REVIEW
Chauncy only opens four lunch services each week but rest assured that any planning involved in making one of those work is well worth it. For starters, chef Louis Naepels’s locally minded four-course menu du jour – which might feature preserved artichokes teamed with excellent jamón or chou farci in a pool of resonant pork-stock sauce – is almost unbelievably well priced. All the more reason to include some add-ons, like a shave of truffle, some respectfully treated cheese, perhaps a classic crème brûlée or a tarte Tatin good enough to bring you to tears. However you play it, the cooking is subtle and skilful in the same breath. Naepels’s partner Tess Murray manages the floor of the light-washed room (once a gold-rush-era surveyor’s office) with a similarly light touch. She’s also behind the wine list, an immaculate collection focusing on New and Old World expressions of French varieties from small makers. Magnifique in all respects.
ABOUT
Chauncy
French
178 High St, Heathcote
(03) 4432 7951
Chef Louis Naepels
Price guide $$
Bookings Essential
Wheelchair access Yes
Open Lunch Fri-Mon
This review was written independently for the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Guide. The guide’s reviewers visit unannounced and pay their way. To learn more about the process, head over here.
Gourmet Traveller Annual Restaurant Guide
Our guide gives a yearly snapshot of the best restaurants to eat at right now. The best-rated restaurants, as judged by the reviewers’ first-hand experience, form our national guide.
