Find perfect French onion soup at a local favourite flying under the restaurant radar

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Winter is upon us, but that’s no problem because there’s the onion soup at Chez Bagou. While we’re talking ourselves into leaving warm beds for cold days, chef Guillaume Sauvetre is checking on the beef bones he’s had simmering for hours, extracting profound flavours as he crafts a stock of depth and distinction.

To make the soup, the liquid is spooned over sweet, soft, caramelised onions and reduced for hours, intensifying to a pearlescent broth, as gleaming as a sword tip but expansive, like a long hug from Grandmaman. Ladled into a bowl, topped with crouton and emmental cheese, then grilled to melty magnificence, it’s an invitation to culinary rapture. (And if you have beef with beef, there’s a vegetarian version, too.)

We are beyond the days when French cuisine was considered the sole exemplar of fine cookery, but that doesn’t mean Gallic techniques and dishes are passe: a great sauce, gentle confit, fine flambee, none of these are to be dismissed. And the wine to go with them? Well, pull another cork, please.

Melbourne restaurants that do French food well tend to have firm fans who are, in turn, looked after assiduously, creating something of a closed loop. That’s how a place like Chez Bagou, which turns eight in September, can be so capable and so little lauded. Owner Aurelien Bagou and chef Sauvetre, on board since the 2018 opening, both grew up and trained in France. You could force them to name-drop their Michelin-starred experiences, the stint with molecular gastronomy pioneer Marc Veyrat, perhaps, or the uber-famous Alain Ducasse in Monaco, but it’s probably more relevant to ask them about Parisian bistronomy, a contemporary melding of fine-dining principles and unbuttoned settings.

High-quality ingredients, exemplary cooking and careful presentation are on show throughout the menu. Steak tartare is made with eye fillet that’s laced with Dijon mustard, Tabasco and brandy. The vol-au-vent is filled with garlicky mushrooms, while the duck leg is braised in duck fat, then arranged with silky orange sauce and baby carrots. The beef Bourguignon is threaded with bacon and red wine and lolls on buttery potato puree.

The tarte tatin is a triumphant transformation of fresh apple into a golden, sugary slump. Crepes suzette are flamed in Grand Marnier at the table, a standard for sure, but always special.

Service is aligned: there are tablecloths and linen napkins and waiters who scrape away crumbs and bring fresh plates as necessary, their expert service spirited rather than formal.

The candlelit dining room is flanked by wainscotting and vintage posters on one side, and a bar with a library ladder to special bottles on the other. The main space climbs to a mezzanine and there are atmospheric function rooms upstairs. It’s easy to imagine coming here for an oyster interlude that rolls into dinner, or for a business lunch with a special BYO bottle.

Chez Bagou is about standards: a commitment to the art of hospitality rendered in its welcome, keen attention and perfect onion soup.

This review was originally published in Good Weekend magazine.

Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently. A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.