The Thirsty Travellers have been eager to support a few local businesses before lock down, so we headed to Barrenjoey House for dinner on Saturday night.

Fortunately, the restaurant was still open, albeit with a limited menu, cashless payments and reduced seating to comply with social distancing requirements.

We’ve visited Barrenjoey House previously for a few oysters and a glass of rosé at twilight, but this was our first dinner experience.

We love the location because it’s across the road from Palm Beach ferry wharf – where we’ve headed on many a happy weekend to take picturesque ferry rides across Pittwater to Patonga and Ettalong.

Barrenjoey House is a local icon, with a history spanning almost 100 years. It was built in 1920 by Albert Verrills, as a restaurant and guest house for the Resch family. It was the first address in Palm Beach to install a telephone, with the number “1”.

Among famous visitors to the guest house was former Prime Minister Billy Hughes, who enjoyed using the surrounding lawns to practice his golf.

In the early 1980’s, Barrenjoey House was purchased and restored by Robert and Ian Gray. They retained the property until 2001, when Brendon and Jenny Barry purchased and substantially renovated the house. Barrenjoey House was taken over by The Boathouse Group in June 2018 and, after being refurbished, opened in December 2018.

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On Saturday night we enjoyed oysters with pomegranate mignonette; calamari with aioli and lemon; flatbread with tomato and basil; and scotch fillet with mashed potato, chives and jus.

It was a stunning spot to watch the evening fall, gazing out the huge windows with their water view … especially with a glass of Maison Saint AIX Rosé and Collector ‘Marked Tree’ Shiraz in hand.

During these uncertain times, Barrenjoey House is no longer open for diners but, at the time of publication, is still making its take-away flatbreads available all day.

Walk in or call (02) 9974 4001 to order.

View the menu online: www.barrenjoeyhouse.com.au/flatbreads

The Thirsty Travellers also popped over to The Boathouse Home, a little further down the road in Palm Beach, on Sunday and picked up some gorgeous glass buoys to decorate our deck, since we’ll be sipping our rosé and shiraz there for the foreseeable future.

You’ll find The Boathouse Home at 1 Beach Road, Palm Beach.