Bastille Day 2014: French festivities around Melbourne
Calling all Francophiles, Melbourne's bistros are getting into the spirit of the French national day, stretching out Bastille Day into a full week of special events. Here are our picks. Bon appetit!
Bistro Vue
Bistro Vue's Bastille Day dinner (7pm, July 14) let's you eat cake – and lots of it, with a patisserie assortment of petits fours including canele, madeleine, macaron, creme brulee and Paris-Brest. The five-course dinner ($155) is inspired by Paul Bocuse, and includes matching French wines.
At midday from Monday to Saturday, a classic three-course lunch line-up includes soft-shell crab with rouille sauce; confit duck leg and sautéed potatoes; and lemon pudding with pistachio ice-cream ($60).
Monday, July 14- Saturday, July 19, Bistro Vue, 430 Little Collins Street, 9691 3838, vuedemonde.com.au/bistrovue
Union Dining
Richmond's Union Dining is also celebrating all week, showcasing a different pair of French classics every evening from Tuesday-Saturday. The two-course dinner and a glass of French wine (rose, white or red) is $45, perhaps pissaladiere and coq au vin (Tuesday), steak tartare and duck a l'orange (Thursday), or chef Nicky Reimer's dinner party staple, cassoulet (Saturday). Got a sweet tooth? Add on a special dessert of chocolate mousse with poached strawberries.
July 15-19, Union Dining, 270 Swan Street, Richmond, 9428 2988, uniondining.com.au
Le Grand Cirque
Circus-skills-trained Manu Fieldel (of My Kitchen Rules fame) will be playing ringmaster at his French bistro Le Grand Cirque. Expect burlesque performers and high-kicking can-can dancers. The $95 four-course dinner includes a cocktail on arrival.
7pm, Monday, July 14, Le Grand Cirque, 21 Daly Street, South Yarra, legrandcirque.com.au
France-Soir
The South Yarra stalwart's annual Bastille Day celebrations are fun and frivolous, think can-can dancers, an accordion/violin duo playing French tunes, and staff dressed in period garb. The brasserie is serving its a la carte menu, with entertainment from 8pm tonight. Vive la France-Soir!
11 Toorak Road, South Yarra, 9866 8569, france-soir.com.au
Luxembourg
Andrew McConnell's latest restaurant Luxembourg, a glamorous wine bar and bistro (formerly Golden Fields), is preparing a three-course Bastille Day set menu ($65) featuring a shared selection of oysters, gougeres and house-made charcuterie; confit duck leg cassoulet or chermoula-slicked bouillabaisse for main; concluding with desserts of swoon-worthy quince millefeuille and chocolate tart, plus a coffee and canele.
From 5pm, Monday, July 14, Luxembourg Bar and Bistro, Shop 2, 157 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda, 9525 4488, luxembourgbistro.com.au
Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.
Sign upMore:
Annabel Smith is senior producer and innovation editor for Good Food.Connect via email.