What was once Melt, West and SeaSalt Society has merged into one at the new and improved Henley House, reopening (properly) this Friday.
Henley House aims to be a beachfront home away from home
Henley Square is a place for casual and versatile outings. A place where people can trot in with jeans and tees, or walk in straight from the beach.
That’s why what was once Melt, SeaSalt Society and West has become a single offering — Henley House.
Henley House managing partner Racquel Kulerski says the refurb is their effort to “stay relevant”.
“There’s so many venues down here that offer pizza, and we just want to be a point of difference so that people can roll in and do as they please,” she says.
Henley House softly launched in early October but is properly relaunching this Friday, and Racquel says she wants the space to be a place for everyone.
“As a brand-new venue, we want to offer a wider, more attainable and box ticking, I guess, style of menu,” she says.
“No matter what you’re doing, or who you’re coming in with, there’s something on that menu for them.”
Simon Kardachi is behind the concept of Henley House, as well as proprietor of other big-name restaurants like Fugazzi Bar and Dining Room, Shōbōsho and Osteria Oggi.
Kingfish and wood-grilled pita with a view
Racquel says the Henley House team took inspiration from Queensland’s Burleigh Pavilion and Sydney’s Coogee Pavilion to understand what works best with a location that is so weather dependent.
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“We are so seasonal,” Racquel says, then repeats: “We’re so seasonal — painfully seasonal.”
“Because SeaSalt was such a beautiful space in summer, depending on what the seasons were like, you might get three good months, you might get six good months.
“Then you have to have a whole team down there that’s employed to be able to service that.
“But now to be able to offer that quality across the entire space, the entire site, is what we’re trying to achieve and remove that seasonality or having to base our trade around that seasonality.”
A HH spread
Henley House today doesn’t have different dining venues, but different dining areas — an outdoor and indoor beachfront space, and a rooftop bar.
Raquel says the problem with the original concept of three separate venues was that they were too specific in their offering.
“We were trading for five years as three individual entities,” she says.
“We got to a point where we were receiving feedback where when SeaSalt was closed, they wanted SeaSalt. When Melt was up here, we had people that were like ‘We just don’t want pizzas’.”
Remarks
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This menu change, which has completely removed any pizza offerings, contribute again to Henley House’s efforts to stay relevant.
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“Rather than combining all three of our venues, we put together an offering that ticks a lot more boxes and provides a broader range of selections for our clientele,” Racquel says.
“Things like your fresh Gazander oysters, sashimi, tartare, beef carpaccio.
“We’ve gone through our tacos again which is an absolute hit — incredible. We’ve got our wood-fired steaks [and] wood-fired fish.
This menu revamp also includes schnitzels, steaks and what SeaSalt Society was best known for — fish and chips – being Raquel’s explanation of food “for everyone to enjoy”.
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The location is one of the best spots in Henley Square, in CityMag’s opinion. The Henley House team want to use this to their advantage, and have named their territory to represent the ease of their beachside offering.
“We’d like people to use it that way, a bit progressively even so you could spend a whole afternoon here,” says marketing manager Emma Kardachi.
“Start down on the beachfront after getting off the sand, moving up to this [indoor] space and then finishing on the rooftop watching the sunset.
“The idea is that you can really move through that space — so the house concept of different rooms, but still connected [is] where we came up with that.”
Oh so seasonal, but oh so pretty
Along with a prime location, Henley means a sense of community within postcode 5022.
“I’m West Beach born and bred, and I love this area, the lifestyle, the people,” Racquel says.
“The dynamic of community down here is wonderful, and we want to be able to give them what they want, when they want it. We’ve been here for five years now — you learn your customer.
“We just want to get them re-engaged with the space and remain relevant.”
Henley House is located at 269 Seaview Road, Henley Beach and is open everyday from 11:30am until late. The rooftop bar is open on Thursday and Friday from 4pm until late, and Saturday and Sunday from 2pm until late.
Connect with the business on Instagram, or visit the website to make a reservation.
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