THE GROUNDS BY THE SEA IS OPEN!

We’re stoked to share with you the news that as of Thursday this week, we officially opened the doors of The Grounds by the Sea for 2016 to our guests.

We’re so proud of the way our Grounds house has come to life, as though it’s been plucked from the Arizona desert and planted atop the hill in Tamarama. There’s a relaxed feel in the space, but we’ll admit before those doors opened at 7am on Thursday morning, things were quite the opposite!

If you tuned into our Facebook live stream on Wednesday evening, you can see as we looked around the space that there was still quite a bit to do! In fact, it was a straight-up manic rush at the end – (picture the final few hours before a room reveal on The Block) – and the question of whether we’d complete the house on time was on the tip of everyone’s tongue. With a huge effort from the team, and one crazy-long night, every little detail from the floral styling to the cacti planting was all in place and the pop-up hacienda was complete and ready to go!

Our super talented Group Executive Chef, Paul McGrath, has whipped up a deliciously fresh, limited edition menu for the duration of the pop-up and there’s a little something for everyone. You’ll find a few The Grounds Of Alexandria favourites with a twist, some fresh, healthy options and a few special, desert-esque dishes that we can’t get enough of.

If you’re in the mood for freshly shucked oysters and have better things to do than travel 473 kilometers to get your own, then we recommend an order of the 6 freshly shucked oysters, sourced from Pambula, NSW. They’ll be served on an icy bed of you guessed it, ice, and dressed with a zesty lime, coriander and chilli dressing – the perfect appetizer on a warm day by the beach.

We’re also featuring a Hawaiian Poké Salad. What’s a Poké salad you ask? Poké, pronounced po-kay, is a traditional Hawaiian dish prepared with raw marinated tuna. Poké comes from the verb for “to section, slice, or cut” so think pieces of tuna, rather than those thin slices of sashimi you see circling around your local sushi train. Chef Paul and his team will be plating up super fresh albacore tuna, marinated with coconut milk, lime & chilli, served with lettuce cups so you can get hands-on with a delicious lunch by the cacti. Our definite top recommendation as a meal!

What’s happening at The Grounds by
the Sea this year?

We’ve already had a few special friends join us at the house this year, Pedro and Rene to be specific, who are 2 insanely cute miniature donkeys. That’s right. Mini. Donkeys! They’ll be back to the house again tomorrow (Saturday 22nd October) between 10am and 3pm. Once you’re completely parched and exhausted from obsessing and adoring these cute little guys, you can quench your thirst with a fresh juice, replenish your hunger with one of our tasty menu items and caffeine up for the rest of the coastal walk ahead.

We’ll continue to stream all the fun things we’re doing at the house live through our Facebook page this year, so if you can’t make it down you can follow along with all of the happenings. We’ve got a few more tricks up our sleeves so stay tuned.

When you drop by to say hello, if you have any questions about the house, whether it’s on the detail of the build or the inspiration behind this year’s theme, be sure to ask one of our friendly staff donning a floral shirt.

We’re open each day from 7am-7pm, up until Sunday November 6th, and simply can not wait to sea you!