The Potentia Solutions Leisure team has always had an eye for locations. From two exceptional rooftop spaces to a prime piece of real estate on Brisbane’s most famous street, the hospitality crew has always been ambitious when it comes to expansion. Well, this August, the group’s biggest and boldest move yet will be unveiled as part of The City’s most anticipated new development, Queen’s Wharf.
Azteca, the group’s new 126-seater restaurant, will open within The Star Brisbane’s entertainment hub, joining the likes of Black Hide Steak & Seafood by Gambaro and Cucina Regina as residents of The Terrace – the resort’s retail and restaurant nexus that will connect directly to South Bank’s cultural forecourt via the Neville Bonner Bridge. The Potentia crew will be pulling out all the stops for Azteca’s fit-out, which will boast full-length water features built into the restaurant’s walls, opulent fabrics and mosaic tiling, custom ceramics, loads of live greenery, custom-made brass tables, semi-private circular pods with cushy sofa chairs, and a 14-seat private-dining room hidden behind an Aztec-inspired wooden door.
“We wanted to create an Aztec oasis away from everything, but still be smack-bang in the heart of the property with beautiful views across the water,” says Potentia Solutions Leisure CEO Ross Ledingham. “There will be beautiful waterfalls with the sounds of trickling water behind you, whilst you’ve got the music, the food, the service and the hundred-odd wines that we’re putting on the menu.
“Rather than be a traditional restaurant, [Azteca] has more of a lounge-style seat format,” Ross adds. “So we’ve got the large half-circle booths and we’ve got big hugging sofa chairs in order to give that more sort Hakkasan and Nobu-style lounge-dining experience.
Overseeing Azteca’s kitchen will be Zac Sykes – a top-notch talent whose resume includes stints at the helm of Libertine, The Boom Boom Room, Coogee Pavilion and North Bondi Fish. Zac’s menu will be inspired by the flavours of Latin America and infused with hints of Asian cuisines. The menu will be bolstered by a beverage list featuring cocktails made using Latin American spirits, also given a flavoursome punch by the addition of Asian spices. Azteca will add to The Star Brisbane’s dynamic food offering, drawing in travellers and locals with fare that is still under-represented in Brisbane’s dining scene.
“We’ve already got Carmen offering a Mexican element and we’ve got Soko being that Peruvian-meets-Japanese step – this was the next evolution,” says Ross of the choice to hone in on Latin America for Azteca’s menu. “We straight away went to Latin American, which puts us in a very different box in the property as a whole, because it offers something very different to the Japanese, Italian and whatever else.”
Azteca will open to the public as part of The Star Brisbane and Queen’s Wharf’s staged opening, which will commence in August. Bookings will launch closer to the opening date – keep your eyes peeled for more info.
