Is fine dining dead? It’s a question that’s been circulating for a while. In Margaret River, it’s very much in good health. Down south, long lunches by the vine are most definitely in. But what about dinner? As night falls and those winery brigades have long been lost to the surf and the local tav, what are your options?

The usual suspects in town: Settlers Tavern and its wine list of legend, Miki’s Open Kitchen and its chef of legend (the eponymous Miki), as well as some decent low-key options. For years though there was a missing element. You may say its sacrilege, but we’re talking cocktails.

Yes, yes, I know, this is wine country and it’s all about the vino. Not quite. Winemakers will be the first to offer you a beer, get excited about some back shed scrumpy and crave good old-fashioned hard liquor. Good booze is good booze after all.

Enter a revamped Morries on Margaret River’s main strip. It’s dropped the Morries Anytime moniker, the early morning coffee crowd is out, and sights are set on evenings. Venue tweaks have hardened the café edges to deliver a small bar feel that wouldn’t be out of place in Perth’s inner burbs. Billy Phillips, Morries’ award winning bartender, is allowed to shine.

Far from just carving out a local reputation, Phillips is taking on his brethren up in Perth, a city that’s been punching above its weight on this front for quite a few years. Cocktails are up the front on the bar list, broken down well for a decent dissection of what you’re looking for. Phillips and crew are doing good work. A Portenã Amargo lives up to the promise of bitter and aromatic. Rum, Fernet Branca, mixed bitters and lemon zest all do their jobs well: it’s balanced and expertly done. At $18.50 it’s perhaps at the pricier end, but then proper block ice always sways me. There’s no hiding with bad cocktails, and paying what they’re worth doesn’t sting.

On the wine front, there’s a tight list at play, our server knows exactly what’s good with the menu, but as soon as she’s told us the wine special, a Fiano from Juniper Estate, we’re on it. In her words, “too easy”.  Service in these parts can be disjointed, dependent on a transient backpacking turnover. A genuine “how was your day” as you walk in, rather than the hurried hand and a waitress who knows here way around the menu, puts Morries out front.

And the food? Journeyman Tony Howell is at the helm and although he’s executive chef across three venues (along with The Common and White Elephant Café, both at Gnarabup) he’s on the pans at Morries. It shows. Known to most for his long tenure at Cape Lodge he seemed to have jumped the fine dining ship when he took on his new laid back coastal brief. He’s definitely retained some of his finer roots. Added precision is evident from pre-Howell visits, on a main of lamb and seasonal veg and the market fish, Asian style. Popular tapas sharers are retained with the master stock pork belly a  go-to. Phew. Deep fried globe artichoke, with capers, a special that was surely flying off the pass.

Lunch lives on, but all hail late nights.