Brahimi returns to home turf with Baker Bleu bistro pop-up
Sydney diners will get a rare taste of Guillaume Brahimi's cooking again this August, with the chef behind Bennelong, Guillaume and Bistro Guillaume joining forces with Double Bay's Baker Bleu for a four-day French bistro takeover.
The pop-up, running from Thursday, August 6 to Sunday, August 9, will see Bistro Guillaume occupy the artisan bakery's Double Bay site, bringing classic bistro fare to the eastern suburbs. It's a notable moment for the local dining scene: Brahimi hasn't cooked for Sydney regulars in six years, since shutting the last of his "Guillaume" restaurants on George Street in early 2020.
"I love Sydney, Sydney is home, so it feels special," Brahimi said of the return.
The menu will lean into the French classics that built Brahimi's reputation, drawing on training under Michelin-starred chef Joël Robuchon in Paris before he relocated to Australia in the 1990s. Expect onion soup, in-house cold smoked salmon, steak tartare, steak au poivre, and profiteroles with vanilla bean ice-cream and warm chocolate sauce.
"We're talking onion soup," Brahimi told The Australian. "I do a beautiful in-house cold smoked salmon, steak tartare, steak au poivre, profiteroles with vanilla bean ice-cream and warm chocolate sauce, the food I love a lot."
For Baker Bleu co-founder Mike Russell, the partnership reflects shared philosophies around craft and provenance. "We both believe that great food starts with exceptional ingredients, patience and respect for tradition," Russell said. "Bringing those values together around a classic French bistro menu felt like something worth sharing with our community."
The collaboration lands amid a busy run for Brahimi, who has spent recent years fronting SBS series Plat du Tour — pairing French regional recipes with Tour de France stages from 2020 through last year — and developing the dinner menu for fashion label Zimmermann's summer 2027 cruise show in Antibes. A cookbook drawn from the TV series was released earlier this year, structured around the race itself. "It did follow the stages, well in a way, so every year the Tour de France has 21 stages, so 21 recipes, and after a few years I thought let's put them together in a book," he told The Australian.
Looking ahead, Brahimi is eyeing a new lifestyle format centred on Provence. "I would love to show Provence to people," he said. "Obviously, food is a big part of the show, but think about Provence – the perfumes, the olive oil, the wine, the scenery, that's something I'm working on."
On home cooking for winter, his go-to is roast chicken with Paris mash, matched with local pinot noir. "Of course, I would love to have a Burgundy, but we do amazing wine here and when I think of pinot noir, I think about Yarra Valley and Mount Mary pinot – wow, delicious."
Asked where he eats around town, Brahimi nods to a handful of favourites depending on occasion. "There are so many great places in Sydney," he said. "I went to a'Mare the other day and it was delicious and it's hard not to like Margaret in Double Bay with Neil's (Neil Perry's) produce. If I have overseas guests, it's hard to beat Icebergs. We're lucky, we live in a pretty awesome city with so much talent."
Jonathan Jackson, 30th June 2026
