With the sudden announcement last week that Bar Brosé had closed, many Sydney diners were already missing the gougères. Here’s our recap of the restaurant’s great 18 months.
Opened in March 2016 in the space that was once The Passage, Bar Brosé was the second venture from the team behind Acme: Andy Emerson, Cam Fairbairn, Mitch Orr and Ed Loveday. Head chef, Analiese Gregory, was also a co-owner.
In June this year, the team announced Gregory was leaving Sydney for the top job at Hobart restaurant Franklin.
Following her departure at the end of June, former Yellow chef Adam Wolfers did an eight-week stint at Brosé with Marc Dempsey, also late of Yellow, on the floor. Called Ételek – the Hungarian word for food – the menu was a distillation of Wolfers’ Jewish-Hungarian upbringing and inventive vegetarian cooking at Yellow.
The last day of Wolfers’ pop-up was 27 August, which came and went with no announcement of future plans for the Brosé kitchen.
On 6 September, Loveday announced via an Instagram post that Bar Brosé had closed.
Inside Bar Brosé
The closure was a tough decision. “It’s a hard industry,” says Orr. “Everyone feels it at different times and in different ways. It got to the point where we decided it was the best option.”
Speaking to Gourmet Traveller, Orr thanked customers, suppliers and the industry for their support, adding that it “sucks to have to close something that you worked hard to open – and worked hard at when it was open”.
And what a place it was. Gallic inspiration came in the form of Comté gougères – a non-negotiable order – and the poulet au vin du Marrickville. The late-night sandwich was another must, while the gnocchi with lap cheong and kombu butter was a nod to the Chinese side of her family.
The potato dessert, inspired by Gregory’s time in the Aubrac with Michel Bras, used sweetened potato rounds as wafers to sandwich brown-butter mousse and salted caramel.
The late-night sandwich
Gregory joined the Franklin team in early August. She’s been making her own cheese (follow along at home with #franklincheesefiles) and showcasing Tasmania’s seafood in dishes such as a whole wood-roasted dory doused in abalone gut butter and served with local wakame.
Wolfers is taking his Ételek concept on the road, selling out a pop-up in Melbourne this week and with another coming up at Canberra’s Bar Rochford later this month.
As for the Brosé crew, it’s business as usual over at Acme in Rushcutters Bay.
