“Marion is a wine bar” the website states, and sure, it’s most definitely that – a place where the wine comes first, the conversation freely follows and the food is made for sharing.

But it’s also somewhat more – Marion is a wine bar that comes with pure pedigree, the latest Andrew McConnell addition to Gertrude St, joining Cutler & Co next door and The Builders Arms/Moon Under Water down the road.

It’s a wonderfully elegant, casually comfortable space, as welcoming to the single diner popping in for a steak and glass of red as it is to the big group settling around the gold communal table for the night.

It’s informal yet informed, with that wine list a document to drink in, filled with small producers and back vintages and lots to get excited about from around the globe, though they don’t all require serious investment – sub-$10 glasses sit side by side with bottles of vintage Burgundy. It’s as egalitarian as Gertrude St, though gentrifying, still remains.

And, thanks to Cutler&Co sous chef Allan Eccles, there’s lots to get excited about what comes out of the open kitchen, too. Crisp slivers of ox tongue and mortadella that come hidden under a blizzard of fresh horseradish and a drizzle of sweet chutney is a plate of wow; a salad of shredded smoked duck with seared hearts on charred witlof, cornichons and onion likewise. That steak is served simply with café de paris butter, while a roast chook also takes care of those heartier of hunger.

Service from a team led by long-time team member Andrew Joy (who ushered Cumulus Up into the world and our hearts) is as effortlessly efficient and approachably knowledgeable as you’d expect from a McConnell venue. Hefty cutlery, real napkins and garlicy warm flatbread served with a dollop of fromage blanc seal the attention-to-detail deal.

Marion is a wine bar, sure, and it’s hand’s down already one of our very best.

Tel: (03) 9419 6262

Social feed