Claret Club Sydney Opens the Door on Stanley Street

A heart-shaped stone pins down the bill at Claret Club Sydney, but the serious signal is in the glass: Bridget Raffal and Harry Hunter have made Stanley Street a two-level address for people who read a wine list as closely as a menu. The name nods to claret’s old Bordeaux-and-membership world, then loosens the collar. Here, the emphasis falls on access, conversation and bottles chosen by people who have spent real time on the floor.

Raffal was previously a sommelier at three-hatted Sixpenny and bought into Where’s Nick in 2020¹, bringing haute-restaurant calibre wines into a snack-led Marrickville wine bar with affordable by-the-glass options. Hunter’s résumé includes Bentley and Dinner By Heston. Together, they have built Claret Club around their own cellars and convictions, not a borrowed clubby template.

The reversal is deliberate. British claret clubs have long carried the codes of exclusivity: Bordeaux, membership, ritual, closed doors. Raffal is also president of Women and Revolution, a movement dedicated to breaking down gender bias in wine and hospitality, and Claret Club turns that inherited language toward something warmer and more open.

Inside Claret Club Sydney’s Two-Level Opening

Downstairs works as the wine bar; upstairs settles into the restaurant. That division gives the venue a useful rhythm, from a quick aperitivo to a full dinner built around a bottle.

At street level, the offer includes stirred cocktails and aperitivo, with a window between 4 and 5:30 for $5 snacks and $10 drinks². There are also plenty of wines under $20 by the glass, which keeps the bar firmly in the realm of discovery rather than ceremony.

The upstairs restaurant is the longer-form proposition, with the wine list drawing on the owners’ personal cellars and dinner priced at about $180 for two, excluding drinks. It is a format designed for the table that wants to linger.

For a wine-focused diner, the layout is practical as well as charming. Start with a glass downstairs, climb for dinner, or let the bar be the whole evening. Good wine rooms should allow for more than one tempo.

The Sommelier Pedigree Behind Stanley Street

Raffal and Hunter bring the kind of experience that changes how a list feels in the hand. The value is not only in knowing appellations and producers, but in reading the guest, the dish and the moment.

Where’s Nick adds another important thread to Raffal’s background: a Marrickville wine bar built around snacks, accessible pours and a network of Australian and international winemakers. That sensibility matters at Claret Club, where the bar is not treated as a waiting room for the restaurant.

Hunter’s time at Bentley and Dinner By Heston gives the project its own dining-room grammar. The team also includes Matt Prokop, another sommelier presence on the floor, which gives the venue depth beyond a single charismatic owner at the pass.

Food comes with its own provenance. Former Dry Dock sous Andy Buchanan leads cooking that favours nourishment and clarity over ornate plating, while the whipped salted cod traces back to a recipe Raffal drew from Andy Logue of the now-closed Bar Vincent.

A Claret Club Without the Old Gatekeeping

Claret may point to Bordeaux, but the old social code around it is the more interesting thing to dismantle. Claret Club keeps the word and changes the room around it.

The hearts throughout the venue are not throwaway decoration. Raffal’s birthday falls on Valentine’s Day, and she has collected heart-shaped stones all her life; at Claret Club, those personal details soften a name historically associated with closed circles and masculine wine culture.

That shift shows up in the way the venue is structured. A guest can come for one glass, a plate of something salty, a proper dinner or a conversation about Bordeaux from the long list. No single mode of drinking is treated as the only correct one.

For collectors and curious drinkers alike, the draw is the cellar itself: the owners’ personal bottles, from Heathcote grenache to Bordeaux off the long list, poured by people who can tell you why each one is there.

What to Eat First: Gnocco Fritto, Baccala and Sweetbreads

Gnocco fritto with sage and anchovy is the clean first move: $9 for one in the wine bar, or $18 for two in the restaurant. It is exactly the sort of snack that asks for acidity, texture and a glass with enough freshness to cut through salt and fried dough.

Baccala mantecato, listed at $25 and available in the wine bar only, keeps the pairing logic sharp. Whipped salted cod naturally pulls the list toward saline whites, aperitif styles and wines with enough body to meet the creaminess.

Upstairs, sweetbreads au poivre at $29 belong firmly to the restaurant. The fried sweetbreads come with peppercorn sauce, frisee and eschalot, and a housemade baguette is the move for the final sweep through the sauce.

The larger plates give red wine more room. Confit duck is cooked slowly and served with pickled cherries and dressed radicchio, while a vivid grenache made by GUM in Heathcote is the suggested path if pinot noir is not where the table wants to go. There is also a nebbiolo-tinted risotto with bitter radicchio and scamorza, plus a mustard-sauced pork cutlet grilled hard and rested well.

Why Claret Club Sydney Matters for Wine Travellers

Yellow Flower pecorino made by Praeter in South Australia is championed for depth and minerality, and Beechworth wines are part of the conversation. If claret is the request, Bordeaux is always available alongside bottles from the personal cellar.

That combination is what makes Claret Club worth attention beyond the neighbourhood. It is not simply a bar with a few interesting pours, nor a restaurant using wine as polish. The experience is built by sommeliers, and the food gives the glass a clear role at the table.

For travellers mapping Sydney through its wine rooms, Claret Club offers a persuasive stop: a Stanley Street address where Bordeaux can sit beside Australian pecorino, Heathcote grenache and cellar selections poured with intent. The mood is inclusive; the drinking is serious.