The first stage of a multimillion-dollar refurbishment at Wests Illawarra is opening on Thursday in time for the long weekend.
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The Aster Group has invested $3.2 million into creating a custom-built dining, bar and lounge area for members and visitors called Artisan.
Before it opens to the public at 11.30am, Food and Beverage Group executive Yianni Barthelmess revealed the process of bringing something new to the Unanderra club.
Mr Barthelmess said the team at Artisan, including the apprentices and head chef, had listened to feedback from customers and a survey conducted by IRIS research.
"It is great to be able to provide something like this for our community and our regular members of the club who haven't had a brand new food experience at this venue for 20 years, he said.
"It is a fantastic opportunity to allow them to experience something modern and new.
"We have taken all the feedback on board from all the relevant stakeholders to try to appeal to many different tastes."
The food offering includes a dry-aged meat cabinet featuring beef from the Riverina, Brooklyn Valley and Jack's Creek.
"You can come in and get a fantastic rump steak at a very good club price from the Jack's Creek region. They won the number one fillet steak in the world last year," Mr Barthelmess said.
"Or you can get a scotch fillet which is a little more expensive, or a great T-bone, or we have a 45-day dry aged meat."
The menu will also feature chicken schnitzel, pizza, burgers and seafood.
"We've been speaking to a lot of local suppliers and using a lot of handmade products," Mr Barthelmess said.
Artisan has created employment opportunities for chefs and broadened the entire team's skill set.
"They have had to learn to make a lot of things by hand," he said.
"We are making our pizza dough by hand and some of our pastas by hand. And dry-ageing our meat in our own dry-age cabinets."
There is a focus on different wines from different regions around the world including the Southern Highlands.
"Cocktails are back and we have some craft beers including a very rare craft beer," Mr Barthelmess said.
"There only 54 kegs of it nationwide and we have one of them," Mr Barthelmess said.
One of the concepts behind the new menu is different 'zones', which deliver a variety of food experiences and choice of seating styles.
Aster Group's Stacey Corbeski said the custom-built dining, bar and lounge area was designed to be relaxed, comfortable and stylish.
The new lounge area will see the return of live entertainment on Friday and Saturday from 8.30pm.
Aster Group chief executive Daniel Munk said Artisan was part of a commitment by Wests Illawarra to invest in services that meet the unique needs and desires of the local community.
From Thursday Artisan will be open seven days a week, from 11.30am to 2pm for lunch and 5.30pm to 8.30pm for dinner.
It will be open until 9pm on Friday and Saturday for dinner.