The new Potts Point wine bar serving up a Parisian atmosphere
French wine bar La Buvette is the latest from The Goodies Hospitality, the team behind Bar Copains, Bessie’s and Alma’s, and Vin-Cenzo’s.
“That’s the feeling we wanted to bring to La Buvette. It’s a neighbourhood wine bar first and foremost, with classic French cooking, a great wine list, and warm hospitality.”
The Potts Point venue, led by Co-Owners Sali and Nathan Sasi and Morgan McGlone, is inspired by the intimate bars of Paris, and offers a menu of small plates and classic bistro dishes, and a French-focussed wine list.
Nathan Sasi says the best wine bars in Paris have a sense of ease about them.
“They’re places you drop into for a glass, end up ordering dinner, and somehow the whole evening disappears,” says Sasi.
“That’s the feeling we wanted to bring to La Buvette. It’s a neighbourhood wine bar first and foremost, with classic French cooking, a great wine list, and warm hospitality.”
He says they feel incredibly lucky to be “writing the next chapter” for the much-loved corner of Potts Point. The opening is a revival of the original La Buvette at the Challis Avenue site, which closed in 2019.
The menu, which draws on a recent research trip Nathan and Morgan took to Paris, is “classically French, but with a modern, playful edge”.
Highlights include oysters with Champagne granita; comté custard gougères; raw diced tuna and goat’s curd tart; escargots with café de Paris butter; and duck neck and pork sausage with seeded mustard. The dessert menu includes an apple pie with french vanilla bean icecream; a charred macaron with yuzu and finger lime; and a mini crème caramel.
The drinks program has been curated by Group Sommelier Ishan Kaplish and has a French wine and French varietals from Australia and around the world. It features 23 wines by the glass, and French inspired cocktail including the Buvette Martini with Tanqueray gin, dry vermouth, cornichon, and brine.
La Buvette is open for dinner from 4pm Monday to Thursday, and for lunch and dinner from Friday to Sunday. The intimate venue has nine bookable seats inside, and 30 walk-in seats outside.