Jo McGann and Andrew McConnell on bringing Morning Market to Melbourne

Culinary couple Jo McGann and Andrew McConnell wanted to bring Parisian market life to Melbourne.

As lockdowns taunted the city in 2020, they opened Morning Market in Fitzroy – originally as the all-important “pivot” many restaurants made to survive stay-at-home orders, then as its own entity on Gertrude Street.

The popularity of the Fitzroy store and cafe prompted the couple to open another location in Prahran last year. 

“We wanted to do something that was outside of the restaurant and accessible all day, every day,” McGann says. “It’s an expression of what we do in the restaurants, but more casually delivered.” 

You wouldn’t be alone if you hadn’t heard of McGann until now – even if you’ve frequented McConnell’s slew of restaurants including Gimlet at Cavendish House, Marion, Supernormal and Cutler & Co.  

She isn’t one for the media spotlight and prefers to operate low-key behind the scenes, letting the venues do the talking.

But as the wife of one of Melbourne’s most celebrated chefs, and having worked closely with him for more than 10 years, she’s more involved in the business than she is keen to take credit for. 

Morning Market is a serenade to the cities the couple have travelled to, but Melbourne is in its DNA – good coffee is a prerequisite, as are fresh-cut flowers, artisan-baked bread and pastries by Baker Bleu, and home-cooked meals-to-go.    

“We wanted to create a meeting place where everything is bountiful, beautiful, seasonal and changing,” McGann says. “I wanted it to be white, bright and crisp, and the lighting needed to have warmth.

“Morning Market is an idea we both came up with; it’s something we had in the background for a while and talked about over the years.”

McGann is a professional photographer and snaps dishes from each restaurant for social media and marketing – with a 30-second window to get the right shot as the food comes out of the kitchen.

She’s McConnell’s confidante and, when you’re in their company, an unspoken understanding between their glances says it all. She’s tuned into what he’s thinking, and vice-versa. 

McGann, who has two children aged 20 and 16 from a previous marriage, says her marriage to McConnell works because they support one another in their creative pursuits. 

They are a blended family of four and have a child together, Henry, aged six. McConnell has an 18-year-old son from a former marriage.

“My relationship with Andrew works because we are both very considerate of each other,” McGann says. 

“Our lives are very social, but we always make time for just the two of us. A priority for us is to stay connected despite the busy-ness of work and family life.

“I’m really proud of the way I’ve co-parented my older children with my ex-partner. We have a positive and respectful relationship which, I think, has been very good for our kids.”

With a background in hospitality (McGann worked for the Van Haandel Group which owns restaurants such as Stokehouse and Fatto), it was inevitable she’d find a way to merge her love of food and photography when she met McConnell.

He’s always around on shoot days, if only because he also has a clear vision of how he wants things to be. 

“I know if he’ll like something or not,” McGann says. “Andrew is very intuitive and in control of his emotions and it comes across in all aspects of our relationship – when we’re at work and in our private lives at home.”

As a teenager growing up in Melbourne’s south-east, McGann loved nothing more than to take her father’s camera outside to photograph the flowers in her mum’s garden. 

“My photography was always very focused on nature, garden, flowers and botanicals, but it was only a hobby until I went to study photography for two years,” she says. “It was a time for me to do something new before our son Henry arrived.” 

Her eye for detail is ever present in the restaurants too. At Gimlet, the couple worked closely with ACME architect Vince Alafaci and interior designer Caroline Choker to come up with the concept for the city restaurant. 

“The bones of the building were telling you what it wanted there,” McGann says.

“But with Gimlet we wanted to channel everything we love about New York, London and Paris. Those big city restaurants. And while not directly replicating any one particular place, it’s a celebration of our love of the finer details you find there.

“We love the work of Vince and Caroline; they’re great friends. We briefed them and they told us what they had in mind with the design. It was a collaborative approach.”

When not at Gimlet enjoying her favourite starter of gnocco fritto and margaritas, McGann is at home cooking pasta for the family, with a preference for vegetarian meals. 

“One of our kids is vegetarian so we quite often eat with him,” she says. “We also have a fussy eater as well so it means Andrew and I deliver lots of different meals on any given night.”

The couple like to travel for inspiration – a recent trip to Europe included Venice and Barcelona. A trip to Japan is on the cards too.

“We love the service and culture in Japan and always feel Zen after being there,” McGann says. “Andrew and I try to hold onto that as long as we can when we return to Melbourne.”