Along the edge of Port Phillip Bay, where St Kilda's Stokehouse has stood for 36 years as a marker of Melbourne's relationship with the sea and the table, chef Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann have assumed stewardship of the beloved institution. Rather than erasing what came before, they are layering new meaning onto old bones — refreshing the upstairs restaurant with a seafood-forward menu while giving the ground floor an entirely new identity as Marea Beach House and Bar, a casual European beach club where summer is the philosophy. The transformation, unfolding across late October and early No
McConnell transforms St Kilda's Stokehouse with beachside Marea and refreshed upstairs dining
The place where sand on your feet is welcome
Mark
So McConnell's taking over a place that's been there for 36 years. That's a big responsibility. What's he actually keeping from the old Stokehouse?
Mimi
The bones of it. The view, the wine list, the sense that hospitality matters. He's not erasing what made it work—he's refreshing it. New menu, lighter design touch upstairs, but the DNA stays.
Luke
But we should be clear: the old owners, Frank and Sharon van Haandel, they're out. This isn't a collaboration or a handoff. It's a takeover. The institution changes hands entirely.
Mark
And downstairs becomes something completely new?
Mimi
Completely. Marea is a beach bar and casual restaurant. Sandy feet welcome. Spritzes, tostadas, live music in summer. It's the relaxed European seaside vibe—nothing like the polished upstairs dining room.
Luke
The design work is being done by Acme, and they're bringing in the same artist who did Cote Basque. So there's a visual language being imposed here. It's not organic evolution; it's a deliberate aesthetic choice.
Mark
When do people actually get to see this?
Mimi
Marea opens October 26. Stokehouse upstairs reopens November 3. Then there's a summer pop-up gelato and cocktail bar at the kiosk starting the first day of summer.
Luke
Three separate openings across three months. That's a phased rollout, which makes sense logistically, but it also means the full vision doesn't land all at once. People will experience these as separate things before they see them as one precinct.
O Pulso
- A 36-year-old St Kilda landmark changes hands, carrying the weight of decades of memory and the pressure of one of Melbourne's most scrutinised dining audiences.
- McConnell and McGann resist the urge to demolish and rebuild, instead threading new ideas through existing structures — a riskier, more respectful kind of ambition.
- Downstairs, Marea arrives first on October 26 as the bolder statement: sandy feet welcome, no reservations required, spritzes and raw tuna tostadas channelling the informal beach clubs of southern Europe.
- Upstairs, Stokehouse reopens November 3 with its iconic bay views and wine list intact, now anchored by a seasonal seafood menu of King George whiting, spaghetti vongole, and whole grilled lobster.
- A summer gelato and cocktail pop-up called Ultramarinos, launching on the first day of summer from the kiosk in partnership with Pidapipo, completes a three-tiered precinct designed to hold the whole arc of a day by the sea.
Along the edge of Port Phillip Bay, where St Kilda's Stokehouse has stood for 36 years as a marker of Melbourne's relationship with the sea and the table, chef Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann have assumed stewardship of the beloved institution. Rather than erasing what came before, they are layering new meaning onto old bones — refreshing the upstairs restaurant with a seafood-forward menu while giving the ground floor an entirely new identity as Marea Beach House and Bar, a casual European beach club where summer is the philosophy. The transformation, unfolding across late October and early November, asks what it means to honor a place while also daring to reimagine it.
When Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann announced in late July that they were taking over Stokehouse — the 36-year-old St Kilda institution long held by Frank and Sharon van Haandel — the question was not whether they would change it, but how much. The answer, now revealed, is characteristically considered: enough to make it theirs, not so much as to lose what made it matter.
Upstairs, the existing restaurant is being refreshed rather than reinvented. The view over the bay remains. The celebrated wine list stays. What changes is the menu, which McConnell has built around the things he loves to eat beside the sea — King George whiting with hand-cut chips, crab salad, spaghetti vongole, whole grilled lobster with tarragon butter, and dry-aged Gippsland rib-eye. A light design touch respects the room's existing character. This version opens November 3.
The more dramatic transformation is downstairs, where Marea Beach House and Bar — its name meaning 'tide' in both Italian and Spanish — opens October 26. Casual, unreserved, and deliberately informal, Marea draws from the beach clubs and seaside diners of southern Europe. Sandy feet are welcome. Spritzes, fritto misto, and raw tuna tostadas set the register. The interiors carry the fingerprints of Sydney design studio Acme, with Mallorca-based artist Magnus Reid contributing hand-carved sculptures and a centrepiece mural.
McConnell frames the upstairs work as stewardship rather than reinvention — a commitment to great seasonal food, genuine hospitality, and that irreplaceable view. Completing the precinct is Ultramarinos, a summer gelato and cocktail pop-up at the kiosk, run in partnership with Pidapipo and launching on the first day of summer. Bookings for both restaurants are already open.
In late July, chef Andrew McConnell and Jo McGann announced they were taking over Stokehouse, the 36-year-old St Kilda institution that Frank and Sharon van Haandel had owned for decades. Today they revealed what that means: a complete reimagining of the two-story dining precinct, which now sits within the Trader House stable alongside Cote Basque, Gimlet, and Supernormal.
Upstairs, the existing Stokehouse restaurant is being refreshed rather than razed. McConnell and McGann are keeping what made the place work—the view, the wine list, the bones of genuine hospitality—while introducing a new menu built around seafood. King George whiting with hand-cut chips will sit alongside crab salad and spaghetti vongole. Whole grilled lobster with tarragon butter and dry-aged Gippsland rib-eye will anchor the classics. The dining room itself gets a light touch, a design refresh that respects what was already there. This version opens November 3.
Downstairs is where the real transformation happens. A new restaurant called Marea Beach House and Bar—the name means "tide" in both Italian and Spanish—opens October 26 as something altogether different. This is the casual sibling, the place where sand on your feet is welcome, where you can walk in without a reservation and order a spritz or an icy pint alongside raw tuna tostadas and fritto misto. The aesthetic draws from the informal seaside diners and beach clubs of southern Europe, a deliberate nod to the kind of place where summer feels like the whole point.
The interiors downstairs carry the fingerprints of Acme, the Sydney design studio behind Cote Basque, Apollo Inn, and Gimlet. Magnus Reid, the Mallorca-based artist whose hand-painted mural anchors the bar at Cote Basque, has been commissioned again. This time he's creating hand-carved sculptures alongside a centrepiece mural, something that will anchor the new space visually and give it weight.
McConnell describes the upstairs refresh as an act of stewardship. "It has never been just about the room," he says in a statement. "It is about great seasonal food, one of the best wine lists in the city, genuine hospitality, and that view." The menu, he adds, is simply "an extensive list of all the things I love to eat while relaxing by the seaside—a glass of crisp wine in hand." It's a philosophy that treats the restaurant not as a problem to solve but as a place to honor and enliven.
Rounding out the revamped precinct is Ultramarinos Gelato and Cocktail Bar, a summer pop-up running from the Stokehouse kiosk in partnership with Pidapipo. Granita and cocktails will be the draw, a third layer of casual seaside eating that extends the venue's reach into the warmer months.
Marea opens October 26. Stokehouse reopens November 3. Ultramarinos launches on the first day of summer. Bookings for both restaurants are already open.
Citações Notáveis
It has never been just about the room. It is about great seasonal food, one of the best wine lists in the city, genuine hospitality, and that view.— Andrew McConnell
The menu is simply an extensive list of all the things I love to eat while relaxing by the seaside—a glass of crisp wine in hand.— Andrew McConnell
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Leia o original em Broadsheet ↗
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