THE ATHLETIC CLUB - Sawtell, NSW
Flex those flavours...
There are no gym workouts at this Athletic Club because it’s a small bar. And the big news is The Athletic Club has introduced a dinner service.
Their new menu launched during NAIDOC Week and features native ingredients – lilly pilly, pepper leaf, mountain pepper, macadamias, kangaroo, and coastal greens.
NAIDOC Week acknowledges the original National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee, and celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
July is also Australia’s BLAK History month – head to the official Facebook page to learn more.
The Athletic Club's 'amuse' menu offers a range of small plates – six savoury choices, and two desserts.
'Amuse bouche' is a French term for mouth amuser – not jokes, small bites of food. Our table of two ordered most dishes on the menu.
Standouts were the Pacific oysters dressed in Lilly Pilly with River Red Gum smoked vinaigrette; and Kangaroo Carpaccio with Dorrigo pepper leaf, a hazelnut romesco sauce, fried capers, and mandarin.
The plate of organic Pumpkin Gnudi (gnocchi-like dumplings) with mountain pepper and pecorino brown butter sauce was delicious. You can also order it as a main dish.
Other plates included Woodfired Vegetables served on a butter bean purée; and Potato Pavé cubes garnished with coastal greens and cured egg yolk.
The French term pavé means 'cobblestones' or cooked in a rectangular shape, sometimes weighed down to create a flat and rectangular shape.
Dessert? A choice between Lemon Myrtle pudding or Tiramisu reinvented as Tiramisu Magnums. I chose the magnums. They arrived on paddle pop sticks, coated with dark chocolate and served horizontally on a puddle of mascarpone – a creative twist on tradition.
The Athletic Club offers an innovative range of bites created by Chef Jude Ng, who draws on her fine dining background to deliver creatively imagined flavour combinations you won’t find anywhere else.
Jude told me her menu will change with the seasons, "I get excited by ingredients grown well and harvested at its prime, in particular, Indigenous produce such as the tiny flavour bombs of Midyim Berry".
At The Athletic Club you can come for a bite and a sip, or explore the whole menu in a relaxed and friendly space.
The new AUGUST menu launches Wednesday 2 August.
THE ATHLETIC CLUB – 16 FIRST AVE, SAWTELL, NSW 2452 | Online bookings via @theathleticclubsawtell on instagram
This Food Review was written by Awia Markey for Mid North Coast Arts Guide magazine August 2023 issue.
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