The Brasserie has re-opened at Merewether Golf Club with a new menu - and you're invited.
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Founded in 1933, it is one of Newcastle's oldest courses but change is most definitely in the air. The Brasserie is just the beginning. Plans are well under way to build a new clubhouse, "seniors living" apartments and a wellness centre on site.
You don't have to be a member to dine at the golf club. All are welcome.
Michael Boyd, who owns and runs Gamble & Brown cafe at Kotara Homemakers Centre, is now in charge of the club's restaurant with the help of chef Sandy Harris. Together, they hope to put The Brasserie on Newcastle's culinary radar.
"Sandy was my head chef when I opened Gamble & Brown," Boyd said.
"He's been in the industry a long time, has the skills and knowledge and is a good operator."
Gone are the days of a 90-minute wait for an underwhelming chicken schnitzel, Boyd tells Food & Wine. The star of The Brasserie's new food offering is the 18-hour slow-roasted and grain-fed prime rib.
"Our philosophy is simple - good food done well," Boyd said.
The menu includes beer-battered barramundi, panko crumbed chicken schnitzel (crumbed in-house), lasagne, sourdough toasties, soup of the day, lamb shanks and a range of sweet treats and desserts.
There is also a $12 children's menu and a "great kids' room", Boyd says, with three flat-screen televisions, online gaming devices and colouring-in activities.
Boyd plans to "jazz up" the restaurant and its dated decor over time but for now it's all about the food - and letting people know The Brasserie is open for business.
"The golf club was buzzing all through the COVID lockdown and recorded a big increase in membership because it was one of the only sports you could still play," he said.
"Everyone thinks it's a private club but it's not. You have to be signed in by a member if you live within a five-kilometere radius, like any other club, but there are always members around to do that.
"There is a huge catchment in Adamstown's King Street area and we want to shout out from the rooftops that the club and The Brasserie are open to the public."
The Brasserie at 40 King Street, Adamstown, is open Tuesday and Wednesday for lunch, and from 5pm to 8.30pm for dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
As for Gamble & Brown, it closed for three weeks due to the pandemic but re-opened on April 27 and business is booming.
"It was a time for us to press control, alt and delete and review what the business was doing and how," Boyd explained.
"The other weekend was our busiest on record."