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February 26, 2015
Habits

First look: La Buvette

Opening next Wednesday (March 4), La Buvette brings contemporary French ideas about hospitality to Gresham Street in the city's WestEnd.

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  • Pictures: Brendan Homan
  • Words: Joshua Fanning

You could talk to Dominique Lentz for hours. Well, you could talk to Dominique Lentz  for hours if, like us, you love to speak about history, cheese making, natural wine and music.

Remarks

LA BUVETTE
2/27 Gresham Street,
Adelaide 5000
Opens Wednesday March, 4th
Wednesday – Saturday
4PM-2AM

La Buvette is possibly the most beautiful bar yet in Adelaide’s astounding new bar scene. However, more beautiful than the fixtures and finishings, more interesting than the drink list and glassware is the culture Dominque has been able to imbue in this venue before it’s even opened.

Dominique has lived in Australia for a decade now but his original tourist visa meant he had to go back to France early on.

“When I returned to France I had the feeling that I was regressing,” says Dominique.

Ten years on, Dominique is returning to France in an entirely different way.

“I have always wanted to do something like a bistro or an aperitif bar but I didn’t want to open it in Sydney,” he says, “it didn’t feeel right.

“Coming to Adelaide made me realise that the people here, the produce and the fact that everyone I met was really proud of where they come from and what they have… it gave me a feeling of home, Adelaide reminds me of where I’m from in Alsace.”

And so Dominique and his Adelaide-born wife, Hayley decided to make the connection between Adelaide and Alsace official with their take on the French neighbouhood bar with La Buvette.

la-buvette

A completely new timber frontage with lights hung purposefully over a hand-painted sign all combine to create the perfect entrance to an entirely authentic experience of French culture.

Remarks

CityMag tips its hat to Dominique’s creative collaborators, Tristan Kerr for the hand-rendered signage and Enoki for the exquisite interior design work.

“It’s somewhere we want our customer to come and really feel like they are somewhere else,” explains Dominique. “It’s not as important that they feel like they’re in France, but of course many of our staff are French, but most importantly we want to create a place where you have time to really taste and try something different.”

CityMag will take two please.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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