Sydney restaurants news: The Boathouse Group to expand into Terrey Hills, Austral
Find out about the hottest restaurant openings across Sydney including big changes to The Boathouse Home and a plan to take it further than the Northern Beaches.
Confidential
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Hospitality group The Boathouse Group is known for dominating the Northern Beaches Peninsula with trendy beachside venues, but now it’s expanding its network into Terrey Hills and Austral.
The move has come at the hands of new CEO Antony “AJ” Jones who joined the company six months ago after spending 15 years at Merivale.
Jones revealed that the group has DA plans currently with councils to launch two “significant hospitality sites” at Terrey Hills and near the airport in Austral.
“We are on an expansion plan and growth plan to evolve business. We’ve been known as cafe business with the menu based on breakfast and lunch, and turn into a lunch, dinner and bar-based businesses and are also making our way out of the Northern Beaches and into the suburbs,” he said.
Jones took the helm of the Group, who own venues including The Manly Pavilion, The Boathouse Rose Bay and Balmoral, six months ago. It came after the group collapsed under the previous owners Andrew Goldsmith in 2020, owing more than $21.5m to more than 500 creditors.
As well as the expansion into the west, the group has revealed changes to existing venues.
The Boathouse Home in Palm Beach has transformed into homewares store Case, with an Italian-inspired restaurant and bar inside and set to open Friday, September 22.
Headed up by Chef Justin O’Bree and James Brownrigg, dishes on the menu include caprese salad, rustic pizza and trays of tiramisu. There will a range of classic Italian cocktails like Aperol Spritz to try.
The move to turn The Boathouse Home into Casa came from listening to the local community.
“The majority of our venues are situated in well-bonded community and they want to support local business and see it grow. They’ve told us they want to see this open and be venue where they can come together and share pizza and Aperol,” Jonjes said.
Meanwhile, Manly Pavilion has been given a refresh with a new, relaxed menu and interiors. The downstairs bar is being turned into more casual offering that will spill onto the wharf.
The Boathouse Shelly Beach has extended its trading house and is open now for dinner in the evenings.
They’ve also recently announced a partnership with the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia in Darling Point, and will provide breakfast, all-day lunch and a dinner menu as well as offering events.
Jones said the excitement in the business feels similar to when he started with Merivale: he was Merivale’s Chief Commercial Officer and was often referred to as Justin Hemmes’ right hand man.
“With change there is normally some kind of hesitation, but the team have been fantastic. Six months into the role, we are clear on what we want to deliver and have a plan in place rather than just open the doors and cross our fingers that someone comes,” he says.
Despite the growth, Jones said the ethos of the brand hasn’t changed.
“We are not a high end brand. It’s not what we are about. It’s a premium offering in a casual setting. We want people to come in with their wet boardies and a towel draped over their shoulder.”
“Our age range of customer is huge. At our venues we have 18 years on their first date next to 80 year-olds probably having their last date. Everyone is welcome.”
ERKO’S FRESH FOOD INJECTION FROM FORMER CHISWICK CHEF
Hospitality giant Solotel continues its push into rejuvenating its pubs food scene, with the announcement that a former Chiswick chef will head the kitchen at The Erko in Erskineville.
Ethan Robinson will launch a new menu at the pub on October 12, which, like at Chiswick, will be inspired by and sourced by produce from the neighbouring community garden.
Taking inspiration from Matt Moran’s famed Chiswick, Robinson will serve a pressed lamb shoulder that’s slow cooked overnight, pressed, then seared. It’s served on a bed of lentils packed with flavour from the remaining lamb jus and topped with a green pea and mint pesto sauce.
Other menu additions include pub favourites like 250g grass fed striploin with chimmi butter, beef burger stacked with ground chuck patty, cheese, bacon and housemade onion and dark ale jam, dill pickle. Both will be served with Robinson’s hand cut chips with his own vinegar salt recipe.
You’ll also see a kid’s menu, Sunday roast, and “feed-me”-style $55 group dining menu on Sundays.
Robinson says the menu is about fresh, honest cooking.
“We’re making our own bread, hand cutting the chips, crumbing the chickens, fermenting and pickling in-house using surplus, blemished and oddly-shaped produce, and using herbs and veggies sourced locally”.
“We have a little patch at the Erko Road Community Garden next door where we’ll grow our herbs, chillies, cherry tomatoes, garlic chives, carrots, and Jerusalem artichokes. We love our local community and so we’ll be using local honey and have locally made hot sauces too.”
It comes after Solotel announced a new French Bistro, Chez Blue, to open next door to it’s Rozelle pub The Sackville. Chez Blue will open in October.
BONDI: CALI SELTZER OUT, ASIAN EATERY IN
Bondi’s culinary scene is set to lose a California inspired seltzer bar to make way for a South East Asian Eatery.
House Made Hospitality has closed its summer pop-up Rancho Seltzo on the ground floor of the Pacific Bondi Beach and on September 20th launch Easy Tiger.
The kitchen is being headed by former Merivale alumni (Queen Chow, Mr Wong) Andrianto (Andy) Wirya.
The Indonesian chef will bring his heritage to the menu as well as combining the flavours from Vietnam, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
The menu is designed to be shared, and caters to the purse strings, with a $42 per person banquet menu where diners can chose five plates plus rice.
The inspiration is to give dishes you recognise a fun twist, but still leave you able to roll back down to the beach without feeling over-full.
This is the group’s third restaurant in Bondi, after opening Promenade Bondi Beach.
Then, in October, the group will launch their Southern France inspired restaurant Martinez and Terrace Bar, in Circular Quay.
The group have become famous for their Hinchcliff House eateries like Grana and Lana, the later of which was visited by former US President Barack Obama on his visit to Sydney earlier in the year.
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