So we all know that Guillaume Brahimi is opening up a bistro in the CBD (for those who don’t know, check out the scoop here). But there’s more; he’s opening up a pâtisserie too, attached to the restaurant. It opens tomorrow, but Brahimi, sweet fella that he is, invited Time Out over to try the treats before anyone else. Here’s how it went down.
First off, there are many delightful-looking cakes here. We sat down with Guillaume at the bar and tried the selection he laid out for us: lemon tarts, chocolate caramel tarts and chocolate brioche.
In a world where lemon tarts feature soggy pastry and dull, saccharine lemon curd fillings, here at Guillaume they’re doing tarte au citron the way it should be: short, buttery pastry housing light, refreshingly acidic lemon filling. We’re told by the man himself, “You have to do me a favour; you need to bite the lemon tart, because that’s the best part of it.” No knives and forks here. “It’s the real deal,” he says. And he’s right.
The salted caramel tart sees silky caramel topped with bitter chocolate ganache encased in the same short, buttery pastry.
By the way, are you sick of Nutella-stuffed-everything? Us too. Try the chocolate brioche, which is filled with a chocolate of 85 per cent cocoa solids that will bring your breakfast game up a serious notch. Or go a slice of classic quiche Lorraine for a deeply creamy, bacon-flecked lunch bonanza.
“I want people to be in the office and say ‘Do you know what? I’m having a tough day at work, I’m going downstairs to get a chocolate tart’,” says Brahimi, “or ‘fuck, my boss is a pain,’ or ‘Jeez we’re having a good day, I’m going to bring a lemon tart to the office’.”
In France, picking up a tart for dessert from the pâtisserie when you’re hosting a dinner party is standard, and Brahimi hopes to bring the same culture to Sydney. So customers can order a large tart one day ahead of time, or, if you lack forward planning skills, the pâtisserie will also keep a stock of bigger tarts on Thursdays and Fridays.
The pâtisserie is also stocking Sydney’s best sourdough, Iggy’s. No longer will you have to trek out to Bronte to pick it up; now it’s right by Wynyard. They’re the only place outside of Bronte where you can buy it, and for sourdough addicts like us, that’s a big freaking deal.
Inside at the bistro, we’re most excited about the giant Roquefort soufflés Brahimi tells us they’ll be making for groups of up to four, and a there’s a toastie containing all of our favourite things: “We’re doing an Iggy’s bread toastie with Holy Goat cheese, chips and mixed leaves at the bar for $20.” Commence drooling.
So how does he want people to treat the pâtisserie? “I want someone to buy something, bite into it and say ‘yum’... If you want to charm a girl, you bring her a chocolate tart at her desk with a little love letter in it.” Just so long as she's not a coworker, we reckon that'll do the trick.
Bistro Guillaume opens tomorrow, Wednesday September 7.
Maybe you want to check out some more cake shops now your appetite is sated? Check out Sydney's best pâtisseries, ranked.
Need more delightful cakes in your life? Check out Sydney's best party cakes, here.
Want a side of chocolate with that? Here are Sydney's six best hot chocolates, ranked.
Too hot for chocolate? OK fine, here's are the best gelato shops in town, right now.