Tluxury problem forced Marius van der Vliet to rethink the concept of his wine shop at 91-93 Piet Heinstraat. "After our warehouse moved to the Binckhorst, with 220 square metres we actually had far too much retail space," says the well-known wine friend.

Marius van der Vliet in his new wine shop.

"We did start doing courses, tastings and private dining in the vacant space back then, but again it was all just too primitive for that: poorly insulated, too small a kitchen... We didn't think that was desirable in the long run."

Shop and wine bar Marius

So the chop went into transforming the two adjoining premises into 'Shop and Wine Café Marius', where you can go from 10am to 11pm five days a week. "That starts with coffee and a croissant, then a simple lunch that turns into a drink, and again later to a menu of refined, small dishes: five cold and five hot," Van der Vliet summarises. "The great thing is that you can immediately order the wines you taste for home by walking indoors from the café to the shop. We can deliver them to you the next day."

Barcelona

The idea for this 'blurring formula' had been ripening in the mind of Van der Vliet's new partner Luuk van Amerongen for some time. "Internationally - in Spain and Italy, for example - you already see this kind of combination of retail and hospitality much more," he explains.

"Ten years ago I saw it for the first time in Barcelona, and even then I thought: this is the future. We recently reached the tipping point in the Netherlands where there are more online than physical shops. So if we want to put something opposite our well-run webshop, we have to adapt and, above all, not be too conservative."

"We are certainly not expensive - you can buy a bottle from us for as little as 6 euros - but our wines come from small producers and are limited in availability."

The wine men reinforce their regular team - Jaimie Smith runs the kitchen, Wouter Kootker the shop, Duncan Willekes Macdonald the café and Klaartje Hinten is flying keeper - with renowned, changing pop-up chefs. "Because we also supply a lot to restaurants, such interaction is super fun," says Van Amerongen

Enjoying fine wines and food can also be done exclusively again, thanks to the completely revamped interior. At the back of the shop is a long table for private dining on weekends and wine courses on other days. In that interior, embellished with frescoes by artist Suzanne van Soest, sake also has a prominent place: four cabinets full of exceptional rice wines, selected by 'sake professor' Van Amerongen. "We are in the process of becoming the specialist in the Netherlands in this area. In addition to open wines, we therefore also have sakes by the glass in the café that perfectly match the dishes."

Zeeheldenkwartier

The location in the Zeeheldenkwartier has only been open since September, but the partners are so convinced of the new concept that Delft can also rejoice in the arrival of a Shop and Wine Café Marius. "That has everything to do with our product range," Van der Vliet states. "We are certainly not expensive - you can buy a bottle from us for as little as 6 euro - but our wines come from small producers and are limited in availability. Explaining the story behind them is therefore important, and what better and more fun way to do that than this?"

www.mariuswijn.nl