The Meat & Wine Co to bring back long, lazy Perth lunches on the foreshore
The Meat & Wine Co is locked in as the new tenant for the former Coco’s site on the South Perth foreshore.
Perched on the corner of Mends Street and South Perth Esplanade, Coco’s was a fixture of WA’s business and social scene for more than 30 years, famous for who was in the room as much as what was on the plate. Big names like Rene Rivkin and Alan Bond were known to pull up a chair, while mining executives turned the riverside dining room into a favourite spot for drawn-out lunches and deal-making over generous pours of wine.
Now the baton is passing to Seagrass Boutique Hospitality Group – the team behind Hunter & Barrel, Ribs & Burgers and 6HEAD – which is gearing up to bring a fresh take on the long lunch when The Meat & Wine Co opens in December.
WA state manager Laurie Thorpe said the group already had venues spread across Perth, but Coco’s old home was too good an opportunity to ignore.
“I mean, it’s an iconic site there on the river, and we only really want our brands to go into iconic or landmark locations,” he told Good Food.
When it became clear Coco’s wouldn’t renew its lease – a call that was confirmed at the start of the year – Thorpe moved quickly to position The Meat & Wine Co as the next chapter for the site. And he’s keen to see the tradition of drawn-out daytime dining live on.
“The Meat & Wine Co at the Palace Hotel [in Perth’s CBD] is a long lunch venue as well, it caters to the financial crowd and what have you in the city, so we understand that that’s our market to a certain degree, and we want to continue it as best we can,” he said.
“Obviously, we’re not in the heyday of the 1980s, early 90s, but we think there’s an opportunity to get guests over there.
“So we want to continue in that vein; we understand the legacy of Coco’s and what that represents to the local people in South Perth.
“We understand the history of Cocos. We understand what it meant to people.”
The new 200-seat restaurant will lean into The Meat & Wine Co’s signature African-influenced offering, with a dedicated “Safari Menu” to make its first appearance in South Perth. That list will showcase dishes South African-born head of culinary Sean Hall calls “food from the home”, such as a lamb curry with potato and spices served inside a hollowed-out loaf.
On the drinks side, guests can expect a strong Western Australian focus, including premium and limited releases. Iconic producer Vasse Felix will feature, with its Tom Cullity Cabernet Malbec set to pour at $520 a bottle.
Meat & Wine Co South Perth is scheduled to open its doors on December 12.
Jonathan Jackson, 26th November 2025
