Petite, Fortitude Valley: The Votan brothers’ East Street Empire expanded beyond Happy Boy and Snack Man’s Chinese eats when the team opened Petite – a wine bar and bistro concept riffing on French bistro cuisine and culture. The free-wheeling menu includes two steak frite variations for your mange-ing pleasure – a grilled wagyu bavette with cafe de Paris butter and a grass-fed eye fillet with pepper cognac sauce. Pair your plate with a glass of the venue’s keenly curated list of French wines – for steak, the expert team recommends a silky syrah from Domaine Andezon in Rhône. Santé!
DUCKFAT, Newstead: Located in a grungy, pink-hued modern-industrial space in Newstead, DUCKFAT attempts to subvert the silver-service connotations associated with French food, redefining the cuisine into something approachable, affordable and, crucially, delicious. Overseeing DUCKFAT’s menu is head chef Samuel Perrin, an accomplished chef who trained under legendary three-Michelin star chef Alain Ducasse. His mantra when morphing French flavours into a casual and modern offering was to strip things back, keep it simple and make it sharable. DUCKFAT’s short lunch special menu offers a simple steak frites, and if you come back at dinner time you can sample the grilled Onglet steak, served with crispy French fries, fresh rocket salad and a luscious shallot jus, or push the boat out with the special flame-grilled wagyu beef rump steak with a marble score of 7.
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South City Wine, Woolloongabba: Adding a piece of Parisian magic to South City Square, South City Wine is an evocation of the cosy caves à manger of France, boasting an old-world-inspired interior with its material palette of green marble, mahogany timber and stone, and an outdoor setting branching out into the precinct’s laneway. The star of the decor are the shelves upon shelves filled with wine from around the world, from South African chenin blanc, German rieslings, buttery Californian chardonnays, skin-contact wines from Chile, Argentinian malbec, Grecian rosé and syrah from Lebanon. In those cosy spot, group head chef Gabriele Di Landri is turning out a menu of classic French dishes, encompassing oysters, escargot à la Bourguignonne, venison tartare, fish du jour a la meunier and, of course, the steak frites – a Jack’s Creek 300-g sirloin served with frites, estragon butter and vibrant broad leaf rocket.
Cru Bar & Cellar, Fortitude Valley: Long-running James Street institution Cru Bar & Cellar was recently refurbished with a luxurious new look alongside a retooled menu and a bolstered cellar list weighing in at more than 2000 bottles. Despite the new plush green-velvet booths and lovingly restored 18th century Baccarat chandelier – the heart of Cru Bar & Cellar remains its service-centric spirit. Cru Bar & Cellar’s culinary offering, fondly regarded by many for its championing of Queensland farmers and produce suppliers, continues to showcase the state’s bounty through a European-inspired wine bar format. Its steak frites include 300-g grain-fed sirloin, chips and a decadent Bearnaise sauce.
Allonda, Newstead: Allonda is a looker with a striking two-level layout fitted out with a minimalist aesthetic – think blonde timber furniture, brown leather banquettes, grey tiles, concrete floors and walls covered in textural acoustic-spray. Allonda’s kitchen slings out a stunning menu that is broadly European in scope, but shaped by choice Australian ingredients. The steak frites are so celebrated Allonda has declared Thursday to be Steak Frite Thursday, a weekly special where you can get steak, frites and a glass of vino for $59.