Bridget Raffal and Harry Hunter Open Claret Club Darlinghurst
Harry Hunter and Bridget Raffal replastered the Stanley Street terrace themselves, painted the walls claret, laid white cloths, set candles, and split Claret Club into two working rhythms: wine bar downstairs, restaurant above. Their sommelier hands show in the room as clearly as their cellar habits, with former Dry Dock sous chef Andy Buchanan giving the kitchen its centre.
Raffal Marks the Room With Hearts and Rewrites the Word Club
Hearts mark the room before the wine does. One is scrawled on the mirrored wall beside the by-the-glass list; another holds the bill down as a stone; the website logo uses the same shape, and the Stanley Street sign swings with a heart around the name.
The symbol cuts against the old meaning of a claret club: British, members-only, built around Bordeaux and the manners of exclusion. Raffal's use of it is personal and deliberate. Her birthday is Valentine's Day, and she has collected heart-shaped stones all her life.
The result is not a private society dressed as a bar. It is a house built from labour, memory, and a refusal to make wine feel sealed off from the people drinking it.
Hunter and Raffal Keep the Bar Close to the Stove
The bar keeps glass and plate in close reach. A martini or pastis can lead into gnocco fritto with sage and anchovy ($20), ruffle-edged and made for salt, fat, and lift. Between 4 and 5:30, snacks are $5 and drinks are $10.
Pig's head croquettes sit in the same register, loosely bound in golden crumb, with parsley, eschalot, and salsa verde cutting through the richness. The confit duck is salted, cooked slowly until the flesh pulls apart, and checked by pickled plums; when pinot noir is not the answer, a vivid grenache made by GUM in Heathcote is the suggested pour.
For a smaller appetite, the whipped salted cod appears as baccala mantecato ($25, wine bar only). Raffal's recipe came from Andy Logue, chef of the now-closed Bar Vincent, over drinks.
Andy Buchanan Moves the Cooking Upstairs Into a Fuller Register
Buchanan moves the cooking into a fuller register without turning the table into a display case. The risotto is tinted red with nebbiolo, worked through bitter radicchio, and finished with oozing scamorza, a dish Hunter and Raffal connect to trips to Florence.
A mustard-sauced pork cutlet is grilled hard and rested well. Sweetbreads au poivre ($29, restaurant only) bring the sharper cut: crumb outside, soft richness within, peppercorn sauce running into the cracks. Frisée and eschalot sit over the top, and housemade baguette belongs with the sauce left on the plate.
Chocolate cremeux can close the meal. The cost is about $180 for two, excluding drinks.
Raffal's Lineage Runs From Sixpenny Through Where's Nick
Raffal was formerly sommelier at three-hatted Sixpenny. In 2020, she left fine dining to buy into Where's Nick, the Marrickville wine bar built around snacks and affordable by-the-glass options increasingly drawn from Australian and international winemakers.
That move changed the threshold. Wines often held for haute restaurants could be poured in a neighbourhood bar, with less ceremony and more reach. Her presidency of Women and Revolution extends the same work into the structures of wine and hospitality, where the movement pushes against gender bias.
One heart on the wall carries the line, "You get what you get and you don't get upset." In this room, the joke lands as a discipline: receive the glass, pay attention, and let the next decision follow.
Hunter, Raffal, and Matt Prokop Work the Floor and Cellar
Hunter brings experience from Bentley and Dinner By Heston, and the floor is worked by Raffal, Hunter, and sommelier Matt Prokop. They top water from a decorative radicchio jug and move between tables to Kate Bush and Leonard Cohen.
Bordeaux has its place, but the cellar is not limited by the name. Upstairs, the wine list draws on the owners' personal cellars; by the glass, plenty sits under $20. Yellow Flower pecorino, made by Praeter in South Australia, is poured for depth and minerality. Beechworth wines are part of the conversation too.
Downstairs, stirred cocktails and aperitivo give another point of entry before the long list takes over.
Raffal and Hunter Remade the Stanley Street Terrace by Hand
Claret Club is licensed, accepts bookings, and has a separate bar. It supports outdoor dining, private dining, events, long lunches, late-night dining, lunch specials, and tasting-menu occasions.
What holds it together is the division of work: Hunter and Raffal on the floor and in the cellar, Buchanan at the stove, and a Stanley Street terrace remade by hand for drinking without the old gatekeeping.
