Chris Lucas set to open long-awaited French restaurant Maison Bâtard on November 26
Eight years and a rumoured $45m later, Chris Lucas is finally opening his newest venue — a four-level French behemoth in the city next month. Just don’t say the name has a crude translation.
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Hospo kingpin Chris Lucas’s hotly anticipated French restaurant Maison Bâtard is finally opening next month — and before you ask, the name doesn’t have a crude English translation.
“(It) comes from my favourite vineyard, Bâtard-Montrachet,” Lucas told the Herald Sun.
“It of course also shares a name with a special French bread that we’ll be making in house.”
Bâtard is also French for illegitimate child or bastard.
Maison Bâtard, a four-level eating and drinking mecca rumoured to have cost $45m, will open at the top end of Bourke St on November 26.
It’ll house a restaurant spanning the lower two floors, late-night basement supper club and an elegant rooftop terrace.
Lucas said the complex – which saw more than eight years of restoration at the heritage Italian Society restaurant site – will create a new legacy for CBD’s Bourke Hill precinct.
He brings on board executive chef Adam Sanderson, who has previously worked in renowned restaurants including The Fat Duck in the UK and Danish celebrity chef René Redzepi’s Noma in Denmark.
It’s understood Lucas bought the three buildings that form Bâtard for about $19m, with estimates the whole project cost close to $45m.
The mega-venue is set to create up to 500 jobs, which Lucas says will “bring energy and life back into the heart of Melbourne”.
“This project will provide an amazing training ground for the next generation of hospitality professionals, from sommeliers to pastry chefs and beyond,” he said.
“It’s a unique opportunity to foster local talent and elevate Melbourne’s position as a global dining destination.”
Drawing on his decades of experience alongside his extensive travels through France, Lucas said the restaurant is a uniquely Melbourne interpretation of simple, regional French cuisine.
“There’s an etiquette and culture surrounding French passions for food and dining that has always resonated with me, and I hope to capture some of this joie de vivre in a very Melbourne way with Maison Bâtard,” he said.
Damian Snell, who has helped research and develop numerous restaurants alongside Lucas over the years, has been selected as culinary director.
Head pastry chef of Grill Americano in Flinders Lane and creator of its famed tiramisu, Michaela Kang, will head up the significant pastry program.
Also playing a key role on the Bâtard team is Lucas Restaurants’ director of wine Loïc Avril.
The restaurant lives in the former home of the iconic Society building, opposite Grossi’s iconic restaurant trilogy: Florentino, Cellar Bar and Grill.
The Italian Society was opened on the site in the 1930s by Italian migrants Giuseppe and Antonio Codognotto. It was a Melbourne institution for nearly a century.
Lucas, who owns top establishments such as Chin Chin and Kisume on Flinders Lane, and Society venue in Collins St, said such historic buildings are “critical to the identity of Melbourne”.
“The opportunity to bring new life to this significant and beautiful building for future generations has been an act of remembrance, marrying the history with what is to come,” he said.
Maison Bâtard opens on November 26 at 23 Bourke St, Melbourne. Reservations open on November 7.
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