If your Euro travels have been limited to your Instagram feed (or you’re already missing your overseas holiday), So Frenchy So Chic will have you feeling French fever. Spanning live music, arts and fashion, the festival is a holistic celebration of French culture – but the food is undoubtedly one of the highlights.

The festival returns on Sunday January 14, 2024, to Werribee Mansion, and the menu has classic dishes like oysters, ratatouille, crepes, eclairs and more to transport your tastebuds to France.

“We work with French artisans and restaurants who make great products,” festival founder Jean-François Ponthieux tells Broadsheet. “We try to curate them so everyone’s got something very unique to offer. It’s quite a diverse menu.”

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Longtime Melbourne collaborator L’Hotel Gitan – from the prolific Reymond family – has become a mainstay of the culinary line-up. This year’s menu includes croque monsieurs, strawberry macarons and a savoury macaron made with almond and duck liver parfait.

The team is also overseeing the charcuterie hampers, which include terrine, beef bresaola, De Palma Norcia Finocchiata (cured pork and fennel salami), saucisson, cornichons, caramelised onion jam and a baguette.

“We’re not just a festival with food trucks and burgers,” says Ponthieux. “We’re trying to showcase different dishes and be a bit more elaborate.”

Posh Brioche is another highlight, with toasted brioche sandwiches and sweet and savoury filled brioche cups. Ponthieux’s pick is the burgundy brioche, featuring slow-cooked beef in a red wine sauce with bacon, mushroom, onion, carrot and capsicum.

Bianco Latte will be on-site scooping gelato from a mobile ice-cream cart, and french basques Paella by Orleans Moules Frites.

Cheese hampers are being curated by L’Artisan Cheese Organic, a fourth-generation cheesemaker launched in France and now based on the Great Ocean Road. And if that’s not enough fromage for you, Frencheese is serving melted raclette blanketed over a bed of potato, prosciutto and salad.

It wouldn’t be So Frenchy So Chic without some bubbly, and this year it comes courtesy of Champagne Lanson, one of the oldest champagne houses in France. Wines include French imports like chablis and beaujolais, available by the glass or the bottle. There’s also Kronenbourg beer, French-inspired cocktails and non-alcoholic options ranging from elderflower cordial to fresh lemonade.

Broadsheet is a proud media partner of So Frenchy So Chic in 2024, taking place on January 14 in Melbourne and on January 20 in Sydney. Tickets are available now.