Located in Western Australia’s Margaret River wine region, Morries is preparing to reveal its new offering, complete with an updated fit-out and a renewed focus on its bar and evening offering.
Owned by the Margaret River Hospitality Group (MRHG), which also operates businesses including The Common, White Elephant Beach Caf and Barefoot Beach Weddings, Morries has previously run as an all-day dining option, but as of 17 March, will focus more strongly on the night-time trade.
“With minor changes to the fit-out and major changes to our food and drink, we’re stepping things up. We want to create an even better product as well as provide something different on the main street,” said MRHG’s managing director, Anthony Janssen.
“We’re steering away from the breakfast/caf trade and putting even more focus into our bar and evening offering.”
In a West Australian first, Morries will offer cocktails on tap, as well as local beers and wine. The venue will have two distinct areas – the cocktail bar and the restaurant – and the food will be simple yet refined, said MRHG executive chef, Tony Howell.
“It gets thrown around a lot, however the produce is the star and we have several small batch producers literally knocking on our back door with amazing, in-season produce,” he said.
“We’ll change the menu to reflect the produce we can get – our focus is always on flavour and presentation, even for the late night snacks, while still providing approachable food.”
New dishes on the Morries menu include house-made blue manna crab tortellini, creamed corn, truffle burnt butter; fish of the day, Asian wok broth, oyster mushrooms, wilted Asian herbs (hot oiled at the table), chilli jam; confit local heirloom tomatoes, almond garlic puree, beetroot gnocchi, Swiss chard, house-made ricotta; Harvey beef rib, veal jus and seasonal vegetables; and a seafood plate for two.
“We’ll be cooking dishes that are distinctly different from anything that’s currently available – it’s exciting and I think it’s important to move with the times,” Howell said.
“But don’t worry, the twice cooked Japanese chicken with kewpie mayo is one dish that’ll remain – everyone loves it, including us.”
On select nights, Morries will also host a pop-up Oyster Bar, offering freshly shucked oysters.