Guillaume Brahimi may have been unceremoniously dumped from his old
Bennelong site in the Opera House in December last year in favour of
more casual dining, Guillaume has now reopened in the Eastern Suburbs.
Ironically the Opera House trust is still going through a tender process
to fill the space vacated by Guillaume. Opera House's loss is
Paddington's gain.
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| Guillaume is housed in a terrace that was once Darcy's, an Italian institution for 40 years |
Unfortunately I never got the chance to eat at Guillaume's restaurant in Bennelong. A table during their final hurrah was the hottest ticket in town so my last ditch attempt to secure a reservation of course failed. Not wanting to miss out again, I called the new Guillaume on the afternoon reservations became available (in early July), only to be told the earliest Friday night booking was 5 weeks after the opening day (which I obviously accepted).
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| The beautiful dining room on the ground level. There's more dining space upstairs. |
Guillaume is said to have found inspiration for his new restaurant from
his visit to London-based Aussie Brett Graham's restaurant, The Ledbury,
last year. The Ledbury is a 2 Michelin star restaurant serving sublime
food in a light, elegant and relaxed dining space in the posh
suburb of Notting Hill. I was lucky enough to be able to meet Brett
after my meal at The Ledbury in October last year and he mentioned to me
that Guillaume had dropped by just the week before. It turns out that
this was the visit that inspired Guillaume to create his own take of Ledbury in
the equally wealthy suburb of Paddington!
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| Some of the Matisse artworks on display |
The food at Guillaume is very French (obviously) and classical (if you
want creative, adventurous "contemporary" cooking, you are looking in
the wrong place). There's an a la carte menu (one course $48; two
courses $75; four courses for $135) and an 8 course degustation menu for
$175. We opted for the degustation menu and with advance notice, an 8 course vegetarian menu was prepared for my wife.
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| Iggy's bread and Myrtleford butter |
To start the meal we were served complimentary sourdough rolls from Eastern suburbs favourite bread maker, Iggy's and cultured
butter from Myrtleford.
Amuse bouche
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| Amuse bouche - spanner crab, avocado mousse, finger lime, coriander & Crystal Bay prawn |
For amuse bouche (served with caviar spoons of course), I was served a bowl of hand-picked spanner crab, with avocado mousse, pearls of finger lime and coriander arrives. The spanner crab was very sweet and the avocado mousse was to die for! Little bursts of acidity from the finger lime round out this refreshing, amazing little number. The other amuse was a lightly poached Crystal Bay prawn served with lime and wrapped in basil leaves.
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| Vego amuse bouche - Fennel, truffle, avocado mousse & asparagus, truffle |
My wife's amuse bouche was fennel, avocado mousse and studs of black truffle The other amuse was asparagus with black truffle. As the winter black truffle season is practically over now, there was not as much black truffles on display tonight compared to when the restaurant opened in early August. As such the truffle flavour was mild.
1st course
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| Yellowfin tuna, basil, soy, mustard seed |
My first course was Guillaume's signature dish from his first
restaurant, Pond: a lightly seared basil-infused yellow fin tuna wrapped
with basil leaves. The balance of sweetness and peppery notes of the
basil, with the subtle heat from the mustard seed and the umami of
light soy went well with the beautiful sashimi grade tuna. This was a
very clean and fresh dish, making it an ideal way to start the
degustation.
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| Baby vegetables, carrot, turnip, beetroot |
My wife's first course was a simple salad of assorted baby vegetables including carrots, turnips, kale, beans and red vein sorrel. Around the plate were alternating drops of beetroot and onion puree.
2nd course
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| Royale of globe artichoke, truffle, mud crab, barigoule vinaigrette |
Royale is another Guillaume classic and is a luxe custard of globe artichoke served at room temperature; it was smooth, creamy, flavoursome and flawless in its execution. The fine dice of little carrots and celery cubes provided a fantastic textural contrast to the creamy custard. Sitting on top of the royale were strands of sweet and delicate mud crab. The royale was served with a wonderful barigoule vinaigrette that had the right amount of acidity to balance the dish. This course turned out to be one of my favourites of the night.
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| Royale of globe artichoke, truffle, barigoule vinaigrette |
My wife's dish was essentially mine with the mud crab substituted for globe artichoke.
Bonus course
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| Scallop, Jerusalem artichoke, truffle, chicken jus |
The kitchen sent out an extra treat in the form of a pan seared scallop
with Jerusalem artichokes, truffle and chicken jus. The plump scallop
was cooked to perfection: sweet, translucent in the middle with a
beautiful tan on top.
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| Jerusalem artichoke, truffle, beurre noisette |
My wife's bonus course was also a delight. A jerusalem artichoke was
beautifully caramelised and reminded us of a delicious roasted potato.
The artichoke was served with a nutty beurre noissete and truffle.
3rd course
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| Marron, pork cheek, broad beans, cauliflower, sea spray |
The butter poached marron was divine: sweet, gently cooked flesh with a nice springy texture (served with its pincher, how cute!). The
marron was paired rather surprisingly with braised pork cheeks, which
just melted in the mouth. The cauliflower puree was ridiculous - the
smoothest, creamiest and one of the best purees I've seen! A lovely
sauce of anchovies, rosemary, olive oil and lemon finished off the dish.
This was an amazing course and one of my favourites of the night
(hint, order this if you go the a la carte menu).
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| Asparagus, hens egg, potato |
My wife's 3rd course consisted of steamed batons of asparagus with a hens egg and potato. The asparagus and warm, gooey egg yolk combo is a no brainer and a favourite in our household. In place of crusty sourdough, there was a wafer- thin potato crisp. And that foamy beurre blanc sauce was just pure buttery decadence! My wife was in raptures eating this dish and I was jealous watching her demolish this plate of food.
4th course
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| Peas & broad beans, tortellini, creme fraiche, tarragon |
Both my wife and I then had the pea and broad bean tortellini. The pasta
was some of the best I've tried in Sydney: silky, slippery parcels that
give Ormeggio a run for its money for best pasta. And that tarragon
beurre blanc sauce was liquid gold: rich and incredibly moreish. The
combination of that buttery sauce with the sweet green pea and broad
bean creme fraiche filling was just heavenly.
5th course
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| Patagonian toothfish, globe artichoke, spinach, lemon, oyster |
The last of the seafood courses was a pan fried fillet of Patagonian
toothfish from Antarctic waters. Toothfish is a fairly recent addition
to menus of Sydney restaurants so I haven't had a lot of it in the past.
The toothfish was a moist, firm fleshed fish with an almost buttery
texture. The dish was given an extra touch of luxe with little pearls of
caviar set atop the fish to accentuate the toothfish.
The toothfish sat on a bed of spinach, and was served with a lightly
pickled globe artichoke heart and finished with an amazing oyster and chive
beurre blanc sauce.
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| Heirloom carrot, ginger, coriander, pommes allumettes |
Heirloom carrots were prepared 3 ways: cooked, fresh thin shavings and pureed. The star of this course was definitely the amazing carrot and ginger puree! It was sweet, smooth and creamy. The ginger brought the puree to a whole new level, adding tanginess, spiciness and warmth. The dish also came with a deep fried nest of crispy matchstick potatoes (pommes allumettes) and was finished with a coriander beurre blanc sauce.
6th course
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| Robbins Island full blood wagyu, shimeji mushrooms, baby spinach, merlot sauce & Paris mash |
My final savoury dish may follow the classic "meat and three veg"
formula, but why would I want anything else with flavours like this.
The wagyu beef from Robbins Island in Tasmania was of supreme quality
and cooked to perfection: full of flavour, tender with a
wonderfully rare pink centre. The merlot sauce has stood the test of time at Bennelong and continues
to be a brilliant accompaniment to beef. The buttery baby spinach
and shimeji mushrooms is an incredibly delicious side of veg that I
would happily eat on its own. And there was a globe of caramelised shallot, which added sweetness and extra depth of flavour to the dish.
The final savoury course is also served with Guillaume's signature Paris mash, which the waiter dollops onto our plate at the table. This Paris mash was incredible and worth the price of admission alone: so unbelievably smooth, creamy and just pure evil (with a ratio of 4 potatoes to 250 grams of butter)! I was sad that the waiter didn't leave the entire bowl on our table. Perhaps they were looking out for my waistline...
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| Zucchini risotto, baby leek, parmesan & Paris mash |
My wife's final savoury course was a zucchini risotto with baby leeks and parmesan. The risotto was well cooked with each grain of rice being delightfully al dente. The parmesan was sharp and had an excellent flavour. In terms of the progression of the vegetarian menu, my wife felt that it might have been better if this dish came earlier as this course was not as rich or creamy as some of the earlier courses. This risotto was also drier than other risottos we've had.
The risotto too was served with a dollop of Paris mash. Nothing wrong with some carb on carb action!
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| Mixed salad |
After we finished our savoury courses, a waitress served us some mixed salad of fresh, crisp leaves dressed with a zingy shallot vinaigrette to cleanse the palate. Serving salad afterwards is not something that I have seen before, but I could do with the extra greens.
Cheese course
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| Cheese course (extra $25) |
In my quest to become a more informed foodie, I have started to take more of an interest in different types of cheese (my next goal is to develop an appreciation for wine). Guillaume's cheese "block" consists of a Holy Goat La Luna, a 12 month aged Pyengana cheddar, a Roquefort blue cheese and a Milawa Gold washed rind. I enjoyed all the cheeses but not the Roquefort as I cannot stand blue cheeses. My wife, however, enjoys pungent blue cheeses, so she wasn't complaining about having to finish the entire slab. The cheeses were served with raisins, slices of green apple, crisps and Iggy's bread.
7th course
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| Blood orange sorbet |
Blood orange sorbet served with its zest was an excellent palate cleanser; it was exactly like taking a bite out of the actual fruit. So refreshing and so delicious! And it came with a cute little heart-shaped spoon rest.
8th course
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| Valrhona chocolate souffle, cherry ripple ice cream |
For the final dessert course, we were given a choice between creme
brulee, which was listed on the printed menu, or the chocolate souffle, a Guillaume signature from Bennelong. Despite being quite full by this
stage, we decided to choose one of each, including the more substantial
chocolate souffle in the name of research. Plus who could say no to
Valrhona chocolate!
The chocolate souffle was a pretty sight: tall and risen perfectly. Then our
waitress dropped a spoon of cherry ripple ice cream, which melted
into the warm souffle, creating the perfect comfort dessert. The souffle
had a nice crust and a moist, light as air interior that just
evaporated in the mouth. For an extra hit of chocolate, melted chocolate
coated the sides of the pan. But this dessert was quite large and could easily be shared between 2, so it does become quite rich towards the end.
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| Vanilla bean crème
brulee, green apple, doughnut |
For a lighter finish to the meal, go for the crème
brulee. The crème
brulee was amazing, so smooth and full of vanilla beans; one of the
best crème
brulees i have ever tried! The tartness of the green apple sorbet,
batons of fresh green apple and dabs of lime gel cut through the
richness of the crème
brulee. There's also a cute little doughnut ball
for something different. The crème
brulee was my preferred
dessert and made for a fitting end to a superb degustation menu.
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| Petit fours? |
Guillaume doesn't do petit fours; they do petit eights! We enjoyed each of these bite sized treats. There was a vanilla macaron, an opera cake, a lemon tart, a blackcurrant jelly, a pistachio macaron, a chocolate tart, a caramel fudge and an orange jelly.
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| Fresh mint tea to aid with digestion. I needed it! |
As we sipped on tea, trying to recover from the food coma we had just slipped into, Guillaume emerged from the kitchen and made his way around the dining room to speak with customers that were still around at the end of the night. Guillaume was gracious in our praise for the meal he and his team had just prepared for us. I suggested that we'd throw a bit of a challenge to a Frenchman with my wife's vegetarian diet, to which Guillaume responded that the he had fun putting the vegetarian degustation menu together and that vegetables should always be an important part of any menu.
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| We just had to get a pic with Guillaume! #fanboy #fangirl |
My meal at the new Guillaume was truly incredible, one of my
best meals for quite some time! In my opinion, you will find some of
the best cooking in Sydney at this restaurant; the sort of cooking you might find at
Michelin starred restaurants in Europe.
I love classical cooking. I actually
find it refreshing to have classical food at a fine
dining restaurant this exceptional with all the "contemporary" cuisine out there. These
types of establishments seem to be a rarity in Sydney outside of
Guillaume, Tetsuya's and est.
What I love about Guillaume is the overall simplicity of the food with
each dish focusing on 3 or so elements, the painstaking attention to
detail in its cooking and flavour combinations that quite simply just
hit the mark time and time again. The produce was exceptional as you'd expect from a restaurant of this calibre, but it was the execution of the finishing touches like those sublime sauces and purees (and that little bit of extra butter) that really stood out for me. This is a
meal that I will remember for a long time and I would rate
Guillaume as one of my favourite fine dining experiences in Sydney.
Verdict
Highlight: Every dish was exceptional, with the marron, the royale and the creme brulee being a few of the highlights.
Lowlight: Roll me out of the restaurant, such was the amount of amazing food I consumed in this meal!
Overall: Guillaume is Sydney's own version of The Ledbury, an outstanding restaurant serving excellent food in a relaxed and elegant dining space with service that is attentive yet not overbearing. 9/10 (Outstanding)
Guillaume
Address: 92 Hargrave St
Paddington,
NSW
2021
Contact no: 02 9302 5222
Website: http://www.guillaumes.com.au/
