The weather has finally started to warm up! One by one Melbourne venues are starting to slowly embracing the sunshine and long daylight hours by opening up their terraces, rooftops and balconies (though with outdoor heaters strategically placed, just in case), including Union Dining.

Union Dining is a restaurant focusing on local produce served with a European sensibility that’s owned by Nicky Riemer in the kitchen (ex-Melbourne Wine Room) and Adam Cash at front of house (ex Cutler & Co). It’s a large handsome space which used to be a Greek restaurant but now looks more like a relaxed French bistro. I was invited to try some dishes from their new Spring menu while viewing their new upstairs terrace.

Their rooftop area overlooks the quiet back streets of Richmond with a pinpoint of the city skyline over yonder. Adorning one wall of the terrace is the first winner of ‘Two Years on the Wall‘, a biennial art competition run by Union Dining in conjunction with TarraWarra Estates. Forty-five entries were received from contemporary Victorian artists vying to have their mural on show for two years (and a cash prize) and the winning entry was a paste-up of a self-portrait of the Melbourne artist Baby Guerilla.

Along with big shady umbrellas, ample seating and its own bar service serving beer, cider, cocktails and summery mixers like Pimms, Campari and Aperol, the terrace is a great place to watch the sun go down with a group of friends.  To go with your drinks you can order from the ‘Terrace Food‘ menu of light, small, sharing finger food such as these loosely packed ocean trout croquettes.

The Spring menu includes a selection of items to suit all-sized appetites and tastes – you could choose to share, partake in a formal three course meal or loosen your belts for a multi-course night of indulgence.

To start we tried the cuttlefish salad with raisin and anchovy relish, pangrattato and tomato vinaigrette ($21) and artichokes barigoule, soft eggs, borlotti beans, parmesan and parsley ($28).

I enjoyed the chargrilled tenderness of the cuttlefish coupled with the crunchy breadcrumbs and sweet pops of raisin though I was less excited by the artichokes entree, despite its floral prettiness. This could be explained by the fact that I love seafood but generally avoid artichokes, but I also felt that the relative blandness of the latter dish lacked the vivid flavours of the cuttlefish.

From the mains we shared platters of spatchcocked baby chicken adorned with Otway shiitake mushrooms, a creme fraiche based sauce, confit shallots and roasted garlic ($35.50). This was my favourite dish of the night – I loved the fact that the chicken had been boned for easy slicing, you could press the soft garlic right into the skin and the earthy sauce just begged to be mopped up with a hunk of crusty bread.

The spatchcock was accompanied by an entree to share – pickled and roasted Spring vegetables with a brightly coloured parsley cream, crunchy walnuts and Meredith goat curd ($18). I would prefer this dish as a side rather than as an item on its own, as intended by the menu, but if you’re vegetarian it is one of only two entrees to choose from (the menu does say to ask your waiter for additional vegetarian dishes).

We were then presented with a tasting of a second meat dish, the Abbachio of Spring lamb with oregano, green chilli, pecorino and broad beans ($39). The meat was fork-tender and coupled well with the other Spring-like ingredients, but like the starters I felt that it paled in comparison to the ‘wow’ factor of the earlier dish.

The lamb was paired with an artfully arranged platter of sweet roasted zucchini and black quinoa, whipped goat curd, crisp red witlof and those plump sweet raisins again ($17/$26).

To finish we tried the trifle ($15) – not a dish I’d normally choose but this version is far removed from Grandma’s sponge-soggy dessert. The bottom is lined with tart tamarillo then layers are built with pistachio sponge and sweet zabaglione, before being garnished with a line of crunchy pistachios echoing the pale greeness of the sponge.

Finally, I’d like to applaud the polished and professional service I encountered at Union Dining. Water was proffered at regular intervals, plates were removed promptly and a rolled up blanket was quickly procured for my aching back when requested.

Union Dining, 270-272 Swan St, Richmond +61 3 9428 2988

Dinner from 6pm, Tuesday to Sunday
Lunch from 12pm, Friday to Sunday

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Most of my high school French is getting rusty these days but my vocabulary of French food and wine is on an exponential learning curve.

So thanks to Melbourne Food and Wine Festival I attended a Melbourne Food and Wine Festival event called France vs. Australia Food & Wine Showdown as a guest purely for the purposes of higher learning.

Well, let’s be honest. For educational and intensely pleasurable gastronomic purposes.

In my book, French champagne, French cheese, French bread and French pastries are the best in the world. But some of our Australian produce and wine is pretty darn amazing. So this 4 course dinner was going to be pretty interesting – classically French dishes from the kitchen of casual bistro/wine bar Mr Mason paired with a French and Australian wine for each course.

Facilitating the good-natured competition was sommelier, educator and Melbourne Weekly wine writer Ben Knight who discussed the background, flavours, aromas and notes of an Australian sparkling vs a champagne, a Clare Valley riesling vs an Alsatian varietal, an Australian pinot noir vs a burgundy and a bortrytis vs Coonawarra traminer.

To kick off proceedings, an amuse buche trifle of intensely carroty jelly layered with a cold coriander pesto, a tomato and roasted capsicum reduction, mussels and tiny fried shallots for textural and visual interest. A sign of good things to come.

Next course was a chicken mousseline hiding a nugget of escargot, julienned white asparagus, truffle and parmesan. Overall, a lovely delicate dish slightly overpowered by the bold shavings of parmesan on top. You kind of had to skirt around the cheese to really taste the other elements of the dish but in the end, who can say no to parmesan?

The entree was paired with a celebratory flute of Pol Rogerr Brut Vintage 2000 vs a Freycinet Radenti Sparkling 2001.

The Pol Roger was the hands-down winner. Kicked the Radenti out of the park. So fresh, clean, elegant and finessed that when a waitress accidentally spilled a glass of it onto our table my dining companion suggested that they bring us a straw. That bottle of champagne costs around $130 a pop!

You could smell the second course before it reached you table, thanks to the warming indulgence of the rich beurre blanc. Butter is why restaurant food tastes so good! Still, it wasn’t just a plate of melted butter. Delicate dory with clams, beautifully turned ovals of cucumber, samphire and a sprinkling of chives. A much better balanced dish than the snails, with more of a nod to a traditional French fish and beurre blanc combination.

The fish was paired with a Hugel Riesling 2009 vs an O’Leary Walker Watervale Riesling 2011. A bit unfair to compare wines from two different vintages perhaps but the Australian Riesling simply didn’t have the developed, richer flavour of the French wine. France 2, Australia 0.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen goose on the menu in Australia so I was quite excited to try it here. This plate was a rich and earthy selection of goose au vin (which I’d compare in texture and taste to braised and roasted pork belly), an equally meaty slab of king brown mushrooms and some baby onions. Didn’t particularly like the look or taste of the fried puffs of air garnish.

The matched wines for this course were the most controversial. On an initial taste the TarraWarra Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2008 was a clear winner – soft, fragrant, easy to drink. I took one sip of the Domaine de l’Arlot Le Petit Plets 2009 and immediately wrinkled my nose – I found it harsh and raw in comparison. Yet its drinkability improved with food and that was the key – the Australian wine was a quaffing wine, the French wine was strictly to be drunk with food and they were at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of flavour profile. Also turned out the French wine used whole bunch fermentation, something I’d never heard about before (not being much of a wine connoisseur and certainly no expert on pinot noir). When you ferment grapes with their stems it gives a wine a structure and complexity that apparently cannot be replicated using any other method.

Final course was an enormous platter of cheese – from left to right Fourme d’amert, a Double gloucester from Tasmania, Brie de meaux from Rouzaire and Jensen’s Red from Tarago River Cheese, Victoria. I really hope the French Cheese Shop in Queen Victoria Market stocks the Brie de meaux because it is amazing! Rich and creamy, I think it’s been voted the king of cheeses for a reason.

Our final course was accompanied by two stickys – Chateau Rieussec Carmes de Rieussec 2008 and Rymill June Traminer 2008. I found the Australian dessert wine too sweet and spicy for my liking, but my dining companions all voted it their favourite over the lighter French wine.

While my final vote was France 3, Australia 1 everyone had their own likes and dislikes but everyone agreed that the night was a success –  great food, great wine, a jovial ambience and I should also mention excellent service from the smiling and attentive staff of Mr Mason.

A winning night for everyone, je pense :–)

France vs. Australia Food & Wine Showdown, Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Mr Mason, 530 Collins St, Melbourne  +61 3 9614 4500

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In the middle of Italianate Lygon Street is a Francophile foodie paradise.

Charcuterie La Parisienne Pates is a white, bright storefront housing a long refrigerated counter full of smallgoods made by the owner/charcutier Stephane Langois. The shelves are also groaning with stocks of French food items like mustard, vinegars, jams and teas. There is a small eating area on the landing where you can sit down to have a light lunch of quiche, pie or filled baguette or gawk at the dessert cabinet of pastries and macarons.

It was the perfect one-stop shop for a French-themed dinner party I was hosting and I put myself in the hands of a friendly staff member as to what I should serve.

Her suggestion was to start off with some of Stephane’s reknowned pates and terrines, so I chose a pork and pistachio terrine, a rabbit and prune terrine and chicken and brandy pate (sold by weight). Each of them was declared delicious by my guests, with particular mention to the rustic chunkiness of the pork terrine and the smoothness of the pate.

Along with the terrines and pates I served thinly slice saucisson. According to The Age Stephane is the only person in Victoria who makes saucisson regularly. It had a nice pepper kick to it and apparently as  it dries the flavour will become more pronounced. Extremely moreish and fantastic loaded up on baguette (their bread comes from South Yarra bakery French Fantasies).

For mains I decided to serve confit duck legs with duck fat potatoes. Frankly at $9 per serve who can be bothered making their own confit? Each package came with a wad of duck fat so I simply popped the duck legs on top of some potatoes in a baking dish, dotted the duck fat around and on top of the meat and seasoned with salt and pepper (I also added thyme and garlic bulbs). In the oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes with some green veges and it was an impressive ‘I made it myself’ dinner party moment.

Being a French charcuterie of course there is a wide selection of imported cheese. My picks were a Fromager d’Affinois (similar to a brie), Saint Agur Blue (apparently a mild blue cheese that even non-blue cheese eaters like) and my favourite French cheese, Comte.

Grand total for the bill was about $160 for 8 people and we didnt even get to eat the cheese! I’ll definitely be heading to La Parisienne Pates again for no hassles, no fuss and delicious dinner party catering.

• La Parisienne Pates, 290 Lygon St, Carlton +61 3 9349 1852

Noisette is reknowned for its French-style cakes and pastries and no doubt you would have eaten its products at many of Melbourne’s restaurants and cafes (such as Coin Laundry and Hausfrau).

Their cafe and retail store is located in villagey Bay Street and attracts a steady clientele of pastry fanciers and coffee drinkers. By the time I’d arrived at 3pm all the sandwiches had sold out but I was in the mood for something sweet anyway – and the cake cabinet is a delight to behold. If the setup is reminiscent of Laurent Patiserrie, it may be because chef/owner David Menard was head baker for the French pastry chain for many years.

In the end I decided on a dome of dark chocolate mousse ($6.50). It was beautifully cool and rich, large enough a dessert to be shared (but why would you?).

Encouraged, I took home a cherry danish and chocolate almond croissant for dinner (yes, occasionally I do eat pastries for dinner! Please don’t judge me :–)). Unfortunately while they looked light and flaky they did not live up to the high standards of my dessert as they were both a bit chewy and dense for my liking.  I much prefer the versions by La Tropezienne in Hawthorn (who incidentally also make superb macarons).

To read other reviews, check out Beansprout’s Cafe and The Age.

• Noisette, 84 Bay Street, Port Melbourne +61 3 9646 9555

I am an unabashed Francophile so I can’t quite believe that I’d never been to, let alone heard of, Chez Olivier till now. And Mon Dieu what have I been missing??

The door to Chez Olivier is small and unassuming but as soon as you walk in you’re transported to another time and place. (Cute) French waiters greet you cheerily ‘Bonjour!’ and seat you in the brassy front bar, the back room or upstairs (there’s also a little courtyard at the back but it’s a bit squishy for comfort). I opted for the front dining room so that I could admire the 100 green bottles, sitting on the wall, the vintage French posters and observe the animated chatter of patrons perched on stools by the window.

Water was brought to me quickly and as I was dining alone, the waiter gave me the day’s newspaper to peruse without any prompting. Full marks for that small, thoughtful gesture.

For lunch Chez Olivier offer a Menu Prix Fixe – two courses for $26, three courses for $30. You can also opt for the cheaper baguette + pomme frites lunch for $12, but if your time and budget extends to it I recommend treating yourself to a two/three course lunch.

The lunch menu provides a good selection of choices in Entrees, Mains and Desserts (unlike other places where you’re tied to maybe one or two choices). I decided on the Plat du Jour, a classic Duck a l’orange, sweetly fragranced and resting on a decadent creamy herb mash. No stringy dry meat to be found and I almost sighed audibly with pleasure. It wasn’t a huge serving but that’s the reason French women don’t get fat, non?

Plus it left room for my dessert, a freshly-baked chocolate fondant. A shallow ramekin moulding a thinly crusted gooey concoction and a scoop of vanilla bean ice-cream. Perfect, really perfect.

The food, service and ambiance at Chez Olivier plies to every French bistro stereotype, but that’s fine by me – if I can’t get to Paris, let Paris come to me.

• Chez Olivier, 121 Greville St, Prahran +61 3 9525 2273