Stacey Stouraitis’ Manley beach restaurant Ash’s Table is busy year round, but its beachside location sees it double its trade in summer.
“Our winter trade is good too but summer trade is full on from 7am until 10:30pm,” owner of eight years, Stouraitis says.
The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, seats 50 people outside and 50 people inside and only closes on Christmas Day.
“We’re consistently busy for weekend breakfasts and brunches and we have some crazy dinner nights. During summer we have like five out of seven nights where we’re full and we’ll turn the restaurant over two, three times, which is a big effort, that’s 300 people in a night, 700 people in a full day,” Stouraitis says.
Location is a big part of the restaurant’s appeal, he says.
“Manly is about the only place in Australia I’ve experienced where it feels like being on the Greek islands,” Stouraitis says. “You have so many international tourists and visitors here, French, Greeks, Germans, Brazilians, English, Americans, the list goes on. It’s very cosmopolitan and Manly itself is a real hub in terms of restaurants, hotels, bars. It’s a great place for tourists and for families.”
Breakfast trade is constantly booming, Stouraitis says, adding that the ritual has become iconically Australian.
“It’s a big cultural thing and has become that way, to come out and just see a buzz of people having big breakfasts. I have a lot of staff working for me who are from overseas and the first thing they do when their parents or friends come from overseas is bring them down to witness the Australian breakfast culture,” he says.
Local born celebrities like Hugh Jackman and Kylie Minogue who are snapped breakfasting and brunching in Sydney hotspots may have triggered the trend, he adds.
It’s definitely an Australian custom though.
“I was in Paris a few years ago and I ordered bacon and eggs for breakfast, and the waiter told me they only had croissants, so I said ‘give me five then’! Europeans are amused at us having bacon and eggs followed by muesli and fruit and yogurt, pancakes; it is a cultural thing.”
Ash’s Table serves modern Australian cuisine.
“It’s rather eclectic though. We do Moqueca, the traditional palm oil based Brazilian seafood curry, we do Italian dishes like pasta and pizza, we do some Asian influenced dishes as one of my sous chefs is Japanese. We have a bit of South American, European, and Anglo. It’s a lot of variety for a lot of different people.”
Success comes down to swiftness of service and skill, Stouraitis says.
“My dad was really a fusspot and believed fast service was good service. I get complimented heaps on the efficiency of the place and the consistency. Whenever you come in and get eggs benedict or steak, it’s always going to be exactly the same, it doesn’t matter which chef is cooking it, which I like. It’s the same with our coffees, we do great coffee and go through about 70 kg a week.”
The restaurant’s menu stand at the front and the specials board that hangs from the ceiling outside are both crucial elements for attracting customers, Stouraitis says.
“I don’t do full on advertising, I rely on word of mouth because during the winter. We have faithful locals who will just come to us, then they send people from overseas to come out and see us as well. The word of mouth is important; it’s good to have that reputation amongst customers.”