FEATURE: F&B SOLUTIONS

On the crest of a wave

A variety of hospitality offerings could be a lifeline for surf clubs looking to attract visitors and earn income, writes

AS SMALL COMMUNITY hubs, surf lifesaving clubs often struggle to make ends meet, despite numerous government grants and grand plans for multi-million-dollar makeovers of dilapidated and ageing facilities.

The problem for many clubs or councils as landlord is that many weekday coffee drinkers and Sunday brunchers may not want to smell petrol fumes from outboards while sipping their $5 lattes or have their day spoiled when a surf carnival is up and running.

Some venues, such as Avalon Surf Life Saving Club on Sydney’s Northern Beaches have also struggled to attract operators in what many see as a seasonal venue. Trippas White Group had been operating the Beach House Restaurant and Kiosk in the club since 2015 but pulled the pin during the pandemic in winter 2021.

Northern Beaches Council is now evaluating new tenders.

But there are simple solutions. We take at the look at a new wave of operations that have been floated this summer.

Rowie’s by the Sea pop-up, Newport SLSC

Members of the close to 100-year-old Newport Surf Life Saving Club have been happily paddling along, servicing the needs of Sydney’s Northern Beaches locals without offering so much as a flat white, but watching on as other nearby powerhouse surf clubs, such as Mona Vale, unveil extravagant buildings with high-end restaurants, bars and cafes.

Newport surf club president Guyren Smith was recently approached by well-known local Rowie Dillon of Rowie’s Cakes fame, with a simple Sunday lunch concept. Choosing the middle ground, the club added a pop-up restaurant to the first floor that had only been operating as small bar, yoga studio and training rooms for members.

“Compared to Mona Vale, we are more part of the Newport village hub and we don’t particularly want to go into competition with the local businesses and restaurants,” Smith says.

The view from Avalon SLSC where Rowie’s by the Sea is open on Sundays.

The pop-up, Rowie’s by the Sea, now offers access to all with a set $35 menu of Ottolenghistyle dining – two proteins, salads and veg, plus a kids’ mac and cheese offering and dessert ($15 each), plus free live music from local artists.

“We don’t want to alienate the space from members,” Smith says. “It works well to use it a couple of days a week as a restaurant space but the problem is you do lose training space and access for members.

“It is really nice having more activity in the club and having people outside our normal membership base utilising our facilities, making it a place to visit on a Sunday when it would normally be closed up and quiet,” he says.

“We spend a lot of time looking towards the beach and we don’t spend enough time looking to the community, so we wanted to focus on that a bit more.”

The club now makes money from the bar and takes a percentage of the pop-up profits without having to employ staff to cook in the kitchen. Dillon is now looking to expand the offering to other local clubs looking to make a small profit from their own vacant spaces.

“Extra income is always good for us, surf clubs are always scratching around here and there for extra money to do what we need to do,” Smith said.

Northern Beaches Council wanted to partially demolish, improve and extend the Newport Surf Life Saving Club to include a buried sea wall to protect the building which many see as unnecessary. But the $7.8m makeover plan was recently knocked back by the NSW Government’s independent State North Planning Panel. Council has asked for a review of the decision. Public submissions, including a food offering from Dillon, have now been submitted as part of the review process. In the meantime, locals are loving what is on offer.

“Something should’ve been done ages ago and now they are talking about tearing it down,” says social member Ian Totterdell.

“I just like coming for the atmosphere and the food and the live music. I love it,” his wife Sheralyn says.

The Basin Dining Room, Mona Vale SLSC

The client brief for The Basin Dining Room at Mona Vale Surf Club was to create a casual restaurant that felt natural, comfortable and local: a space with a clear sense of place, while avoiding the standard beach aesthetic, says Giant Design’s Ed Kenny.

The result is a step up from clubs usually frequented by barefeet, boardshorts and sandals on sandy floors.

“It was important that the restaurant could transition seamlessly from day to night without the interior losing its pulse once the dominant water views fade to black,” Kenny told Club Management. “On a practical level the kitchen had to be capable of servicing the restaurant clientele as well as provide for functions for the club.”

Downstairs, the $10m project also includes The Brightside Café, operated by the Nine Yards Coffee, a first aid room, nippers’ facilities, storage, family change space and an accessible toilet.

“This building meets all the practical requirements of surf life savers, but it is also flexible for a wide range of uses,” Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan says. “This spectacular new building is an enduring legacy and something the whole community can be proud of.”

Mona Vale Surf Life Saving Club President Paula Tocquer said the new club building is “just amazing”.

“The quality and the design is beautiful. So many locals have commented on how it fits into the surrounding landscape, and it looks fantastic from the water,” Tocquer said. “The surf club is a building not only to keep the community safe but also as a place to meet, enjoy and gather.”

Mona Vale Surf Club has been an important hub for the local community for decades, says Kenny.

“Its rebuild and re-opening has been highly anticipated and warmly welcomed by both locals and visitors to the area. The addition of a beautiful dining space cements the club even further into life of the community by making it a destination at all times of the day and all times of the year, offering a location suitable for casual dining right through to the celebration of special events.”

Deck Café Whale Beach Surf Life Saving Club

What began as a move to feed volunteers on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays and free up some volunteer time has evolved into something special, says Whale Beach Surf Life Saving Club treasurer Andrew Darley. The former Sunday barbecue is now being run by Richard Simec, owner and operator of Frank’s Bar and Cafe, in nearby Avalon.

Simec, who swims at Whale Beach, worked at the Ripples venue and was once venue manager at Avalon SLSC running the kiosk and restaurant, saw that despite summer approaching there was no food and beverage offering at the beach following the closure of the Boathouse Deli.

Unlike most other clubs, Whale Beach Surf Life Saving Club owns the building so, if agreed by the management committee, it could decide on its own outsourced F&B arrangements and open up the deck to the public. The idea was put to a vote of the management committee and in less than two weeks Simec was pouring his first coffee and cooking up free egg and bacon rolls for volunteers while charging visitors $11 and members $9.35.

“Richard feeds the patrol under the tent and the club can get a percentage of those other takings,” says Darley. “It started so well Richard asked to extend his hours. We extended it again and again over summer and it is now operating six days a week.

“Richard and I have started working on the agreement for beyond the end of this (summer) season.”

The tight menu still offers free egg and bacon plus a variety of pastries, pies and sausage rolls from a local bakery, upscale but affordable toasties with housemade barbecue sauces, kransky hotdogs and bircher muesli.

Deck Cafe operator Richard Simec and his partner Tess Harris at Whale Beach SLSC.

“We’ve come to an agreement now to continue on until the end of the year and I think … with 146 car spaces I think it’s going to be more of a destination,” says Simec who has opened nine hospitality venues and is well-known in the community.

“It’s been a phenomenal success, last weekend was just incredible, the number of people, happy customers in a nice, chilled vibe, in a glorified kiosk. I’ve done fine dining and I’ve had restaurants - you just bring back all those principles into a food and beverage venue that can be done well.

“The whole idea is to do it really simply, to offer a few items of quality, keep the prices low and have a symbiotic relationship with the beach, the club and myself.”

The new proposal will see the kiosk run six days a week (Tuesday-Sunday) during school holidays and five days (Wednesday-Sunday) until the end of April.

“He is confident he can make it a viable business during the week and during winter,” says Darley. “I am prepared to work with him from the club’s perspective as treasurer to make sure he has a viable business and that we have a viable food and beverage offering that’s servicing our members and the community because we also play a societal role, not just focused on club needs.

“We wanted to go into this in a way that was low risk for us and low risk for the supplier. It was a bit of a gamble because we weren’t sure it was going to work or not.”

Building works are also taking place around The Strand, including at the old Ripples group restaurant where Simec once worked, and tradies on the now-residential construction site will also patronise any new offering.

“I wanted three main things out of this,” Darley concludes. “I wanted a revenue stream for the club, I wanted to feed the patrol … and I wanted to make sure there was something in it for the members that would encourage new members to join as a lot of our members are associates and encouraging more membership means facilitating more interpersonal connection and societal engagement in a post-Covid environment.

“And because Richard’s a local, because he’s been running a local cafe for a long time, we are confident that we can make it a destination that people will come to and enjoy the fabulous beach that is our piece of paradise.”