Le Bouchon c’est bon

A warm pillow of anise scented air embraces us as we step over the threshold at Balnarring French bistro Le Bouchon. Outside it is cold and miserable. Inside the corner building, soft light filters in through the windows. Fine stemware is set at bare dark tables accompanied by dark bentwood chairs sitting on white and black hexagonal tiles. Comfortable banquettes line the walls and bottles of Forget-Brimont sit on ice in wine buckets on the marble bar. Le Bouchon is classic French bistro, from the duck confit to the four types of French vermouth lining the gantry. The fit-out is warm and elegant, slightly sophisticated but very warm. “I wanted a space where everyone was welcome,” says owner Stephane Saleres. The name he chose refers to les bouchons of Burgundy – casual bistros serving classic French dishes with local wines. ‘Bouchon’ also is French for a wine cork, which is apt because Stephane prides himself on his wine list. It is not encyclopedic but it is a great insight into how a well-honed wine list can offer those who want a quick light meal a bottle of flinty French sauvignon blanc from the Loire Valley for $54 or a Patrick Javillier Meursault from Burgundy’s Cote D’or for almost $300. Or you can get a beautifully textured Tussie Mussie pinot gris from Quealy – a few kilometres away on Bittern-Dromana Rd – for $14 a glass. “Small affordable pleasures for the budget of everyone,” says Stephane. Stephane was born in Agen in the southwest of France, a region of cassoulet and Bordeaux wines, he says. After national service he worked in hospitality in the ski fields of the Pyrenees before running front of house for Antony Worrall Thompson’s 190 Queen’s Gate restaurant in London. He met an Australian woman originally from Mount Eliza, and they moved to Townsville and to Hayman Island. They moved to Melbourne and Stephane fell in with France’s unofficial embassy, France-Soir in Toorak Rd. An offer at Willow Creek brought them back to the Peninsula and he opened Le Bouchon nine years ago. Now it is a local icon, with its brass-framed windows and hardwood boardwalk out front attracting locals and weekenders who appreciate the authentic dishes such as the luscious terrine de campagne, or the French onion soup complete with a gratineed gruyere crouton on top. Dishes like confit duck with succulent seasoned flesh and crisp burnished gold skin make a toothsome accompaniment to the compact list of good Burgundy. There could be luscious slow-cooked pork belly with moreish lentils or the classic cassoulet of Stephane’s home region, rich with beans and Toulouse sausage. Finish with cheese, then perhaps crepes suzette or a steaming hot chocolate souffle. “People who have travelled recognise us from their time in France,” says Stephane. “ ‘That corner bistro, that little place down the street’. That is us. We are not reinventing the wheel. What we do here is very authentic and very approachable.” LE BOUCHON A: 10 Russell St, Balnarring T: 5983 2012 W: www.lebouchon.com.au Richard Cornish is a freelance food writer filing regular food news stories for newspapers and magazines across Australia, including Eat.Drink Mornington Peninsula and each month in Mornington Peninsula Magazine. RICHARD CORNISH www.richardcornish.com.auwww.richardcornish.com.au