The Frog Club, the first new restaurant in a decade from Gilson’s James McBride, has opened in the former Morris Jones site in Windsor with a menu built around wood-grilled steaks, lavish seafood, old-school cocktails and the kind of late-night energy that encourages you to order one more Martini.
Developed by McBride and business partner Marc Gurman over 18 months, the restaurant is open seven days a week, serving its full menu until midnight. “It’s somewhere you can settle in,” McBride says. “Come before dinner, after dinner, make a night of it.”
An old-world brasserie with a party atmosphere
The interiors set the tone before the first drink arrives. Designed by Nathan Ruttner, the space moves across three connected dining rooms, pairing the building’s heritage character with warm ochre walls, dark timber panelling, glossy surfaces, intricate tiling and an eclectic collection of art and objects.
It’s dressed-up without being too precious, clearly a place designed as much for a late drink at the bar as it is for a long dinner.
Resident music director Prequel has curated a soundtrack spanning jazz, soul, boogie, disco and funk, alongside African and Brazilian rhythms. The sound runs through a Swiss-made Varia Instruments rotary mixer, making its first appearance in the Southern Hemisphere.
“I want people to feel something the second they walk in,” McBride says. “The lights are low, the music is right, the room has energy and you immediately want to stay longer than you planned. Dinner is only half the story here.”
Steak, seafood & lots more
In the kitchen, Fernandez draws on a career spent in some of Australia’s most acclaimed restaurants, including Victor Churchill and Neil Perry’s restaurant group. His menu embraces the grand traditions of brasserie and steakhouse dining, with a custom wood grill at its centre.
There are Sydney Rock oysters served natural, Rockefeller or with merguez sausage; caviar with traditional accompaniments; prawn cocktail with Mary Rose sauce; chicken liver parfait; salmon gravlax; beef tartare with potato crisps and hollandaise; and a signature caviar tart.
A $280 plateau de fruits de mer arrives piled with shellfish and chilled seafood over ice, while steaks run from a 280-gram Black Opal Wagyu hanger to an 800-gram striploin on the bone. At the top end, a one-kilogram Chauvel Wagyu côte de boeuf comes in at $380.
The wood grill gives the seafood the same smoky treatment. Half a lobster comes with sauce américaine and fries in the lobster frites, while the whole fish of the day can arrive with lemon beurre blanc, gribiche, meunière or green sauce.
If you’re passing by and in a rush, just drop in for a $7 Comté gougère filled with Wagyu bresaola, an anchovy toast with fresh curd, a clam and fontina empanada or the four-point veal sandwich with tuna mayonnaise and pickles, along with a $32 cheeseburger.
The Frog Club is at 163 Chapel Street, Windsor, and is open from 5pm until late, seven days a week.
