Sydney Eat Street: Best French takeaway for Bastille Day 2021
No need to put away the French berets as you can still celebrate La Fete Nationale with takeaway at home by picking up some tasty French fare.
Eat Street
Don't miss out on the headlines from Eat Street. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Take a tour of Sydney’s best eateries right here with The Sunday Telegraph’s Eat Street. Are you hungry for more inspiration? Follow us on Instagram or Twitter. #SydneyEatStreet
For more takeaway and pick-up ideas, click here.
Frenchies Brasserie
The intention was there. It was supposed to have been a week-long celebration with a four-
course menu featuring Frenchies Brasserie’s popular dishes. There was even going to be the option to ‘truffle-ise’ each one.
But rather than admit defeat, head chef Jeremy Pace has pushed on.
“We might still be in lockdown, but that doesn’t stop our customers from being able to enjoy great French food for La Fete Nationale and pretending they’re in Paris — even if they can’t be there in person.”
So, while Frenchies’ regular menu is already available for takeaway, on Bastille Day, Wednesday, July 14, they’ll offer an abbreviated version of their celebratory feast with a three-course meal that includes French onion soup, Boeuf Bourguignon, and Paris Brest ($59).
Vive la France.
— Shop 3/54 Kalang Rd, Elanora Heights; frenchiesbrasserie.com.au
Bellevue Cottage by Antoine
What a beauty. With a name like Bellevue (‘nice view’), it’s almost as if this heritage-listed cottage turned restaurant was destined to become a destination for fine French fare in a
casually elegant setting, granted it took about 125 years and multiple incarnations to get there.
Sitting on a small hill above the Glebe foreshore with a sweeping and rather unique view
across Blackwattle Bay, towards the Anzac Bridge and the city, it does indeed have a belle
vue, but fans of chef Antoine Moscovitz will agree that the best vantage point is from a
restaurant table, Kir Royal in hand and surrounded by friends — and of course, good food.
SYDNEY LOCKDOWN TAKEAWAY OPTIONS
Come Bastille Day, Moscovitz’s intention was to showcase some of the popular dishes, specifically the traditional Cassoulet.
He explains that, back in 1789, “when the people of France decided to overthrow the monarchy and take back what belonged to them, food was scarce, and the Cassoulet of the time was made only with fat, water, dried beans and spices. It was the perfect formula to fight the cold winters and to feed the whole family for days … this really was the dish of the people”.
Fast forward to present-day Glebe, and “this year at Bellevue Cottage, we are giving tribute to the people and rich culture of France by serving a more luxurious preparation for our Cassoulet, our guests will enjoy sharing over a generous amount of confit duck legs, Toulouse sausage house-smoked, crispy pork belly, braised corn-fed chicken, slowly cooked Lima, broad and cannellini bean with aromatics and tomatoes. How times have changed”.
Alas, you’ll have to wait a tick longer for a table, on Bastille Day, Wednesday, July 14, the Cassoulet will be offered for pick-up and delivery (Sydney Metro) as a share-dish that serves two to three people ($90). Otherwise, the regular menu is still available for takeaway and delivery.
Plus coming soon, you’ll be able to order weekly frozen ready-made meals from Bellevue Cottage via ChefPrep Online.
In addition to the restaurant, there is also the Bellevue coffee cart right along the foreshore walk offering takeaway hot drinks, pastries and crepes for takeaway.
A perfect way to finish your outdoor exercise with its belle vue.
— 55 Leichhardt Rd, Glebe (Glebe foreshore); bellevuecottage.com.au
Le Marché
Although Bastille Day festivities are on hold and foreign travel is abated, that doesn’t mean Sydneysiders need to wait another year to channel their inner Francophile when a mere jaunt
to Le Marché (‘the market’) in Willoughby gives you a petite peek into French culture.
Held fortnightly on the second and fourth Sunday of the month, this French-Australian food market features fresh produce, groceries, crafts and a vast array of artisanal products, including Saucissons, pâtés, foie gras, Cassoulet, French cheese, French truffles products, provincial olives and olives oils, crepes, croque monsieur, French bakers, madeleines, canelés, French artisan chocolatier, Raclette, quiches, rillettes, choux and eclairs, French cider and French wine.
“Le Marché offers the largest selection of French food in all Australia: Our customers are often saying that le Marché is the prettiest market in Sydney and that they feel like being in France somewhere in the countryside,” says French-native and market founder, Solveig Coulon.
BEST LOCKDOWN TAKEAWAY FOODS IN SYDNEY
That’s quite impressive considering the event isn’t even a year old, but then that’s also a testament to the quality of the vendors Coulon has gathered, such as regional and local cheeses from award-winning cheesemongers Aurore Ghigo and Tom Ippolito of Cheese on Wheels, and saucissons, pâtés and Cassoulet, Toulouse saucissons from former chef, Jean-Marc Amar of Saucisson Australia, a staple on the market circuit with a cult-like following.
“People travel to the market just to buy from them,” Coulon says.
And for the truly French experience, finish your shopping with a glass of French wine from their ‘Bar à vins’ upon the terrace in the cottage gardens.
Et voila! Your impromptu tour de France is complete.
— Club Willoughby, 26 Crabbes Ave, North Willoughby; facebook.com/Le-Marché-Willoughby
Sacrebleu
With an abundance of fresh seafood, premium beef and a vast array of exotic produce, chefs
the world over agree we are indeed The Lucky Country, but for many Australians who hail from afar, sometimes all you want is a taste of home.
Fortunately for those craving French sweet treats, Cecile and Adrien Bochel, who is a French-trained chef, have brought their recipes and experience Down Under.
Starting with market stalls around Sydney, their first one launching appropriately enough on July 14, 2018, Adrien soon developed quite the following for his rum and organic vanilla canelé, little custard cakes with a caramel crust and moist centre baked in copper moulds from Bordeaux.
Based on a recipe dating back to the 16th century, they’ve not only won the hearts of Sydneysiders and French ex-pats, but they’ve also been awarded a Gold Medal at the last Sydney Royal Fine Food Show.
Equally popular are his Madeleine, a distinctive shell-shaped French sponge cake flavoured with Australian Organic Honey and made with fresh Australian butter.
While they’re still a regular on the market scene, including La Marché food market in Willoughby, they now have a shopfront in Freshwater called Sacrebleu! La Boutique, open Friday through Sunday.
And if that’s not feasible either, they also offer these delicious morsels for pick-up and delivery.
— 16A Lawrence St, Freshwater; sacrebleu.com.au
Passiontree Velvet
For the quintessential French treat, there’s no going past delicate and delicious macarons.
Typically made with a buttercream or ganache filling sandwiched between two almond meringue biscuits, they’re easily recognisable by their smooth top and ‘ruffled’ edges.
Over the centuries, the recipe has remained essentially the same, but now with creations as salted caramel, red velvet, and passionfruit, flavour combinations and colours are endless.
Order some for your own Bastille Day celebrations at home at passiontreevelvet.com.au.
bibo Wine Bar
Plans to visit Paris will have to wait, but thankfully, bibo Wine Bar can take you there in spirit with their “bibo at Home” takeaway offers.
Chef/co-owner Jose Silva (former head chef of Guillaume at Sydney Opera House) has put together a set Tasting Menu ($130, serves two) that includes his signature smoked mackerel pate, a “Snack Box” ($60, serves two) with optional mains such as barramundi, leek and beurre blanc sauce; and beef cheek, potato and red wine, as well as a dessert selection — which of course includes Jose’s famous Portuguese tarts from Sweet Belem, his bakery in Petersham.
And since it’s truffle season, there’s also the option to add a piece of truffle that you can shave at home.
And although Bastille Day is usually an unmissable event on the bibo culinary calendar, Jose hint that there’ll be something special on the way.
Of course, no dinner is complete without a drink, so bibo has brought back their takeaways cocktails, including Barrel-Aged Negroni and Spiced Old Fashioned as well French and Portuguese bottles of wine from their award-winning wine list. Bon appetite.
— 7 Bay St, Double Bay; bibowinebar.com.au
Bistro St Jacques
Not quite fine dining, nor casual cafe. Bistro St Jacques is that sweet spot in between where the food is refined and the portions are generous. And like any good neighbour, they’re looking out for locals by offering a specific takeaway menu, specials such as the recent beef Wellington!
Grass-fed eye fillet wrapped in house-made puff pastry with mushroom duxelles and prosciutto served with organic shoestring fries and bordelaise sauce ($50), and even discounts on French wines. Tres Bien.
— 96 Pitt St, Redfern; bistrostjacques.com.au
Bistro Papillon
Bookings for Bistro Papillon’s Bastille Day festivities start rolling in a year in advance and no wonder as not only is rowdy crowd treated to a five-course menu, likes of classic French onion soup, a Bouillabaisse-style mixed seafood stew with fennel and potatoes or confit of duck and pork cassoulet, even the staff get in on the action serving each dish (and fabulous French wine) while dressed the part, drawn on pencil-thin moustaches, berets and striped shirt.
Fear not, it’ll be back next year, but until then, it’s still a go-to for classic French fare … and a bit of cheeky fun.
— Bistro Papillon, 98 Clarence St, Sydney; bistropapillon.com.au
LoLuk
While this charming restaurant may be dark for now, just know that when the lights come back on, you can get a comforting hug of home-style cooking, with a menu based on owners Luc and Loïc La Joye’s grandmothers’ recipes.
Typical to most French restaurants, you’ll find terrines and cheese soufflés, but more specific to their home in the south of France near the Italian border is a pasta dish she often made- pan-fried duck breast with gnocchi.
The restaurant itself is equally welcoming, with white-lined covered tables scattered through the two defined spaces of this former terrace dwelling, as well as out back in the rear garden area. Definitely, something to look forward to.
— LoLuk Bistro; 2/411 Bourke St, Surry Hills; lolukbistro.com.au
Sydney Fish Market
There’s more to seafood than prawns on the barbie or salt-n-pepper calamari, and Bastille Day might just be the nudge you need to broaden your horizons, and Sydney Fish Market is here to help.
Not only do they one of the largest fresh fish and seafood selections in the Southern Hemisphere, but they’re also a one-stop-shop for all your grocery needs with a butcher, bakery, wine store, greengrocer and gourmet food providore on site.
Plus, their website, sydneyfishmarket.com.au, has an abundance of recipes, including ones for bouillabaisse (a decadent version of fish stew), spanner crab omelette with truffle, and Sole Meunière, a classic French way to serve flat fish that’s made with burnt butter sauce. With 2-hour free parking, you swing by for takeaway, pre-order for pick-up, or hop online to check out their various delivery options.
— Banks St, Pyrmont; sydneyfishmarket.com.au
Garçon
The inner-west first got its taste of Garçon’s French bistro fare way back in 2016 with the opening of the Tramsheds precinct in Forest Lodge. Featuring dishes from France’s many culinary regions, it quickly developed a foodie-following, so much, so that owner Paul Sadana took a risk and brought another Garçon to Lane Cove community in late 2020, where the close-knit community quickly fell for their weekly special, including bottomless raclette nights on Sundays, and unlimited Mussels and Fries on Wednesdays.
And while Bastille Day is usually a favourite for executive chef Guillaume Le Gal (ex-Bitton Gourmet & LoLuk Bistro), he’s still put together a special Bastille Day offering — a takeaway hamper that includes chicken liver parfait, mussels au gratin, boeuf bourguignon, mash potatoes and baby vegetables and to finish a chocolate mousse with salted caramel heart ($55pp, Lane Cove location only).
— Tenancy 4, 1 Dalgal Wy, Forest Lodge; 5/8 Rosenthal Ave, Lane Cove; garcon.com.au
Four Frogs Creperie
Sweet or savoury. Soft or crispy. Whichever way you sway, Four Frogs is your go-to for sweet crepes and their savoury cousin, galettes, but since you can’t really go anywhere right now, they do offer takeaway, pick-up and delivery.
For those who prefer to be a bit more hands-on, they also sell Crepe-cooking gift boxes that include everything you need to make Crepes and Galettes in the comfort of your own kitchen.
— Lane Cove, Mosman and Randwick; fourfrogs.com.au
More Coverage
Winter warmers to celebrate the season
Everyone is happy to see the sun peeking through the clouds, but winter’s not all bad. Bid farewell to the colder days with one last hurrah of warming fare.
Sniffing out Sydney’s best truffle desserts
Save the best for last. As truffle season comes to a close, be sure to indulge in some sweet treats featuring the annual earthy gem.