“There’s a misconception that French cooking is heavy,” says Sebastien Lutaud, culinary director of Etymon Projects, the group behind new three-in-one, all-day Lavender Bay venue Loulou, which incorporates a bistro, boulangerie (bakery) and traiteur (deli).

Head chef Billy Hannigan’s (ex-Bistro Guillaume, The Ledbury in London) bistro menu makes it clear there’s a vast world of French food beyond the cream and sauce-heavy stereotypes. Hannigan takes cooking techniques and classic recipes from the various regions of France, and executes them using fresh local produce – in the bistro that includes Sydney rock oysters served with a tart mignonette and salade niçoise updated with Tasmanian octopus.

With other dishes including rabbit terrine, hand-cut steak tartare and chicken liver parfait served with brioche, the bistro’s menu is unapologetically French – but the team hopes to buck the cuisine’s staid reputation and become an everyday, easygoing favourite.

We think you might like Access. For $12 a month, join our membership program to stay in the know.

SIGN UP

“We want the menu to be approachable enough for locals to feel comfortable coming in a couple of times a week,” says Hannigan. The bistro is open from breakfast through to dinner. Well-respected sommelier Shun Eto’s (ex-Icebergs Dining Room and Bar) wine list hops from Champagne to Burgundy and beyond.

Over in the traiteur – led by French-born chef and butcher Cyprien Picard (Victor Churchill) – a cold section features fresh salads and comforting home-style meals such as cold ratatouille and summer cassoulet. You can also pick up charcuterie, rotisserie chickens, condiments and cook-at-home sausages to be enjoyed in nearby Wendy Whiteley garden or once you get home.

Loulou’s bistro and traiteur menus and the fit-out – with its mosaic-tiled, arched entryway, brass fittings and Parisian cafe-style chairs and tables – all work together to create French ambience. But at its core, Loulou is about making minor, habitual shifts to locals’ lifestyles in Lavender Bay, not only bringing them French cuisine, but introducing them to customs built into everyday French life. That starts with the fundamentals: freshly baked bread, which Lutaud laments not being able to find in the evenings in Sydney.

“I’ve stopped eating bread with dinner because bakeries close so early in Sydney,” he says. “I want people to be able to get a fresh baguette on their way home from work.”

To that end, the boulangerie bakes four times a day, meaning constant access to fresh bread and the lovely aroma of baked goods lingering in the air all day. Pain au levain (sourdough) is used to make classic baguettes, miche loaves and weekend specials such as a 40 per cent rye loaf and fruit and muesli sourdough. There’s also a range of viennoiserie (goods made from yeast-leavened laminated dough), including savoury danishes, Breton kouign-amann (a light, flaky pastry), croissants and pain au chocolat.

Loulou

61 Lavender Street, Milsons Point
(02) 8000 7800

Hours
Boulangerie and Traiteur
Daily 7am–8pm

Bistro
Mon to Thu 12pm–11pm
Fri & Sat 12pm–midnight
Sun 12pm–10pm

loulou.sydney
@loulou.sydney