As the doors open this week at Chez Blue on Darling Street, Rozelle’s Gallic food pitch is set to be further boosted by the addition of a French-born local celebrity chef.

At the Red Lion Hotel, near the former site of Tetsuya’s on Darling Street, staff tell Good Food its under-construction restaurant will open in March, with Manu Feildel in the kitchen.

The TV chef couldn’t be reached for comment, but Red Lion socials show Feildel has links with the venue, cooking a truffle dinner there earlier this year.

It’s a pleasing turn for the neighbourhood, and the city. In post-Olympics Sydney, you were hard-pressed to find a menu without duck confit, then French found itself out of favour for nearly a decade as cuisines such as Middle Eastern got more exposure.

Chez Blue is a born-again venue in spirit, opening beside the Sackville Hotel, where Bistro Moncur founder Damien Pignolet operated Bistro Deux in the late 1990s.

As a former head chef at Bistro Moncur, Chez Blue chef Mark Williamson has a strong connection with Pignolet. When the colder months roll in, Williamson says there might be a nod or two to Pignolet, with a cassoulet or charcuterie, but for now he’s charting his own path with twists on French classics.

Williamson has deconstructed Nicoise salad, rebuilding it as a low-rise tower of raw tuna, beans, egg and tomato vinaigrette. “The chicken liver parfait is done creme brulee style,” Williamson says.

Chez Blue’s drinks list includes a “croissant-washed” mini martini, made using Four Pillars gin that’s croissant-washed in-house, adding hints of buttery pastry. A dessert trolley will include freshly baked madeleines too.

Elliot Solomon, chief executive at Solotel, which has owned the Sackville since 1999, says the success of Il Baretto behind the company’s Paddo Inn property provided inspiration for Chez Blue.

Having its own entrance was important, Solomon says, as was engaging the community. In the lead-up to its launch, the Chez Blue team set up at local markets, selling product, but mostly getting to know the clientele.

“We’ve really noticed the demographics have changed in the last 10 years,” Solomon says of the area. “More young professionals, more young children. We thought it was time to have a different offering, like Chez Blue.” (Blue is his son’s middle name.)

The influx of new venues is a positive for the Rozelle-Balmain area, Solomon says. “The more the merrier. We want to bring back fond memories of dining on the streets of Paris,” he says.

Open lunch Fri-Sat; dinner Wed-Sun.

599 Darling Street, Rozelle, 02 9192 4900, chezblue.com.au