Bitton Gourmet

“I’m nervous,” I mutter quietly to Jeremy who’s rifling around my drawers looking for product lists. Jeremy turns to me, eyes wide with disbelief, “Whatever for? David’s a great guy, he knows what you do, he loves the bread. Relax.”

Relax… believe me, I tried. Googling Bitton didn’t help to allay the skittishness – thousands of related results showed up, many from food blogs all around Sydney, Australia, the world. The ever-imposing Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Living article kept sneaking back onto my screen, Helen Greenwood’s declaration that Bitton made “the best black olive tapenade outside of France”, leaping out of my monitor, in bold.

What was I going to say about Bitton Gourmet that hadn’t already been said in countless other food blogs, trumpeted from the mastheads of Sydney’s premium food print media, effortlessly worded and framed in beautiful photographs of his most popular dishes – the French crepes with Bitton’s famed orange jelly, or their one pan bacon and eggs served with Brasserie Bread organic sourdough.

French Crepes

Diving into the pages of his new cookbook provided a well-needed escape from the nerves. One and a half hours of bliss, flicking through pages and pages of his best and most loved recipes, savouring and rolling each word just as if I were tasting the dish that was being presented. Flipping to the last page, not only was I eagerly looking forward to my visit to Bitton to hear about all the dishes in their full glory, I felt full – satiated, like I had just eaten a big, hearty plate of goodness (and in desperate need of a glass of water).

One Pan Bacon and Eggs with Wood Fired Bread and Tomato Sauce

Three things we like about Bitton Gourmet.

1. Fresh flavours with fresh eyes

It’s not so much the slick interior of the shop, or how smoothly the service flows. There’s a curious element to Bitton Gourmet. Dare we say it, it’s giving French cuisine a right freshening up in Sydney. Everything old is new again: one pan bacon and eggs served with our organic sourdough Batard – a common enough combination – which turns out to be one of the best breakfast dishes you’ll encounter in Sydney. There’s a perpetuating sense of discovery in Bitton Gourmet, be it uncovering a new and interesting jam, or rediscovering your love for the perfect hand-cut, deliciously fried pommes frites. Dig deeper into a dish, and you’ll discover it all comes down to the type of potato they use and methods of cooking to achieve that optimal ‘chip’ – sinfully crispy, smooth and creamy.

*The Bitton Pommes Frites are made from desiree potatoes, and believe it or not, take half a day to make. The first step is blanching them in oil at a temperature of 160℃ for 10 minutes to make it nice and crispy on the outside while cooking the potatoes to achieve a soft mash potato internal texture. Then it is left to cool for 1-2 hours, and plunged into the deep fryer at 180℃ for 3-4 minutes, resulting in crisp golden pommes frites with a smooth, creamy and rich interior.

2. Service with personality and warmth

May the force be with you, and David Bitton is definitely a force to be reckoned with. The rapport Bitton has with his customers is renowned in the industry. Mention Bitton Gourmet, and everyone tends to comment first on the friendliness and level of service you get at his establishment. Bitton and his staff are not only knowledgeable about their product, but they also have something you can’t fake – passion.

Cooking with David Bitton

3. Bitton makes traditional French cuisine real, accessible and ultra appealing to the home cook

French in heritage, Bitton Gourmet marches to the sound of its own beat, and unwaveringly sticks to its guns when it comes to celebrating French cuisine. No snootiness here though – on the contrary, Bitton wants you to embrace the cuisine he’s grown up with from his quality product range of jams, tapenades, to his cookbook and the variety of cooking classes he runs.

Bitton Gourmet is running a Bastille Day Dinner on Thursday July 14. View details on their Bastille Day Menu here.