New at Baguette

Last night I had the most delightful dinner at one of Brisbane's most long lived and outstanding restaurants - Baguette.

I was invited by Marilyn Domenech to try out Bruno Loubret's new summer menu - a delightful wander through classic regional dishes along side contemporary French cuisine.

Marilyn says there is a generation of young chefs in Paris pioneering a new style of French bistro, featuring regional dishes that have great finesse and an innovative twist. Known as neo-bistro or bistronomique, she says it could be the most influential dining trend in France since nouvelle cuisine.

How lucky are we in Brisbane to have Frenchman and Michelin- starred chef Bruno Loubet, creating his own versions of France’s regional classics resulting in innovative, contemporary dishes of subtle complexity.

For entrees we choose Smoked chicken & liver terrine, stone fruit chutney and Fresh local crab meat salad, Vietnamese style, mango dressing. Both were outstanding. The full creamy terrine was wonderfully complemented by the stone fruit chutney which had a unique caramelised flavour. The crab meat salad was incredibly fresh and crunchy with a wonderful hint of sesame and lots of luscious mango. A delight to eat.

Our mains were Honey roasted duck breast, eggplant & prune pastilla (Moroccan pie) and Ocean run Petuna trout, slow cooked with nicoise salad. I could really taste the difference between the ocean run trout and the usual salmon - in fact the flavour is still with me now - hours later! The duck was beautifully prepared and very succulent accompanied by a pastry with the flavour of Morocco.

Dessert was a hard one - not because we were too full but because all offerings were so tempting. I was intrigued by the Crème brûlée, lavender macaroon, blackcurrant sorbet but in the end went for the Ripple iced fruit parfait. I remember parfaits as layered concoctions in tall glasses but this didn't look anything like that! It did, however, taste divine. Equally as delicious was the
Valrohna chocolate cake with Grand Marnier sabayon.

Marilyn recently gave the restaurant a make over with some stunning new light fittings and a revamped courtyard that has some great touches of red.

There's a bar area at the front that is nice to meet your friends in for pre dinner drinks as well.

It's worth remembering that Baguette has a children's menu as well and children dine for $1.50 per year of age – up to and including 12 years.



You'll find Baguette at 150 Racecourse Road, Ascot. p 3268 6168
Photos: from top - Terrine, Petaluna trout, honey roast duck, chocolate cake and crab salad.