After a shock closure, this beloved local bar is pouring drinks again

In news that will delight oyster and martini lovers south of the Yarra, The Walrus in St Kilda reopened last night, April 16. The genial wine bar closed suddenly in December, six weeks after being named The Age Good Food Guide’s Bar of the Year for 2026.

A notice placed in the window on December 10 mentioned “creative differences”, a reference to an increasingly messy dispute between company directors Marty Webster and Micheal [sic] Weal. Webster ran the bar with his partner Amy McGouldrick, while Weal was a silent partner.

Relations between the business partners soured, even before the bar’s December 2023 opening, but the clincher was Weal withdrawing $100,000 from a business bank account last November, leaving Webster fearing the bar was trading while insolvent. Weal says he did this as a precautionary step because he did not want expenses for Webster’s other business, Carpenter’s Ruin, being paid for with money from The Walrus.

Webster resigned as director in December leaving Weal solely responsible for the business, then shut the doors and redeployed staff at Carpenter’s Ruin, the mini-pub that he had opened in September next door to The Walrus.

The landlord of The Walrus terminated the lease in mid-February due to a month of unpaid rent and Weal handed the business over to administrators, according to ASIC records.

“I choose not to proceed with reopening due to the risk of insolvent trading (after discussion with my legal team),” Weal said in response to questions via email.

Webster then purchased the assets, including the trading name, in late February for $20,000. The Walrus’s holding company was officially placed into liquidation on March 18.

A few days later, Webster signed a new 15-year lease to take The Walrus back under a new company structure. The shareholders are now the same as Carpenter’s Ruin: Cameron and Caitlin Marshall, and Barney and Kate Flanders are in partnership with Webster and McGouldrick. (Chef Ciara Woodside has departed.)

“We are so happy to give The Walrus back to the people who love it,” says Webster.

The internecine wranglings have cost him upwards of $150,000 in legal costs and lost investment but he and McGouldrick have their eyes on a long future to peg it all back.

“It would have been much sadder if we weren’t able to reopen,” he says. “Now it feels like an investment in continuing the plan.”

A long life for The Walrus was always the vision. “Even before we opened, we were talking about places like Bar Lourinha, Gerald’s Bar, Cicciolina, venues embedded in the community for years and years,” says McGouldrick. “This has been a bit of a rewind, but hopefully we’re back on track.”

There are small tweaks to The Walrus offering. Staff now wear jackets to differentiate the look from the casual pub next door. The alignment of the two businesses allows for efficiencies: one kitchen will service both premises and some dishes – hot chips and nightly specials, among them – will be available in either venue.

One moment brought home the stress and turmoil of the past few months, and the ultimate relief in the outcome.

“I met the landlord’s agent here to do a condition report,” says Webster. “I went in, turned the lights on and turned off the alarm. I didn’t even think about it. It was just muscle memory. I stood here, looking at the place, letting it sink in. Wow, I thought. This is it. We’re back.”

Open daily from 5pm

9 Inkerman Street, St Kilda, instagram.com/thewalrusoysterbar

with Emma Breheny