The restaurant’s Clem Chauvin is teaming with star pastry chef Emelia Jackson for one very special night. Tickets won’t last long, so move quick.
Montrachet has the capacity to transport people like few other local restaurants.
With its red leather benches, brass and distinctive marble-topped counter, it’s always felt like a little dining room’s worth of France transported to the heart of Brisbane – first to Paddington, and now King Street in Bowen Hills.
In late May, the restaurant will lean into its own charismatic joie de vivre when it hosts Soiree Montrachet, presented by Good Food Events and King Street. Billed as “the ultimate Parisian dinner”, it brings together Michelin-trained Montrachet chef-patron Clement Chauvin with pastry chef and 2020 Masterchef Australia winner Emelia Jackson.
“Lendlease, our landlord on King Street, approached us as part of King Street Uncovered, which celebrates some of the restaurant and cafes on the strip,” says Chauvin, who also owns Les Bistronomes in Canberra.
“I didn’t know Emilia. We met for a few weeks back in Melbourne and had a great connection, actually … I sat down with a piece of paper thinking, ‘We’re going to brainstorm’, and then the dishes came out very fast. It was really proactive and productive.”
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The night will begin with a trio of amuse bouche from Chauvin – a smoked trout mousse and lemon gel tartelette, a goat’s cheese boursin with choux pastry, and chicken liver parfait with cherry gel on grilled brioche – with Jackson taking over for entrees with roasted scallops served with turnip and apple, and finished with a beurre noisette vinaigrette.
For mains, Chauvin will present Northern Rivers free-range duck a l’orange with liquorice gel, pickled cabbage, and a citrus sweet and sour jus, before Jackson finishes with her take on a Paris-brest, with choux pastry filled with hazelnut pastry cream, chocolate gelato and roasted hazelnut.
Beyond the food there will be paired drinks available, and a DJ will spin French-inspired tunes from behind the bar.
Soiree Montrachet comes at an interesting time for French food in Brisbane and Australia in general, with local diners over recent years beginning to engage with the cuisine in new and more approachable ways. Part of that is a greater appreciation for the role of a pastry chef in a traditional kitchen, particularly when it comes to dessert.
“Absolutely,” Chauvin says. “The pastry section is a skill that’s sometimes lacking in Australian restaurants. You might eat a degustation and every course is fantastic and then you end with a disappointing dessert. So it’s really important to promote people with these skills, I agree with that.
“But I’m excited for the dinner … I feel lucky to be born French sometimes because the influence of French culture and cuisine might come and go, but it’s so central to cooking that it will never truly go out of fashion.”
Soiree Montrachet, Saturday, 23 May. Tickets available here.
Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.
