Larry’s Charcoal Chicken opens tomorrow on Roberts Road in Subiaco, underneath the Subiaco One building. It’s the newest venue from Sesh Mafia, the group behind the likes of Shui, Papi Katsu, Lupe’s, and Roma Robby’s. Larry’s is serving up Mediterranean and Middle Eastern-inspired food cooked over charcoal, with some pretty, pretty, pretty good chicken at the centre of it.
The name is a nod to Larry David. More specifically, it’s a nod to Palestinian Chicken, the Curb Your Enthusiasm episode where David becomes so taken with a charcoal chicken shop that it starts to crowd out almost everything, and everyone, else in his life. It’s widely regarded as one of the show’s best, and it’s David’s own favourite.
Sesh Mafia co-founder Ben Tua took the obsession further than most fans. In August 2023, he travelled to Palestine to find charcoal chicken good enough to understand the hype.
“I went all the way to Palestine looking for charcoal chicken, so I guess you could say the obsession got pretty serious,” Tua said. “Larry David had me convinced it was worth travelling for. He wasn’t wrong.”
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Larry’s has been almost three years in the making, with Tua working alongside Sesh Mafia Director of Flavour Leigh Power, whose resume includes Shui, Papi Katsu, Sweetwater, and Ginger Boy. The idea is a place that works for a quick pita at lunch, a few plates and drinks at the bar, or a full feast with friends.
“Larry’s is fast, fun and super fresh. There’s fire, smoke and plenty of hustle and bustle, with the charcoal chicken obviously the star of the show,” Power said.
Power grew up around Melbourne’s Brunswick and Lygon Street, surrounded by Turkish, Lebanese, Iranian, Vietnamese, and Italian food, and that’s where much of the menu comes from.
“That sense of abundant, homestyle eating is a big part of Larry’s. Food comes to the table fast, you share it, order more as you go and have a good time,” he said.
The signature charcoal chicken leads, with small plates, house-made dips, flatbreads, and salads alongside it. The one we’ve got our eye on is the crispy spiced lamb with pressed apricot, which brings cumin-spiced lamb together with pine nuts, fresh herbs, chilli oil, and jammy apricots. There’s also spiced beef manti, four-cheese sigara börek, charred king prawns, and coal-roasted eggplant, plus set feasts at lunch and dinner for anyone happy to let the kitchen decide.
Nick Vecera runs the venue, with more than 15 years in hospitality across Australia, the UK, and Europe, most recently as bar manager at two-hatted ARIA in Sydney. He’s also worked with the team behind Maybe Sammy as creative director of its bottled cocktail company. At Larry’s, he’s built six signature cocktails from what’s in Power’s kitchen.
“When I started developing the cocktails, I looked at what Leigh was using in the kitchen and built from there,” Vecera said. “Preserved lemon, Aleppo pepper, pomegranate molasses, cardamom, rose water, even the spice blend we use on the fries have made their way behind the bar. We wanted the food and drinks to feel like they belong together.”
The Preserved Lemon Martini is finished with Aleppo pepper-infused olive oil, and Larry’s Margarita uses kumquats from Vecera’s own backyard, with the fry spice on the rim. The Baklava Old Fashioned mixes bourbon, pistachio liqueur, walnut bitters, honey, and orange blossom, so dessert and a nightcap arrive in the same glass. A short, rotating wine list and local beers round it out.
“We want to strike that balance between great service and just having fun,” Vecera said. “It should have that casual neighbourhood feel where you can come in with friends, order a few dishes, share a couple of cocktails and settle in.”
The opening menu won’t stay the same for long, with Power and Head Chef Sufi Jafar planning to bring in new produce, seafood, and proteins as WA’s seasons change. Bookings are open now through Larry’s Charcoal Chicken.
“For me, the best thing is seeing people come back,” Power said. “Food gives me an opportunity to build connections with people, and I’m looking forward to doing that all over again here.”
