Pittwater Life April 2024 Issue

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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
ality on Beaches Boathouse at Palm Beach will close when the lease expires after Easter. Work is well underway on The Boathouse Group’s newest venue at Mona Vale Golf Club, which CEO Antony Jones told The Daily Telegraph will have a country clubmeets-boathouse vibe. A mid-year opening is planned, with an announcement expected soon on the new executive chef, tipped to be a local. Winter won’t be easy for the industry, predicts Collis, but says there’s cause for optimism. “I do think it will be a tough Winter for lots out there running hospitality with the state of the economy and the fact that in Winter people go out less,” Collis says. “But looking ahead to the back end of the year, there’s tax cuts coming and also potential interest rate drops. “We’re hoping that happens before Summer and we have a really strong season.” Popular venues to close either during or after Winter 2023 include Barbuto and Moonlight Social in Narrabeen, both sites empty for months, and Sir Duncan at Newport. Agent Vincent West from Upstate says the hospitality leasing market has been hard to decipher but seems to have turned a corner since February. West says he has strong interest on both Barbuto, advertised at an annual rent of $138,000 + gst, and the hospitality spaces at Avalon Surf Lifesaving Club, where landlord Northern Beaches Council is asking $169,000 + GST per annum. The North Agency confirmed Moonlight Social has been carved into two tenancies, with leases taken by an Italian restaurant and hairdresser. “There’s a lot of activity around and it seems to me the good operators are confident in moving forward and the operators that stick a manager in there and think ‘I’m going to be an investor’ are the ones struggling,” says West. “For the guys that do it professionally and are in the business, running the business, they seem to be doing ok or better than those running them as an investment. “Any time anything gets hard there’s always a separation between those who know what they’re doing and those that have done ok because the market’s been so good.” – Martin Kelly *What do you think? Tell us at readers@ pittwaterlife.com.au News The Local Voice Since 1991 APRIL 2024 27
Page 1: The Local Voice Since 1991 APRIL 20
Page 4: FREE LOCAL MONTHLY INDEPENDENT DIST
Page 8 and 9: Mona Vale ranked the 6th best beach
Page 10: News Council line on ticketless fin
Page 13 and 14: een sale near CLOSE: The sale of We
Page 16: ‘Cost shifting’ disputed News
Page 20 and 21: Warriewood’s Piano Man News Every
Page 22: News Laura youngest ‘Woman of Yea
Page 30: The Way We Were Every month we pore
Page 33 and 34: BEFORE after photos). The couple in
Page 35 and 36: until the early ’90s. Brian, Paul
Page 37: as a coach and one year as vice-pre
Page 41 and 42: headlined by KLP supported by James
Page 43 and 44: a one-day event. From this pool, de
Page 45 and 46: Kickability on the beaches Kickabil
Page 47 and 48: values over the 12 months to March
Page 49 and 50: Art Life ‘Tabled’, ‘Held’,
Page 51 and 52: wellbeing ALL-OR-SOME- THING: Exerc
Page 54 and 55: Health & Wellbeing with Rowena Beck
Page 56 and 57: Health & Wellbeing Health & Wellbei
Page 58 and 59: Business Life: Money with Brian Hrn
Page 60 and 61: Trades & Services Trades & Services
Page 62 and 63: Trades & Services Trades & Services
Page 64 and 65: Pittwater Puzzler Compiled by David
Page 66 and 67: Food Life with Janelle Bloom Food L
Page 68 and 69: Food Life Pick of the Month: Kale F
Page 70 and 71: Garden Life Garden Life Gorgeous gr
Page 72 and 73: Garden Life Garden Life and growth

Pittwater Life April 2024 Issue

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