Farewell to a beloved friend

Twenty-one years is a long run for a restaurant. But when Walter's Wine Bar closes at the end of this month, it will not be an ending, or even the beginning of a new venture. It looks more like a sensible business decision since Maria Bourke, her daughter Philippa and son-in-law Dane Shaw, took over the Royal Hotel in Mornington last September.

Since then, they have been running both enterprises. It's been a challenge. ''If there's a quiet moment, you take a deep breath,'' Maria says.

The decision to leave Southgate was made several months ago, when they were renegotiating their lease, when rates increased, and when they took over the historic hotel on the peninsula.

The Royal had a long-standing sentimental attraction for Maria. ''Years ago, when [husband] Walter and I were thinking of a new location [from the original small restaurant in Carlton], we looked a lot … it was the only pub we ever looked at, '' she says.

But instead, at that time, they made the decision to open at Southgate, and were among the first occupants in 1992. It was seen as a risky venture, and she remembers they were advised against opening in the new development, which was, as she says, ''in the area Melbourne had turned its back on''. But in its first year, she remembers that Southgate was buzzing. ''It was the destination, it was an exciting place to go.''

That could be said of Walter's Wine Bar. In 2013, when the south bank of the Yarra is so developed, it is hard to visualise the excitement surrounding the newness of that wonderful curved bar, and the view over the river to Flinders Street Station, and its fine proportions, that could be appreciated from the vantage point.

The two maligned landmarks of Melbourne had become glamorous. And because Walter's had a wine-bar licence (it came through on opening day, Maria recalls), it was a great place for a meeting, or a chat over a glass of something delicious, and a place for a bite before, or after, the theatre.

Wine merchant Patrick Walsh, then a waiter, remembers how extraordinarily busy it was. The 140-seat wine bar used to do 500 covers on Friday and Saturday nights, or whenever there was a midweek concert.

Walter and Maria had a strong connection with the arts (they were ballet principals before opening a restaurant) and given their interest and that it was the closest eating place to the Arts Centre, it was the place where arts people loved to go.

Performers were often taken there for a meal after a show, and the musicians sometimes gave impromptu second concerts. Maria remembers the members of King's College Choir from Cambridge stopping their meal to sing. Renowned pianists would play the grand piano. Walsh recalls Tom Jones turning up three nights in a row when he was performing.

Its reputation also rested on its wine list, which, in the first years featured some of the best burgundy - more affordable then than they are now. In 1996, Walter's Wine Bar won a national award for best wine list in the Sydney-based Tucker Seabrook Australia's Wine List of the Year awards.

Sadly, in 2001, Walter was diagnosed with cancer. Philippa, a chef who had worked with her father for a time, was headed overseas when the bad news came. ''She had got to Sydney. She did a U-turn and came straight back to Melbourne,'' Maria recalls.

Philippa took over the reins of the kitchen, with her father's support for 15 months, until his death in 2003. The wine bar continued as a family concern, with another daughter, Camilla, working part-time. The family grew when Shaw, a chef, married Philippa.

''It was a lovely feeling to continue Walter's after [Walter] had gone,'' Maria says.

In 2004, the restaurant closed for three months after a fire. The renovations lightened the mood, and the wine list reflected changes in drinking habits - more sauvignon blanc than burgundy. Another blow came in 2010 when nearby Hamer Hall closed for renovations for two years, taking concert-goers elsewhere.

For the Bourkes, the Royal Hotel's attractions include its function rooms. ''We never liked booking out Walter's,'' Maria says. All the other components of the success will be there: good drinks and live music. And if she misses the view across the Yarra, Maria now has Port Phillip Bay.

Rita Erlich's latest book is Melbourne by Menu (Slattery Media).