March

March is the younger sibling to Ides, one of Melbourne’s finest fine diners. Ides is a degustation-only restaurant acclaimed for its innovative, intriguing dishes – perhaps none more so than the famous Black Box dessert. And it’s known to overflow with guests. So, in 2022, owner-chef Peter Gunn (ex-Attica) took over the neighbouring property to open the moody, mostly black-walled 18-seat wine bar March.

The menus at Ides and March are markedly different. Here, Gunn embraces a less buttoned-up style of cooking – and gives you the chance to try his food if Ides’s set menu is outside your price range. Larger dishes might include a whole quail tossed in sweet-and-sour sauce and coriander oil. But most of the offering leans light. Pippies might be steamed in sake and served with yuzu-parsley butter. And green-chilli pickled mussels, once a feature at Ides, are served here in their simpler form, sans stuffing and deep-frying.

The pièce de résistance is the ritzy marble bar which, for both aesthetic and noise-control purposes, is lined in the same boldly printed carpet that covers the floors. Spirits serve as a best-of list featuring Barbadian rum, Mexican tequila, Osakan sake and Tasmanian whisky, just to name a few. The far more sizable, mostly Australian wine selection is stored in a custom-made cellar at the rear of the bar, with a private dining room just behind it.