Andrew McConnell to open Marion Wine Bar in Fitzroy

Andrew McConnell has been talking about opening a bar next to Cutler & Co for years. Back in 2012 it was going to be called Economic Industries after the factory that used to live in the space. But life and half a dozen other projects got in the way.

In that time, McConnell has opened the Builders Arms, Moon Under Water, Luxembourg (previously Golden Fields) and Supernormal, which had its trial run in the space as Supernormal Canteen in 2013.

And now, within the space of two weeks, he's opened Meatsmith, his specialist butcher on Smith Street, closely followed by the long-awaited bar, dubbed Marion, on October 23.

It's promising to be an innately McConnell venture. IF architects have done over the space in glass, leather and wood.

There's a curving bar built for drink-and-snack dining and a small open kitchen where you can watch Cutler & Co sous chef Allan Eccles and team plating the kind of bite-size-to-big food all McConnell's venues are known for.

It will be a menu-free offering changing daily, but expect charcuterie (now from their own butcher), and bigger shared dishes like bay scallops and lobster ketchup; corned veal with anchovy sauce and roast artichoke, and vanilla bean curd tart, with rhubarb and rose sorbet. Brunch will be served from 8am at weekends – maybe omelettes with asparagus, tarragon and house-made ricotta, or zucchini flowers with goat's curd on toast.

Longtime sommelier Liam O'Brien has built the list, which they're promising will be the most comprehensive in the area. They will offer 15 by-the-glass options – some easy-access stuff bolstered by a few new-school magnums and old-world vintages, to be opened and pushed each night. You'll also have access to everything in Cutler's significant cellar, and pending licensing, you'll be able to buy bottles at retail prices to take home.

On the floor will be another McConnell veteran, Andrew Joy, who has been with McConnell since the days of Three, One, Two (now the Town Mouse) on Drummond Street.

Marion Wine Bar will open October 23 at 51-53 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy.