Rory Doyle, Founder, Red Robin Supper Club
The only way to make things easier is to work harder ...
While during the day you can find him working as the head chef at Pawpaw cafe in Woolloongabba, Rory Doyle has been squirreling away at a different kind of meal sitting in his spare time. Started while Rory was completing his apprenticeship at Moray Cafe in New Farm, The Red Robin Supper Club is a series of pop-up dinners or food events, which bring people together to try push the limits of their usual palate. The boundaries of each event are dependent on the space and equipment available, adapting from a multiple-course degustation to simple burgers done well at Southside Tea Room. Rotating between venues with the aim to always seek out new host spaces, The Red Robin Supper Club offers a province in which to execute left-of-centre food ideas that you couldn’t normally get away with in someone else’s kitchen. Because of the sporadic rarity of each supperclub, the events have built up a cult following, with tickets selling out in minutes or Rory leaving the invite open, happy to keep feeding the crowds until the last man goes home. The next event is expected to be a brunch affair in collaboration with some local producers in April, with details set to grace the Facebook page soon. The Weekend Edition caught up with Rory to chat weekend essentials.
How do you like to start your weekend?
Alone in the kitchen at work setting the place up with no distractions, no customers (yet) and any of either Boomgates, The Quickening or Japandroids playing very loudly.
What’s your favourite thing to do on a Saturday morning?
If I ever get a Saturday off, I love to sleep a little later than usual. Or I’ll go for an early breakfast somewhere like Pearl or The Moray Cafe and then head over to Rocklea Markets to pick up some fruit and vegetables.
How do you like to unwind?
I love to sit out on the back deck with my wife and have a few beers while listening to American classic-rock radio stations.
What are your essentials for a well-spent weekend?
Great meals with friends and family, traditional Southeast Queensland passport shredder weather and a Sunday afternoon kick of the football at New Farm Park with mates.
What’s something you’ve been meaning to do on the weekend but haven’t got around to yet?
I’d love to head down the coast to check out some of the new restaurants and bars like The Cambus Wallace and Pigs and Pints.
What’s your favourite thing to do on a Sunday evening?
After a long day of Sunday breakfast service at Pawpaw, I love to get some seafood from Swampdog and relax at home.
What are you looking forward to next weekend?
I’m moving house, so drinking a six pack and eating pizza whilst sitting on the floor, surrounded by boxes after a long day.
What are you reading at the moment?
I’ve just finished Incognito by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips and I’m about to start Ideas in Food by Aki Kamozawa.
What inspires you?
The hospitality industry in Brisbane is going crazy at the moment and there are so many new places and new ideas popping up every day. I’m definitely being inspired and driven by all this growth.
What was your childhood dream?
My childhood dream was to be a farmer with a big family and heaps of animals.
What has been your greatest achievement?
I scored a hat-trick and saved a penalty in a Futsal game last week, which will almost certainly never happen again. But professionally, getting Red Robin Supper Club started and seeing it expand has been the highlight (so far).
What is success to you?
Being able to earn a living whilst doing work you genuinely enjoy and being mentioned in the same breath as your professional idols.
What are your words of wisdom?
The only way to make things easier is to work harder.
Only a local would know … Wooloongabba/East Brisbane is the next big thing.
FAVOURITE WEEKEND SPOT TO:
Perk up … Cup Coffee, West End.
Relax … New Farm Park.
Dine … The Crosstown Eating House, Woolloongabba.
Indulge … a few American IPAs at Tippler’s Tap, Newstead.
Shop … Comics Etc, Brisbane City.
Catch-up … Southside Tea Room, Morningside.
Be inspired … Kangaroo Point Cliffs at sunrise/sunset.
