A French Affairs

It was husband b'day on Wednesday. In the midst of the craziness of moving house, house hunting, church stuff, juggling with workload, dealing with unrealistic clients, tripped over boxes that are still scattered around etc etc, I decided to switch off his mobile, temporary misplaced his ipod touch, hide away his lappy, put on something nice, and treat him to a very relaxing long dinner with his favourite French food at Atelier, a high end, fined french restaurant.
I love to dined out during weeknight, because that will ensure we get a very quiet table for 2 in a usually crowded and busy restaurant. On top of that, you can be sure to receive a lot of personal touch from the chef and waitress. When i call up to make a reservation, i was only too happy to know that they are offering a mid week dinner special, with 3 courses from the ala carte menu, for just a mere $59 !


Atelier was nestled in a federation, historical house like building along the busy Glebe Point Road. With blood red walls, and piano black leather furnishing. Atelier is very chic, very modern, not quite French, but very modern European. it was quiet, as expected, with only about 4 tables of guests, all served by Bernadette, our waitress of the night.

Complimentary Green Olives

We were given a nice cosy table for 2 near the window, and already, there was a bowl full of fat juicy green olives awaits for us! Bernadette give us a brief introduction about the menu and wine list, though we politely turn down the wine and ask for sparkling and still water as the husband was driving.


Sourdough Bread w Tapenade, EVOO & Balsamic $5

I order a sourdough to start, while husband take his time and "study" his menu as they offer a wide range of dishes and he just can't make up his mind as to what to choose. The bread arrived shortly, warm and soft inside, while crusty on the outside. The tapenade is so good and the best part is that husband prefers the extra virgin olive oil with balsamic with his bread which means i can spread the tapenade generously on mine.

Complimentary Hors d'oeuvre

Our eyes lights up when the lovely Bernadette comes up to us with 2 individual plates of Hors d'oeuvre, " compliments from the chef " she said, oh...like music to our ears. Didn't I say i love mid week dined out?! The presentation was amazing i was busy taking photos under this extremely low lighting condition, and forgotten to ask her what it was, it taste like broccoli of some sort with tomatoes relishes. Very good, fresh and refreshing, it really does gives you a hint of how good the dishes were to come!

Husband finally make up his mind and order himself a consomme for the entree , while I choose the cheese souffle. Bernadette was very thoughtful, and give us both a spoon as she expected this lovey dovey couple might want to share their dishes, and of course we do!! The consomme arrived without the consomme, but she quickly explain that she will come with the consomme right away and in a split second, the hot, fresh and flavoursome consomme was poured onto the tortellini and scallop.

We quickly dip our spoon into the consomme and gently sip. It was very tasty indeed, very light, clear veal broth. Husband have a special love for tortellini, he often have them for lunch, but when he dig in to this, he immediately told me that he wish there were 10 more rather than just 2!! Greedy him!! Despite that, he still generously insist that i try the other one and though i wanted to let him have it all since it's his b'day afterall, i can't resist! It was really good, unlike the normal tortellini, this one have got chunky beef in them! The scallops were seared to perfection too.

E: Veal & Madeira Consomme w Seared Scallops, Beef Tortellini & Bone Marrow $24

E: Twice-Cooked Parmesan Souffle w Jamon Iberico, Bloody Mary Compression $22

My souffle was equally good though husband still prefer his consumme. It's gloriously good looking, rising tall and high, with jamon iberico wrap around it's tall waist. The cheese souffle was light and airy as it can be, and matching perfectly with the stronger flavour / sweetness of bloody mary compression.

M:Honey-Roasted Breast of Grimauld Duckling, Crisp Confit, Brocolli Puree, Green Grapes, Xeres Jus $32

I will almost always order duck if duck is on the menu, mainly because i love duck, and i have never cook duck before! I dunno why, but i just find it quite difficult to buy duck and prepare them, they are just not as readily available as chicken!! So, I choose the honey-roasted duck breast and crisp confit as my mains of the night. I was a little disappointed when it arrived!! In my mind, i am thinking of a whole duck maryland type of thing, but instead, there were only 3 piece of duck breast and 2 de-boned duck confit scatter loosely with dollops of broccoli puree and salad of green grapes!! Though the duck were tender and the confit crisp, they dun give me the satisfaction that i long for!

M:Roasted Boned & Rolled White Rabbit, Calamari a la Plancha, White Onion Soubise, Black Bean & Piquillo Pepper Sauce $31

In contrast, husband's rabbit was really good, so good that i forgive and forget about my duck!

It was 3 good sized roasted, boned and roiled rabbits, all of which top with very tender and thick cut calamari with very delicious and savoury black bean pepper sauce. Both of us gives our thumbs up for this dish as all the flavours compliments each other perfectly.

Amuse Bouche: Grilled Pineapple Jelly with Coconut foam

Our eyes lit up once again when Bernadette brings us the amuse bouche as a courtesy of the chef yet again before our dessert. This time, it was a stick of grilled pineapple jelly with very refreshing coconut foam. It's lovely and sweet and really cleanse our palate to prepare us for the dessert.

D:Tahitian Vanilla & Chocolate Fudge Souffle w Malt Chocolate Ice Cream & a Malt-Infused Milkshake $15

We order their house specialty, souffle and creme brulee for dessert. What could be more french to end this dinner ?!

Bernadette surprise husband by lighting a small candle on the side of the souffle and no, there are no goose bump and embarrassing type of b'day cheers and singing, she politely gives him a warm and sincere greetings and left the table for us to enjoy the special moment.

D:Tonka Bean Creme Brulee w Balsamic-Poached Strawberries, Vanilla Ice Cream $15

I really loves the souffle and to fully enjoy it, you have to dig a hole on top of the souffle, and pour the cold,malted milkshake into the warm souffle, and then coat the spoon with bits of ice-cream, scope bits of souffle and put the whole thing in your mouth. Em..the chilled from the milkshake, the warmth from the souffle, and the sweetness from the ice-cream... Should i say more??

The creme brulee was superb as well, with the crisp toffee to top, and smooth silky custard underneath. It was not too sweet as sometime creame brulee can be toothachingly sweet, this was just nice. I particularly love the strawberry with balsamic reduction! Yam!

Victoria Flat White $5

The birthday boy finish his meal with a cup of Victoria flat white, and we're not surprise at all that they serve cubed sugar as the French will only take sugar, in the cubed form!! Interesting isn't it?!

Cubed Brown and white sugar from Atelier

It was a lovely end to the dinner, we bid Bernadette good bye, with our bloated stomach, slowly stroll out like an old couple.

See, growing old is not that scary after all wasn't it?!

Restaurant Atelier

22 Glebe Point Road Glebe NSW Australia 2037
p: +61 2 9566 2112
e: eat@restaurantatelier.com.au
Dinner: Tuesday - Saturday from 6pm