Inside The Lex's 'A Poisoned Court' — Where Hamlet Meets Six Courses of Venison, Wagyu and Poison Apples

On Saturday 1 August, The Lex at W Brisbane will host 'A Poisoned Court' — a six-course, beverage-paired dinner featuring Queensland Ballet dancers performing Pas de Deux vignettes from Hamlet inside the restaurant, with insights from the company's new Artistic Director, Ivan Gil-Ortega. It's the first collaboration between the hotel and the ballet company, born from Brisbane Quarter's sponsorship of Queensland Ballet, and it runs for one night only.

Executive Chef John Kennedy sat down with The Urbanite ahead of the event to talk about the menu, his background, and what happens when Shakespeare walks into your dining room.

From Ireland to Brisbane

John is originally from Ireland. He trained in London and Dublin through the 1990s — a period he describes as transformative for European gastronomy — and completed a stage at one of Marco Pierre White's Michelin-starred London restaurants. "He probably doesn't remember me," John says, "but I certainly remember him. He's very definite in what he wants. It was character building."

He came to Australia in 2015, worked on Hayman Island, relocated to Western Australia after a cyclone, and eventually landed at QALIA in the Whitsundays, where collaborations with chefs like Peter Gilmore, Guillaume Brahimi and Annelies Gregory became part of the annual Race Week calendar. Now, as Executive Chef at The Lex, he brings the same philosophy: produce-driven, seasonal, and unapologetically local. "Ninety per cent of the ingredients we use in the restaurant is Australian, if not from Queensland," he says. "Our beef comes from Queensland. It's two hours away."

Produce First

That philosophy runs through every dish on the 'Poisoned Court' menu. On arrival, guests are greeted with Albany rock oysters served with a champagne and caviar mignonette, alongside sourdough with whipped black butter and fermented garlic — a quiet, elegant opening before the drama begins.

The first course sets the Hamlet-inspired tone: smoked venison with pickled blueberries, walnuts, and red wine jam. John had hinted at this dish in our conversation — the richness of the venison, the bittersweet blueberries, the depth from the Cabernet Sauvignon confiture. "That's just a snack," he'd said. On the menu, it's the opening statement.

From there, torched scallops with blood orange, salmon caviar and seaweed butter give way to coral trout with saffron emulsion and grilled shallot — John's nod to local provenance, Queensland seafood treated with classical restraint. The fourth course arrives as the evening's centrepiece: blood line wagyu with wagyu fat mash and black truffle. True to John's philosophy of using every part of the animal, nothing here is incidental.

And then, the dessert: a 'poisoned apple' with cinnamon and earl grey flavours. It looks like an apple. It isn't. It's the evening's signature flourish — a direct reference to the poison at the heart of Hamlet's court, plated.

Performance and Insight

Between courses, the restaurant becomes a stage. Two dancers from Queensland Ballet will perform Pas de Deux vignettes as Hamlet and Ophelia — the lovers at the centre of Shakespeare's tragedy — moving through The Lex's wooden floor, the centrepiece of the room, while guests dine. It's an intimate setting for a ballet company that usually performs in the Thomas Dixon Centre, and the proximity is part of the design.

Adding to the evening's depth, Queensland Ballet's new Artistic Director Ivan Gil-Ortega will share insights into the production and his vision for the company. Spanish-born and a former Principal Dancer himself, Gil-Ortega was appointed as Queensland Ballet's seventh Artistic Director in early 2025. The 2026 season — his inaugural program — has been described as a bold new era for the company. His presence at the dinner gives guests a rare opportunity to hear directly from the person shaping Queensland Ballet's future.

The Chef Series

'A Poisoned Court' is the latest instalment of The Lex's Chef Series, which has previously included a Perrier-Jouët champagne pairing dinner and a truffle tasting menu timed to the season. Each event starts with an ingredient or a theme, and the menu is built outward from there. "We do these things not because they are easy," John says, "but because they are hard. They challenge us, they make us grow, they make us better."

The setting nods to the vibrancy of New York (The Lex takes its name from Lexington Avenue, home of the first W Hotel), but the produce is unmistakably Queensland.

One Night Only

For John, the collaboration with Queensland Ballet is a new relationship, born from the hotel's sponsorship. "Why not do some sort of a collaboration?" he says, with the straightforwardness of someone who's spent thirty years making things work in kitchens across three continents. When asked what patrons should expect, he's characteristically direct: "It's going to be epic. It's going to be memorable. People will be talking about this. They'll be telling other people, 'You should have been there.'"

'A Poisoned Court' — Pas de Deux Dinner with Queensland Ballet Saturday 1 August 2026, 6PM canapés, 7PM seated The Lex at W Brisbane, 81 North Quay, Level 3 $295 per person, six beverage-paired courses Book via Sevenrooms