BISTRO inferno

Is Australian bistronomy having a moment (again)?

-  MICHAEL HARDEN

It might seem a little ridiculous to be talking about bistros having a moment when a whole battalion of them - places like Melbourne's France-Soir, Montrachet in Brisbane and Sydney's Bistro Moncur - have been attracting packed houses with their excellent faux Paris vibes for decades. But it's hard to deny something's afoot when the current restaurant scene is up to its globes oculaires in new joints dishing up steak frites, snails and soufflé in glamorous rooms with French theme park interior design.

So what is going on right now? Are we all just in desperate need of escapism after being locked behind closed borders? Or is the petit avalanche of new bistros actually indicative of restaurateurs looking to the past for ways to make Australian restaurants more viable by minimising waste and attracting punters once or twice per month rather than per year? A little bit of both, it seems.

Australia has long been fond of the kind of casual dining that the term bistro implies. It started in the 1980s and '90s when Australians began travelling overseas in increasing numbers and, along with a striped shirt or two, brought home with them the idea of eating well, but more casually, simply and cheaply than in restaurants.

Rita Erlich has been writing about food since she was editor of The Age Good Food Guide throughout the '80s and '90s and believes the idea of an Australian bistro started in our pubs, as people looked to cheaper, more casual spaces as an alternative to the fine dining establishments that dominated the restaurant scene at the time. People like Gay and Tony Bilson, who would go on to open heady ventures like Berowra Waters Inn, got their start in pubs, bringing dishes like bouillabaisse to the beer-sodden bohemians of Carlton. And the democratic philosophy of the pub remained, even as these places began to migrate to the then-cheap shopfronts of pre-gentrified inner-city suburbs.