Summer House
HOURS
Monday – Saturday
12pm – 9pm
Casual resort style dining
DRIFT AWAY
Summer House recreates that aura that you have when you’re on holiday. The furnishings are wood, stone. The colours are sandy. The chairs are big and the place is uncluttered. There’s a real sense of space. The ceilings are high with fans to help with the illusion that you are in Queensland or the tropics. There are beautiful prints from Eumundi Markets in the hinterland of Noosa. The furnishings and fittings are from Jimmy Possum and the decorative screen from Coco Republic, the lighting from Mondo Luce, and the Kosta Boda glass was imported from America. The large metal ring of chopped wood was inspired by the wall in Pizza Mario in Surry Hills.
THE TASTE OF SUMMER
Summer House is casual. It’s not about trying to shift any boundaries or paradigms with gastronomy. It’s just the food we all love; wonderful fish and chips, a great club sandwich, a summery glass of wine, a sweet treat. It’s about creating that aura that you have when you’re on holiday. It’s a feeling of wellbeing. It’s escapism.
A lot of the recipes are from Donna Hay. It’s uncomplicated Aussie food which is simply put together well. It’s always fresh and seasonal. The fish and chips are made using flathead fillets to Peter Doyle’s recipe. They come wrapped in butcher’s paper, just like they used to when you were little. We use Martin Boetz’s recipe for the salt and pepper calamari because I think his is the best in the land.
OFF THE HOOK
One of the many artifacts in the Summer House is this solid balsa classic malibu made by Riley Surfboards, Sutherland/Miranda. After World War 2 the first balsawood surfboards emerged and changed surfing dramatically. These lighter and more manoeuvrable boards meant a more radical surfing style which soon became known as hot-dogging. From their origin in Malibu, California, balsa surfboards soon made their way to Australia where keen surfers such as Scott Dillon began riding and making them.
The Riley classic is a solid Malibu inspired by these boards of the 50’s and 60’s which the Australians, Americans and Hawaiians rode at the small point breaks of Cronulla, Noosa, Malibu and Waikiki. This is a great board for hot-dogging and reminiscing those good ol’ days.