This Parisian-style bar hidden down an Adelaide alleyway is an inviting slice of France that serves adventurous wines and easy-going crowd-pleasers alongside a menu of bistro classics.
Let’s be clear: this is no themed or gimmicky bar. Born in France’s Alsace, owner-operator Dominique Lentz has channeled the neighbourhood bars of his home country to bring French apéritif culture to Adelaide’s West End. Pull up a chair on the pavement and graze on cured meats or head inside and join the after-work crowd and “living-wine” devotees (the bar, which opened in 2015, was Adelaide’s OG natural-wine bar).
That doesn’t mean you need to fly the no-sulphur flag to enjoy drinking here – the wine list is split into “adventurous and provocative” and “easy-going and delicious” so there are approachable crowd-pleasers as well as something for more curious palates. Alongside the imported French drops hailing from Burgundy to Beaujolais is a strong showing of Australian producers (including the low-intervention likes of Borachio, Travis Tausend and Sam Vinciullo), classic apéritifs, French and classic cocktails, and beers largely from Belgium. Teetotallers aren’t left out – they can opt for a glass of the wine stand-in Non, a mocktail or the French softie Orangina.
