BeanScene Magazine

By Sarah Baker

Guillaume Brahimi knows what he likes and what he doesn’t. He has only one request when it comes to coffee.

“I only want to drink good quality coffee,” he says without hesitation. “I have a routine where I go to the restaurant in the morning for my coffee. I have two coffees a day, a macchiato in the morning to wake me up, and a good espresso around 4 o’clock.”

When asked whether he has perfected the art of coffee making, Guillaume chuckles and says, “I leave that to the experts.”

Guillaume notes that the secret to a good coffee is all about the beans, but insists the baristas are also very important, if not more. 

While proud of his native country’s cuisine, Guillaume says that the French are no comparison to the prestige of the Italian coffee industry.

“I’m so upset, but I have to agree, the French don’t make good coffee,” he says. “I don’t understand, how do you make a good croissant but not a good coffee?”

The talented chef notes that he never drank coffee growing up and it wasn’t until he moved to Australia 20 years ago that he got his first taste of the addictive blend.

“In Australia we’re very lucky we have a strong Italian heritage and a large Italian migrant community who have perfected the art of coffee,” Guillaume says. “It’s only when you go back to France and drink their coffee, that you compare it to Australian coffee and realise just how bad it is.”

Guillaume says through his time in Australia, he has observed the coffee industry expand and develop into a vibrant market that he respects and appreciates. With such a competitive industry and growing consumer awareness on the quality of coffee, he says many more people are conscious of what they buy and what they like.

“There are now a lot of experts who know coffee. It’s all about the right temperature and the taste,” he says.

The French chef spends his time in the Southern Hemisphere working between his two renowned restaurants, Guillaume at Bennelong in Sydney and Bistro Guillaume in Melbourne. Recently, he has added Television Presenter to his already impressive resume, as he embarks on a new culinary journey with French Food Safari that launches this June.

The SBS Food Safari series is back and this time it’s a discovery of all things French, snails and all. Alongside Maeve O’Meara, the new series follows Guillaume as he makes a personal voyage across his homeland, sharing his love for the French cuisine and lifestyle with home viewers and food lovers alike.

“I believe in this show, it’s a fantastic show that goes back to the source of where I come from. It’s a great discovery and journey of realising why it is that I do what I do,” he says.
“The French don’t compromise on quality. It’s about great produce and meeting amazing, passionate people who love their craft.”

Guillaume describes the nine-part series, filmed in Australia and the French countryside, as more of a documentary than cooking show. Together with Maeve, Guillaume embarks on a food lover’s paradise that showcases the best of French hospitality, cuisine and produce as they visit some of the most celebrated working kitchens of his home country and the many places of food pilgrimage in both Paris and regional France, tracking down top of the line butter, cheese, chocolate, charcuterie, truffles and wine.

“I reignited my passion for traditional French cooking during the filming of this series with some of the best chefs, butchers, bakers and pâtissiers this food loving homeland has to offer,” Guillaume says. “It ­re-energised me.”

The series also features the ‘who’s who’ of the French culinary world, with special guest appearances by France’s top chefs and providores who share come of their favourite recipes and create classics such as coq au vin, boeuf en croûte, vol au vent, salad niçoise, chicken grenobloise, terrine, croquembouche, soufflé and flan.

Fans of the French cuisine specialist will also get to see Guillaume at his raw best as he shares some of his own favourite French cuisines and recipes including bouillabaisse, cassoulet, ratatouille, crème brulée and raspberry tart.

Winning a legion of fans after his guest role in the French episodes of the original Food Safari series, Guillaume will likely be a welcome return in the Australian episodes of French Food Safari.

Guillaume joins a host of many famous French-born chefs that have made a successful name for themselves in Australia; for their culinary talent and charming accents, including the likes of Manu Feildel, Philippe Mouchel, Jacques Reymond and Gabriel Gaté.

Born and raised in Paris, Guillaume started cooking at age 15 and experimented in all areas of the classic French cuisine. “I loved cooking a good roast chicken with crispy potatoes,” he recalls.

He trained with French master and mentor Joël Robuchon at the well know Three-Star Michelin Paris restaurant, Jamin, and during his four years with Robuchon progressed from Chef de Partie to Sous Chef.

It was then that Guillaume made the bold career move to relocate to the other side of the world in 1990, age 23, to pursue further opportunities. Guillaume opened a small restaurant in Sydney, Pond, and achieved success within six months of opening, earning Two Chef Hats from the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide.

After his record breaking success with Pond, Guillaume was asked to revamp the prestigious Sydney restaurant, Bilsons (later renamed Quay) at Circular Quay and again went on to achieve the highest accolade of Three Chef Hats and was awarded the title of ‘Best French Restaurant’.

Guillaume then became committed to establishing his own restaurant and in 2001, he secured a contract to run the prestigious Bennelong restaurant at the Sydney Opera House and was later renamed Guillaume at Bennelong. It didn’t take long before the restaurant was recognised by Conde Naste Traveller as one of the top 50 new restaurants in the world.
For the last seven years, Guillaume has won countless awards including a Three Chef Hats Status in the 2007 Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Food Guide, and a Three-Star rating in Gourmet Traveller’s Restaurant Guide 2009.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the driven chef opened his second restaurant, Guillaume, in Melbourne’s Crown Casino Entertainment Complex in 2008. The restaurant has also acclaimed many awards within the industry including Best New Restaurant for both the Gourmet Traveller 2009 Restaurant Guide and the 2009 Age Good Food Guide.

“Bistro Guillaume uses classic French technique and influences but also has contemporary Australian influences,” he says. “I focus on the quality of produce. It’s a big part of what we do, and it’s important to recognise and celebrate where we are in Australia and use Australian produce.”

Guillaume describes himself as a ‘passionate foodie,’ and acknowledges that his menu changes and adjusts given the season and the availability of fresh produce, and insists there’s no preferential treatment among his dishes. “Every dish on my menu is a signature dish,” he says with emphasis.

Although Guillaume is yet to incorporate a coffee inspired dish into his exquisite French cuisine menu, he’s not ruling it out, suggesting that perhaps there could be a coffee ice-cream dessert on the menu in future.

At his restaurant, Guillaume at Bennelong, in Sydney, Guillaume uses a lightly roasted Vittoria Cinque Stella Arabica coffee beans, which he describes as “a smooth, high quality coffee bean with a very smooth texture, with no bitterness but a distinctive finish on the palate.”

With restaurants in both Melbourne and Sydney, Guillaume doesn’t get caught up in the rivalry between the two. He has called Sydney home for the last 20 years along with his wife and three daughters, and says both are great cities. “I love them both,” he confesses.

After spending such a long time in Australia, Guillaume says he has learnt a lot from the country and its people. “I continue to keep learning as a chef,” he says. “I have passion for food and cooking and the love for my work keeps me pushing the boundaries of perfection.”

While it seems Guillaume is all about the high praise of Australian produce and cuisine, there is at least one thing he’s prepared to say the French do better, and that’s cheese.
“I miss good cheese,” he remarks.

“I think the French do it better.”

French Food Safari premieres Thursday 23 June on SBS ONE.