-
Bill Song
Executive Chef
Holder of the Golden Wok for Modern Chinese Excellence, an award he also designed. Builds each menu around whatever looked best at the market, and runs the kitchen with the calm of a man who has already eaten.
-
Xiao Li
Sous Chef
Present for every service. Supervises the protein closely, personally and without being asked. Has never once washed up.
-
Danni Luo
Restaurant Manager
Runs the waitlist, the guest list and the chef. Remembers every allergy, every birthday and every time you were late. The restaurant exists because she said yes to it.
-
Shi Wang
Bartender
Quiet, charming and a little dangerous. Does not shake cocktails, but will watch you shake yours. Tips accepted in treats.