The 1880s building has been given a 1920s Parisian makeover: printed wine boxes stack nonchalantly in the front window, wrought-iron gates lead to a moody dining room lined with antique mirrors, be-mossed walls, and vintage curios.

The kitchen is helmed by chef Daniel Southern, who dishes out a series of snacks from pleasingly fatty duck prosciutto, cut with peppery radish and pickly friends, to the decidedly more ostentatious Giaveri beluga caviar service, replete with blini and other expected accoutrements.

In classic bistro style, mains come with a handful of classic garnitures; pommes frites, pommes Anna, petit pois a Francais, and endive for those who prefer salad. Naturally, there’s a steak au poivre, in this case a butter-soft, dry-aged eye fillet, perfectly rested and lacquered in glossy, pleasingly piquant jus.

It is dedicated to the things Melbourne and France value in dining – character, charm, classics executed well and an atmosphere-charged place to take it all in.

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