Cronulla, Sydney's south
Two decades on Elouera Beach
Summer Salt is a restaurant and bar on the beachfront at Elouera, in Cronulla, at the southern end of Sydney. The building faces the water, and from most tables the ocean fills the view. It has been open for more than twenty years, a rare run for any restaurant. Beyond the everyday it takes the days people put in the diary a year out: Melbourne Cup lunches, bridal showers, Christmas Day.
Seafood carries the menu. Around it the cooking is modern Australian, built on fresh produce and moving with the season, with a run of contemporary dishes for anyone who did not come for the fish. Hot and cold platters are the exception to ordering on the day: numbers are limited, so they are taken ahead of time. The drinks list is long, cocktails of the house's own alongside the standards, and wine from Australian and international producers. There is a menu for children as well.
The room is large and restrained by design: modern, minimalist, with the windows doing the decorating. It seats 190 and holds 220 standing, and it divides. The main dining room splits north and south, 48 seats on one side and 76 on the other. The bar takes 60 for a cocktail party. A private dining room off to one side of the floor seats 14, with natural light on it and the same water in the window.
Trading runs Wednesday to Sunday, and the two services have different characters. Lunch is the long one, midday to 3, and with a beach outside and a menu for children it takes families and groups. Dinner is shorter: the kitchen closes at 8 on Wednesday and Thursday, 7.30 on Sunday, and 9 on Friday and Saturday. Tables come through SevenRooms, and a party of more than 30 goes to the events team instead.
An SRG Hospitality venue
Summer Salt is one of the SRG Hospitality venues, a group Bill and Kathleen Drakopoulos started in 2000 and that Daniel Drakopoulos and Perry Drakopoulos now lead as managing directors.
- Founded
- 2000
- Founders
- Bill Drakopoulos and Kathleen Drakopoulos
- Managing directors
- Daniel Drakopoulos and Perry Drakopoulos
Getting here
The restaurant is at 66 Mitchell Rd, on the beachfront at Elouera. Most people drive, and there is parking on the street outside, some of it metered and some of it free, along Mitchell Rd and the streets running back from it. Larger council car parks are a few minutes on foot.
Cronulla station is a 15-minute walk. Local buses run through the area, and taxis and rideshares can drop at the door.
Access
The restaurant is wheelchair accessible: entry is level, there are no steps once inside, and accessible parking spaces sit close by.
