Poodle Bar & Bistro in Melbourne and Parlour in Sydney are both lively French restaurants with a cheeky sense of humour. So, when the two venues decided to team up for a special one-off dinner, the idea of a “French Happy Meal” came to mind.

This concept comes to life in a menu of Frenchy snacks and delicious crispy things, available for one night as part of Poodle x Parlour presented by QT, hosted by Good Food Events. The dinner happens on Thursday, June 26, at QT’s ground floor diner, Parlour.

Emma Dawson, who started at Poodle Bar & Bistro in Fitzroy as a junior sous chef and now leads the team as executive chef, will be showcasing some of the hatted restaurant’s most iconic dishes. “When you’re cooking in another city, you want to show people exactly what you’re about,” she says.

One such dish is Poodle’s steak tartare, which is topped with a soy-cured yolk for “umami, savoury flavour” and a tarragon mayo, then showered in fried herbs. For this event, Dawson decided to add salt and vinegar onion rings to the side. “They’re a wicked little snack,” she says.

The onion rings are dunked in cider and dark beer, then dredged in tapioca flour to achieve a light, lacy crust. The best part is the seasoning, which is an addictive, tangy mix of salt and dehydrated vinegar powder.

It’s one of four snacks Dawson will serve on the night, alongside parmesan scrolls, fried toast with ox tongue, and spanner crab profiteroles, on a menu she describes as “a little bit cheeky and a little bit decadent”.

On Parlour’s side, the team at QT Sydney are serving a high-low homage to the Macca’s classic: the Filet-O-Fish. Their version layers a salt cod croquette with sauce gribiche (a fancy tartare sauce with herbs and egg), melty cheese and caviar, tucked into soft Japanese shokupan.

For dessert, Poodle is bringing its signature banana and ricotta mille-feuille to Sydney for the first time. “It’s been on the menu for a few years and I don’t see it going off any time soon as it’s really moreish,” Dawson says. “It’s like a banoffee pie. There are layers of pastry, caramel and cream, with just a hint of banana – it’s a really nice way to finish a meal.”

For Dawson, the collaboration feels like a perfect match. “Poodle is very much on par with Parlour,” she says. “They’ve both got the same energy – they’re a bit dark, a bit gorgeous, and you can come in solo or with a group and have a great time either way.”

Tickets for Poodle x Parlour presented by QT are $90 and are available here.