Coming Soon: Bistro Grenier’s Uplifting the Odd Culture Loft, Adding a French Bistro to King Street

The Odd Culture team is busy. They’re running some of our favourite haunts (The Duke and The Old Fitz) and sending out bottles at Spon. They’re delivering a heady program of live performances at their latest opening, Pleasure Club. And they’re consistent at namesake venue Odd Culture, their ode to fermentation in Newtown. But they’re ready for a shake up, revamping Odd Culture’s mezzanine as a French bistro destination by the end of the month.

“We want to make it really approachable, cosy and warm,” Odd Culture CEO James Thorpe says in a statement. “[But using] the knowledge and library we’ve built of flavour-building ferments to put something really special on the plate.”

The lofty dining room lends itself well to a second offering, with the out-of-the-way area the perfect canvas for food best enjoyed in a moody, low-lit space. The group’s exec chef James MacDonald (ex- Hubert and London’s St John) is leading the charge with a familiar clutch of dishes.

What do we know so far? There’ll be steak frites, anchovy-topped pisaladierre, a rich boudin noir and a pork chop best shared. And for dessert, pouding chomeur – or “poor man’s pudding” – a self-saucing maple syrup pudding that’s baked to order. The sweet Québécois finisher is a hark back to head chef Jesse Warkentin’s Canadian heritage.

The group’s distinctive style will add a playful option to Sydney’s mix of newer French bistros, like Rozelle’s Chez Blue and Chez Crix in Surry Hills. In the coming weeks, a lick of deep burgundy paint will coat the Odd Culture mezzanine walls, and the lights will be turned low. A bientot, Bistro Grenier.

Bistro Grenier is expected to open in late August 2024.

@bistrogrenier