North shore: Pubs, clubs and restaurants to open from June 1
Many pubs and clubs will reopen their doors to expanded crowds from next week. Find out the finer details for popular venues in Sydney’s north shore.
North Shore
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Dozens of clubs and pubs across Sydney’s north shore are set to reopen their doors from Monday but question marks still remain over some of the region’s largest venues.
While a few pubs and hotels have already reopened for dining, others will be back in business for larger crowds on Monday with strict social distancing measures in place.
It comes after clubs, pubs and restaurants were given the green light to seat up to 50 patrons from June 1, as part of the next step in relaxing the state’s COVID-19 restrictions.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the move was an “important, critical, big step”, but would come with strict provisos including tables distanced in line with a four-square-metre requirements.
Venues reopening for a maximum of 50 patrons from Monday include the Chatswood Club, the Bridgeview Hotel in Willoughby, the Neutral Bay Club and the Great Northern Hotel in Chatswood.
The TreeHouse Hotel in North Sydney will expand its capacity from 10 patrons to 50 from Monday, having been fully-booked since doors reopened earlier this month.
“We’ve been booked out at every seating since we reopened – I think people have been desperate for anything besides their own kitchen table,” licensee Lucy Christopher said.
Mosman Rowers will meanwhile open its downstairs dining area for 50 patrons from Monday and its upstairs venue next Friday with social distancing measures in place.
“The tables will be spaced 5m apart from each other and we’re also encouraging people to make bookings so we can do full contact tracing,” Club manager Sam Curtis said.
Similar preparations are being made at Chatswood RSL Club, which before the health outbreak had typical daily crowds of 500 people.
“The announcement (that we could reopen) came a lot sooner than we were expecting – the industry wasn’t expecting this to happen for at least another month so it’s been all systems-go,” operations manager Andrew Hoschke said.
“We have three outlets at the club so our understanding is we’ll have a venue capacity of up to 150 people.
“We’re also able to bring back the vast majority of staff that were stood down – that’s been the biggest positive.”
Other venues confirmed to open including Club Turramurra and Middle Harbour’s Skiffies Bar and Bistro on Wednesday.
Roseville Club is reopening for lunch and dinner but it is waiting confirmation from the State Government about whether it can open between meal times.
Hotel Mosman will reopen, but licensee Peter Crocker saying it was unclear if the venue could seat 50 people in total, or 50 per dining space.
Other venues have meanwhile have yet to finalise when they will reopen to guests and members including Club Willoughby, Crows Nest Hotel, Minskys Hotel in Cremorne and Longueville Sporting Club – which used the extended lockdown to carry out overdue upgrades to club buildings.
Mosman RSL Club chief executive Gerard Boyle still the venue was still waiting on further information from NSW Health and Clubs NSW about capacity limits before welcoming customers back.
The Greens in North Sydney is meanwhile delaying its reopening date until September 1 but will launch a “Greens On The Go” pop-up takeaway service from next Tuesday.
Kirribilli Club remains closed, but is operating a delivery service and has resumed site inspections for wedding events.