Bistro Gitan: 52 Toorak Road West, South Yarra, 9867 5853
My score: 3.5/5
There aren’t many Melbourne families like the Reymonds. Jacques Reymond has been at the pinnacle of the city’s dining scene for more than two decades with the inestimable support of his wife Kathy. Their four children have grown up and schooled up in dad’s restaurants. Now three of them – Nathalie, Edouard and Antoine – are in business together here (the fourth, Joanna, runs menu planning website Mum’s Lunch). The only comparable families I can think of are the Grossis, the Wolf-Taskers (Lake House) and the Laus (ex-Flower Drum, Lau’s Family Kitchen).
Bistro Gitan is a comfortable, stylish assumption of the old Fawkner Bistro. The location, opposite Fawkner Park and a short hop from St Kilda Road, is lovely but South Yarra businesses, far from being no-brainer licenses to print money, are tricky to get humming. The fact that Gitan has been busy since its October opening is an impressive sign of savvy.
The food is mostly French with bistro staples (snails, steak frites, creme caramel) augmented by retro re-workings (classy prawn cocktail, a steak tartare I will rave about shortly) and dishes Jacques Reymond has plucked from his pool of French memories. The food comes in three sizes so you can build meals any which way. Chef Steven Nelson has worked at Jacques Reymond’s fine dining mansion for three years but he’s left his foam gun and Asian influences behind. Here, he’s using plenty of butter and cream – very un-Jacques but appreciated in this context. Bring back the good fat, I say!
For that steak tartare, sliced fillet is tumbled with Tabasco and Worcestershire sauces, capers, cornichons and pickled onions. This piquant mixture is spooned over celeriac remoulade sitting on baby cos cups. It’s rich, tart, frisky and luxurious all at once. La Pôchouse is a dish from the Reymonds’ ancestral Jura region: it’s a delicate baked fish casserole redolent with kaiserfleisch and mushrooms. Reymond also came up with the fun, tasty savoury churros flavoured with gruyere. Desserts are simple. Timboon’s L’Artisan is responsible for a startlingly white, pure, creamy fromage blanc attended by yet more delicious white substances (cream and icing sugar) plus gorgeous strawberries. Fifteen wines are available by the glass, 250ml pichet or 500ml carafe, backed by a fairly priced cellar list of mostly French and Australian wines with a nice sideline in Spanish.
This isn’t the location to reinvent le wheel but focus, freshness and, no doubt, that fine family pedigree, ensure that Bistro Gitan is rolling along nicely.
See their website.
More French:
Bistro Vue, 430 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 9691 3838
The bistro has taken over the old Vue de monde space, so you can eat oysters, confit duck and the awesome tarte tatin at the new bar or in a handsome booth.
La Petanque, 1208 Mornington-Flinders Road, Main Ridge, 5931 0155
Mornington Peninsula produce features at this pretty restaurant with deck and petanque court. Look out for the lamb dish, with lamb rack, lamb shoulder pie and thyme pesto.
Bistro Thierry, 511 Malvern Road, Toorak, 9824 0888
Sunday is BYO night at one of my all-time French favourites for consistent food and a cheery bienvenue.
First published in The Age, January 8, 2012.
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