Graphic Arts Club Dishing Up Fine Dining at Unbeatable Prices

‘Tight Arse Tuesday’ is hugely popular, with around 80 to 100 patrons packing the Club during a traditionally quiet time of the week for most venues.

It’s just a small part of their overall food and beverage offering, but an important one, encouraging return visitation for the likes of social lunches, themed nights and catered functions.

With the Club renowned for the quality of the meals at affordable prices, it’s probably no surprise that food and beverage accounts for two-thirds of its overall revenue.

“Our Executive Chef Adrian Woods has been with us for 13 years which means we’ve had the consistency in our food that members have come to expect,” says South Sydney Graphic Arts Club Operations Manager James Mackenzie.

James, who introduced Tight Arse Tuesday in 2002 when he started as the Club’s chef, says the success also lies in having a mix of staples and non-traditional items on the regular menu.

“We have our standard menu items like schnitzels and that sort of thing, but then there are also different ‘wow factor’ dishes, for example at the moment Adrian has a Portuguese Plate with peri-peri chicken skewers, which does turn heads when it comes out of the kitchen,” he says.

“We also do lots of functions, such as weddings, engagement parties and christenings, and Adrian really shines because he has the flexibility to be a bit more creative and so the standard of our function food is very high.”

Themed nights are also a very popular part of the Club’s offering, with the most recent being a French night, with members treated to a five-course French meal for just $50.

And while the Tight Arse Tuesday may not be a profit spinner for the Club, it helps to set up foot traffic for the rest of the week.

“The menu is structured for the price, it’s good value and we don’t lose on it, but we don’t make money doing those sorts of prices. But it keeps people interested and then they might return for a lunch or a dinner with a group of friends,” says James.

“The price really hasn’t gone up that much since we started it 20 years ago — back then it was $20 for three courses and up until this year it was $30, and you’re choosing between three entrees, three mains and two desserts.”

A recent Tuesday menu included a choice of pork dim sims, crumbed calamari or curry puffs for entrée; and an Indian butter chicken curry, veal schnitzel with coleslaw, or chorizo and beans linguine for the main.

For dessert, it was a choice between white chocolate and strawberry mousse cake, or date pudding with butter scotch and vanilla ice cream.

Over the past year the Club has also recognised the tough economic climate by providing members with a monthly food and beverage voucher.

“We’ve been doing $10 per month because of the cost-of-living crisis, which helps members out and encourages them to come in,” says James.

“It does bring people in, and we see people that we haven’t seen for a long time. They might come in and have a drink with the voucher but then also decide to stay on for a meal.”

But by far the most popular part of the food and beverage experience isn’t the meal, the drink or the affordable prices — it’s the robot called Norma which helps to deliver the meals and return the dirty plates to the kitchen afterwards.

Named after a former beloved director, the late Norma Bonus, it’s a proven hit, particularly with young families.

“As soon as the kids see Norma they come running and love it,” says James.

“Not only is Norma a bit of a novelty, it’s actually very useful for us because the glasses, plates and cutlery come straight back and staff aren’t juggling all of the crockery.”

Members can expect the consistency and quality of the Club’s offering to continue, with James taking up the position of CEO next month, following the retirement of long-term chief executive Ian McMillan.