La Grande Bouffe

By Franz Scheurer

What is it about Liam Tomlin that has inspired so many chefs? So many that worked with him have gone on to open fabulous, value-for-money eating-places with superb food. We must thank him for having such a positive impact on the Sydney dining scene.

Irish chef Colin Fassnidge has just taken over the kitchen of a small restaurant in Rozelle, owned by David Poirier (ex Salt) and wife, Meredith. With Colin in the kitchen and David on the floor, La Grande Bouffe is off to a good start.

Colin has a lot of experience. He started his career under Raymond Blanc in Oxford, working with a young New Zealander, Justin North, who was Blanc’s sous-chef at the time. As we all know, North moved to Sydney to work with Liam Tomlin at Banc; his tales of Australia and its food scene convinced Colin to follow. Working again with North at Banc, (in the year Banc was nominated Restaurant of the Year) he moved on to est., briefly running that kitchen between Matt Flemming’s departure and Peter Doyle’s arrival. Returning to London Colin ended up in one of the busiest kitchens in town: Gordon Ramsay’s newly opened Boxwood at the Berkley Hotel. Having learnt three important things during those years, which he made the mantra of his career: ‘fresh’, ‘innovative’ and ‘original’, he arrived back in Sydney to stand on his own feet. After a short stint at Divino in Stanley Street and helping Matthew Kemp out at Balzac, he finally settled into his own kitchen.

La Grande Bouffe (located diagonally across from ‘Herbie’s Spices’ in Rozelle), looks, feels and smells like a French country inn. Polished wooden floors, whitewashed walls and ceilings, rough, dark wooden tables and chairs, it is friendly, bustling and noisy. There is also out-doors seating where the heaters do a fabulous job. The menu is French country fare and the food is well crafted and satisfying.

An amuse gueule of two snails in garlic butter are a perfect mouth-watering start to the meal and the quality of the bread and butter is terrific. We ordered ‘Roasted veal sweetbreads with calf tongue and soft polenta’, ‘French onion soup’, ‘Confit of Bangalow pork belly with cabbage and apple’ and ‘Risotto of cèpes, nettle and truffle creme’ for our entrées. The onion soup was very good, the sweetbreads excellent and the risotto about as good as you would expect in a French restaurant. They used Arborio rice resulting in good texture but we all felt that the truffle taste was overwhelming. The star of the entrées, without a doubt was the pork. Top-notch crackling, oozy and palate-coating meat with an added lift of sweet and sour from the apple and the cabbage.

A mid-course of ‘Beef Cheeks and Mash’ was simply stunning. Easily the best beef cheeks I have tasted. They now replace the ones I had at Ristorante Riva a few years ago in my taste memory as the ‘definitive beef cheeks’.

Our mains, ‘Sweet cured salmon and escabèche salad’, the ‘La Bouffe cassoulet’, and ‘Seared Calves Liver with lentils’ looked every bit as appetising as the entrées. The salmon, a combination of sweet flesh and sour vegetables presented beautifully and provided a contrast in tastes and textures. The cassoulet, a very good winter dish, was unctuous and satisfying but we missed the ‘broken crust’, one of the reasons we love cassoulet. The liver, easily the best main course, was absolutely perfectly seared, soft, meltingly tender, full of deep, rich and layered flavours, contrasting wonderfully with the quenelle of soft onions served with it. Another superb dish!

Portions in this restaurant are certainly not for the faint hearted. Although they are not visually large, they are filling and satisfying to the extent that we could only manage one dessert, an excellent Crème Brûlée, shared amongst the four of us.

Service was exemplary. We only had to glance in the direction of a waiter and they would immediately be there; helpful, friendly and professional, without being intrusive.

The wine list is glorious. One of the more appropriate lists in this town; perfectly matched to the food with a great selection of French wines (even by the glass) that I want to drink, it is a joy to behold. Wine prices are very reasonable, too! We ordered a wonderfully flinty Pierre de la Grange Muscadet ($38) and followed on with a Domaine Pichot Vouvray Sec, ($54) a full-bodied, dry and mouth-filling Chenin Blanc, both from the Loire Valley.

With entrées ranging from $11 to $16.50 and mains from $20 to $25.50 value for money is not just good it’s downright amazing. How can they offer this quality at that price? I don’t know, but hey, take advantage of it and eat there. I can thoroughly recommend it. They are open for breakfast and lunch seven days and dinner from Tuesday to Saturday.

The food is every bit as good as it looks in the movie… now all we need to see on the menu are the ‘Jelly Breasts’!

I’ll be back!

Score: 7.5/10

For more information or bookings:

La Grande Bouffe

758 Darling Street

Rozelle NSW 2039

Tel.: 02 9818 4333