F&B: NEW VENUES

Uncovering buried treasure

The opening of Ocean Treasure and Just Pho has prompted a whole new audience to discover a revamped Club Blacktown, writes Grant Jones.

FOR STEVENSON SU, the launch of the 600-seat District 8 at Cabra-Vale Diggers, which he opened with business partner Ricky Char in 2017, was a huge learning curve.

Always a keen student of other cuisines, Hunan-born Su closely studied what his fellow Asian chefs were putting on plates – and in bowls – at District 8.

“District 8 was one of the biggest changes in my life – ever! We learned and studied a lot of the different cultures. I’ve learned Vietnamese, I’ve learned Cantonese, I’ve learned Malaysian, so many different nationalities language-wise, culture-wise and cooking-wise,” he says.

The variety and offerings at District 8 certainly helped with the launch of their two latest ventures, Ocean Treasure Asian Dining and its smaller cousin Just Pho, at Club Blacktown in Sydney’s west. Last year, Club Blacktown CEO Robert Heinrich approached Su and Char with the concepts.

“Covid was the cause for a lot of change in our industry, including the closure of the buffet, a staple in many western Sydney clubs,” Heinrich says. “Luckily for us, we had a brand-new offering opening, Villaggio, on Level 1 of our club, right after the second Covid lockdown, so we didn’t have to rush into occupying the old buffet space.

Chef Stevenson Su (right) at the opening of Ocean Treasure at Club Blacktown.

“This gave us the opportunity to take a bit of time and assess what to offer on Level 2 of our club that would add to our current offering as well as attract new members. As it was difficult to find someone to take the risk of a 500-seat buffet, we decided to completely change this space and split it into our new sports lounge and as well as a brand new, purpose-built restaurant.

“We noticed that there was a clear gap in our local area for highquality, authentic Asian cuisine and, in particular, live seafood and yum cha. We underwent a process of meeting with many potential caterers and in the end decided to partner with Stevenson and his team as his quality of food, service and offerings were exceptional.”

While Ocean Treasure had a soft opening in February, staffing back of house was a big issue and Su wanted to get the offering right before any official launch.

“We have to learn how to walk before we can run, we don’t want to screw up,” he says.

Much like old-school Chinese restaurants, the now fully functioning Ocean Treasure has a public dining room which can accommodate up to 250-300 people and has five function rooms –one for 40, two for 20 and two for 10 people.

“When you want to offer a good quality of service there is labour,” Su says. “We don’t want to be naive. At the end of the day, people come in and expect service to be 10 out of 10, not 7 out of 10.”

Su is not afraid to try new things, either. He picked up a 2022 ClubsNSW Perfect Plate award for his Hand-Made Silky Tofu with Salted Egg Yolk, which is the most popular vegetarian option on the menu at Horizon Asian Dining at Cabra Diggers. That and many of the dishes at Cabra Diggers also appear at Club Blacktown, from simple Chinese BBQ items to up-market abalone and other live seafood, including lobster.

“It’s a lot of seafood, but we pretty much cover everything. We don’t say we are expensive. We are from level 1 to level 10, we pretty much cover everything,” Su says.

Stevenson Su at the new Just Pho in Club Blacktown, which adds to Ocean Treasure (left and below).

Plus there is the traditional daily yum cha, serviced by five specialist chefs, which has proved popular. And it’s the only yum cha within 15km.

While the predominant ethnic audience in the area is Filipino and Indian, yum cha has secured a new mid-week crowd for the club, older Chinese retirees who are travelling long distances, especially for dim sum.

“They don’t have to go to Parramatta or Burwood. It saves them time and fuel’s not cheap!” Su says.

While the club pushes out the Ocean Treasure message to regular members via traditional means, Su’s focus is on social media, including targeted campaigns and promotions to his specific audiences on WeChat and Renren. So as day turns to evening, the menu is elevated and a different younger audience arrives.

“We try to accommodate everyone. They can spend a little bit of money or lots of money. They have many different choices,” Su says. And those different choices are the reason behind Just Pho, with Su securing two specialist Vietnamese chefs to create the family-friendly offering next door to Ocean Treasure, with dishes –and bowls of pho – at under $18.

“That’s what I learned from Cabramatta as well,” he says. “No matter if you are Western or Asian, people love a soup,” he says. “I will offer what I think is healthy and affordable and tasty. It’s more for young families.”

Su, a father himself, also kept that in mind when adding gelato to the Just Pho offering. Now all they have to do is decide on the flavour – durian, black sesame and matcha tea included.

But with high labour costs, supply issues and interest rate rises, Su says they can’t do it all on their own.

“We can’t make it [work] without club support,” he says. “The clubs support us from behind. It’s very important for us. We offer them [the audience] a larger portion for a cheaper price to feed the family and save money, so the club supports us and we support the community.”

And don’t think that’s the end of Su and Char’s plans to feed the masses.

“Once it is on track we may look at something else.”

Given their success, Su can see the offering expand from Sydney’s outer west into the far east, all the way to Double Bay.