You’ll no longer need to cross the bridge for a taste of Loulou’s famed French fare. The team behind the Lavender Bay bistro is set to open a chic new brasserie, cafe and bar à vin in the CBD next month.

The Charles Grand Brasserie & Bar will slot into a heritage-listed art deco building on King Street, offering everything from flaky pastries in the morning through to a three-course affair in the evening.

Ride your bike, French-style, down to The Charles Bar for breakfast where you’ll find an impressive selection of freshly baked breads, pastries and viennoiserie, alongside proper brunch items like duck eggs and toasted brioche soldiers.

The all-day cafe serves lunch from 11am, including marinated sardines on freshly baked baguette to rotisserie chicken with frites. Corporate crowds will be well catered to with a ‘fast menu’ that includes a flat iron steak or snapper with caesar salad.

Executive chef Billy Hannigan from Loulou Bistro has put together the brasserie menu, which offers a lavish take on la cuisine Francaise as well as broader European fare. Sample the crème de la crème from sweetbread and crayfish vol-au-vents to steak and anchovy tartare. In the tradition of the old world Euro brasseries, meats are carved á la table, while sauces and consommé are theatrically poured in full view of guests.

Every great brasserie has a signature dish and at The Charles, it’s the ‘Canard à la Presse’ or pressed duck. The traditional Rouen dish is recreated here using whole dry-aged Maremma duck, served in a rich sauce of its own juices. The ducks are specially prepared in a dedicated poultry room, where birds are dry-aged and glazed before being pressed in a copper-plated duck press.

To finish, hail down the roving dessert trolley, which offers up a sweet selection of house-baked cakes, desserts, and petit fours.

Related review: Loulou Bistro,  Boulangerie and Traiteur ranks 30th on the 2022 delicious. 100

The wine list, curated by director of wine Paolo Saccone, includes 600+ mostly French and Australian bottles, with almost 50 vins by the glass.

H&E Architects, in collaboration with COX, have reimagined the space in the French art deco style with black nero marble and brass detailing blending seamlessly with the building’s historic features. The grand dining room and wrapped mezzanine are elegantly illuminated by four showpiece chandeliers.

The Charles Grand Brasserie & Bar opens on Friday, October 21 at 66 King Street, Sydney. The venue will open Mon – Sun, 12pm – 12am. For more details, head to
thecharles.sydney.

Related news: 5 of the best French restaurants in Sydney