IN FOCUS // Loulou
French connection Lavender Bay has welcomed a French-inspired bistro, traiteur and boulangerie that’s doing it all. WORDS Aristine Dobson IN FRANCE, IT’S common for a restaurant to incorporate a bakery and a retail space
being a part of a venue that’s the first of its
The boulangerie, or bakery, paved the
kind in the area.
way for the addition of a traiteur and
From a coffee and a baguette in the
The idea for Loulou came about in March
coming together to offer a day-to-night
a single venue can become a destination
locations for their first venue. A generous
with a revolving assortment of goods.
morning to a glass of wine in the evening, for patrons. New hospitality group
Etymon Projects has taken this idea and
channelled it into the launch of their debut venue Loulou, which opened in Sydney’s Lavender Bay late last year.
Culinary Director Sebastien Lutaud
speaks to Hospitality about crafting unique takeaway offerings, providing a multi-
faceted experience for local diners and 8 | Hospitality
2020 when Etymon Projects was scoping out space in Lavender Bay soon caught their
attention. “We didn’t know the concept at the time, but we wanted to do something [that operated] all day,” says Sebastien Lutaud.
“There was a 170sqm shop next to it and we always [thought] of doing a bakery. French cuisine is something we are all passionate
about (even the owner), so we said, ‘Let’s do a French bistro and a boulangerie’.”
a bistro, with all arms of the business option for patrons. “Most bakeries in
Sydney open early and then shut around 3:00pm, and we didn’t want that,” says
Lutaud. “We wanted people to still be able to get fresh bread when they finish work.
Being French myself, I said, ‘Let’s just do a traiteur’, because you have a boulangerie, patisserie and a bakery in France.
“Sometimes it’s a shop where it is mixed
all into one with a butcher and a traiteur with charcuterie.”
