Pittwater Life April 2024 Issue

Wild ride for hospit
News
It’s been a crazy 12 months for Northern
Beaches hospitality operators. The winter
of 2023 will be remembered as one
of the toughest ever with colder weather,
rising interest rates and surging inflation
impacting base costs and trade, contributing
to several key venue closures.
But leading operators say when Spring
and then Summer arrived, consumers
threw off the cost-of-living shackles and
started spending again, especially at the
more casual end of the market.
Momentum has continued through
the hazy days of early Autumn; however
the question for many now is – what will
Winter bring?
Doug Fraser, who owns restaurants
The Basin Dining Room at Mona Vale Surf
Lifesaving Club and Lovat in Newport with
his wife Kylie, says he’s still trying to make
sense of how it’s all played out.
“Over the past 12 months it’s been wildly
different and unpredictable,” he says. “I’ve
been in the industry for 25 or 26 years and
it was the worst Winter I have ever seen. It
was really, really bad as soon as those rate
rises hit.
“And then Summer came, and everything
just exploded. So, it’s just been very
odd trying to deal with that contrast.
Summer’s been very good across both our
venues and the general feeling among a lot
of my friends who own restaurants is that
it’s been a good one.”
Fraser is uncertain whether the Winter of
2023 was an anomaly or predictor for 2024.
“Everyone’s having a good time now and
are spending money and eating out, we’re
very grateful for that, but I don’t think it
can go on like this forever.”
Ben Collis, Head of Commercial and
Marketing at The Boathouse Group, which
operates seven venues between Palm Beach
and Manly, says spending patterns have
changed.
“It’s clear there’s strong demand for people
still to be heading out and socialising,
PHOTO: Martin Kelly
but with the economy we’re seeing a shift
into more casual dining,” says Collis.
“Our cafes are definitely flourishing
versus our more premium restaurant offerings.
The trend has slowly moved with the
economy over the past 12 months.”
He says while the operating environment
is challenging – “over the past year
we’ve been belted by inflation and interest
rate rises” – product innovation such as
tweaking opening hours and adding live
music at certain venues has paid off.
As always, weather plays a significant
role. On sunny weekends Collis says Boathouse
venues – which include Barrenjoey
House, Manly Pavilion and The Boathouse
Shelly Beach – are “heaving, but as soon as
the weather sours, people on the Northern
Beaches tend to stay in”.
Collis says the Group’s homewares store
and café and pizza pop-up Casa by The
PHOTO: Martin Kelly
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: CASUAL
DINING SHIFT: Boathouse’s Ben
Collis.
UNPREDICTABLE: Local operators
Doug Fraser and wife Kylie wonder
what’s in store in Winter 2024.
SIGN OF THE TIMES: The Barbuto site
at Narrabeen.
26 APRIL 2024
The Local Voice Since 1991