The humble Aussie surf club is already hot hospo property, and Palm Beach-born Boathouse Group has joined the trend by opening a restaurant and bar at North Wollongong Surf Life Saving Club. “An American [customer] said she felt like she was on a cruise ship. You just can’t buy venues like this,” Boathouse Group’s head of culinary, Mark La Brooy, says of the views at The Boathouse North Wollongong, which opened over the weekend.
The group previously plonked its venues in boat sheds, and dropped them on marinas, but this is its first Boathouse-branded operation in a surf club. La Brooy says NSW has some catching up to do with the number of Queensland surf club restaurants, but the slow trickle of new ventures is expected to grow as clubs look for new revenue streams to maintain services and tackle growing costs. Leasing out little-used function spaces can provide a win-win.
The Boathouse North Wollongong has taken up residence on the top floor of the surf club. It has avoided a fine-dining approach in favour of a bistro and a “casual pub style” bar offering. La Brooy, who spends most of his time working at the group’s Sydney venues, is doubly invested in the launch as both he and head chef Lachie Houghton are Illawarra residents.
They want to champion South Coast producers, and while it’s a bistro, they aren’t dumbing down the food. “The snapper comes with a charred tomato sugo beurre blanc, we’ll also be using wild game,” says La Brooy, whose CV includ.