Manze, Melbourne's first Mauritian wine bar, coming soon to Errol Street

A fresh twist on the wine bar format is due to land in Melbourne this spring when Manze opens in North Melbourne. Presenting Mauritian flavours in a slick and contemporary package, the 25-seater is from Mauritius-born Nagesh Seethiah, Osman Faruqi and Jason Phu.

Seethiah, a chef with experience at Bar Liberty, Capitano and Canberra's Bar Rochford, plans to take cornerstone dishes of his childhood, such as vindaye, seafood pickled with turmeric and mustard seeds, and transform them into a style of eating he and his friends know and love.

Several Manze pop-ups have offered an introduction to the Indian and East African accents found in Mauritian cuisine.

"It's a wild and unique blend of what you're kind of familiar with from South Asian food but with an East African influence," says co-owner Faruqi.

At Manze, the menu will be veg-forward, with seafood the dominant protein. Currently Seethiah is playing around with barramundi samosas that are smaller and more delicate than the jumbo-sized specimens many Australians are used to.

Vindaye, the pickled seafood dish, will be served with flatbread (with a vegan version also on offer), while plant fare includes slow-roasted and pan-fried celeriac with peanut chutney, whey and curry leaves.

The team have gutted the former pizza bar's kitchen and are renovating much of the interior themselves for the wine bar, which will have 25 seats inside and 15 outside. They were to open in September before the latest lockdown threw out the schedule.

Manze is expected to open at shop 2, 1-5 Errol Street, North Melbourne, in late September.