Joining the long list of successful Kiwis we like to claim as our own, Christian McCabe and Dave Verheul have opened a sister space to the acclaimed Town Mouse in Carlton, and created a serious contender to Cumulus Up’s crown as the CBD’s best wine bar in the process.

They’ve stoked the wood oven, and filled the fridges, turning a formidable two-storey venue into Embla, a moodily rustic chic space, all exposed beam and brick, black leather booths, tall tables and stained timber bar.

A two-part project, downstairs is where you’ll find McCabe leading a team who’ll be filling your glass with the wonderfully weird, the esoteric and exotic. A keen eye on the organic and biodynamic thankfully doesn’t descend into dogma – this is a list created with passion and a good palate with delicious drops at every turn.

A Spanish cava or crisp French rose for instance sit as happily next to an up-and-coming Mornington pinot as a chewy Georgian blend or New York chardonnay. Bound by neither geography nor grape, there’s lots to get the interested excited and lighten their wallets – this is quality over quantity priced accordingly – but if you just want to drink-not-think there’s plenty that ticks that box, too, with the team happy to talk you into something new. Though wines by the glass aren’t poured at the table – which seems remiss for such an offering; labels are important, after all – service is otherwise sharp and engaging.

Though a bar first and foremost, Verhuel’s wine-friendly, graze-or-gorge menu is filled with punch-above-weight hits. The wood oven and grill is an obvious highlight, where such dishes as a gloriously golden roast chook or broccoli roasted to a late summer’s tan served with an umami-rich sunflower seed miso come flying fast. It’s simple and delicious, done well.

Housemade herbed ricotta whipped light proves an elegant bed on which perfectly seasoned season’s best tomatoes lie, while a quenelle of albacore tuna rillettes sprinkled with diced celery and green chilli is deftly, downright, delicious.

Local calamari strands cooked over coals are all slippery supple softness, a buttermilk sauce and toasted seeds adding bite and crunch, the sour of the sauce and a polite fishiness from bottarga atop compete a plate most perfect. But you could happily just pop in for some ever-changing cheese and charcuterie and be equally impressed.

A more fully formed restaurant and wine cellar is planned for upstairs later in the year, but for now,  this great little space is where you’ll find good wine on the pour and some excellent food coming out of the kitchen. Sit back, relax, and order another.

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