{"id":243,"date":"2015-03-07T11:05:18","date_gmt":"2015-03-07T01:05:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.moffat.com.au\/wordpress\/?p=243"},"modified":"2015-11-09T13:38:55","modified_gmt":"2015-11-09T03:38:55","slug":"lhotel-gitan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/cooking\/restaurant-and-cafe\/lhotel-gitan\/","title":{"rendered":"L’Hotel Gitan"},"content":{"rendered":"[spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n
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While Gitan actually means \u2018gypsy\u2019 in French this is one restaurant that we can\u2019t imagine will be going anywhere, anytime soon.<\/h2>\n

While renowned chef Jacques Reymond epitomises authentic French style he is very much a passionate Australian \u2013 having lived here for 32 years.<\/h3>\n

In his latest venture, L\u2019Hotel Gitan, which opened last November, he combines traditional French cuisine with a very laid-back, Australian feel. Many of the dishes are designed for sharing, and the interior \u2013 a magnificently renovated pub \u2013 is open, casual and communal.
\nL\u2019Hotel Gitan<\/a> is the \u2018sister\u2019 restaurant to Reymond\u2019s very successful Bistro Gitan, which offers refined French cuisine with strong Spanish and Italian influences.<\/p>\n

Situated on either side of Melbourne\u2019s popular Fawkner Park, Reymond says the two restaurants attract mostly the same local clientele however, \u201cwith L\u2019Hotel Gitan<\/a> we wanted to give our regulars the opportunity to come several times a week \u2013 not just once every six months.\u201d<\/p>\n

The classic-inspired French menu is divided into three sections: petite (small tapas-style dishes), moyen (entr\u00e9e size share plates), and plat principal (main course dishes, many of which are cooked in front of guests). Charcuterie is sliced to order and there\u2019s also an impressive rotisserie, used to prepare whole chickens, whole suckling pig, suckling lamb and whole racks of pork.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/2″ el_position=”first”]\n

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\u201cThis relaxed, communal way of enjoying French cuisine is something I have with my family,\u201d says Reymond. \u201cI find it very Australian. It involves sharing, people interacting with each other, feeling happy and relaxed, but still eating very good food.\u201d<\/p>\n

In keeping with its honest, inviting menu one of L\u2019Hotel Gitan\u2019s most distinguishing features is its vast, open-plan kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our customers to feel comfortable as soon as they walk in and to have direct interaction with the chefs who are preparing their meal\u201d, says Reymond. \u201cThis was our vision: everything prepared in the open.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There are three key areas to L\u2019Hotel Gitan\u2019s kitchen: the main kitchen, a prep kitchen in the rear and a pastry section. To keep up with demand there is currently 16 staff in the kitchen and Reymond hopes to soon have a team of 20.<\/p>\n

While he is used to being very hands-on Reymond has taken a step back with L\u2019Hotel Gitan. He is closely involved as a consultant but leaves the day-to-day management up to his four children. This family-run atmosphere also adds to its relaxed, welcoming appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur food is very accessible. It\u2019s comfort food, but well executed\u201d, says Reymond. \u201cHowever the produce is also from the same suppliers that I used to use at Jacques Reymond Restaurant. The best of the best,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Since opening in November the restaurant has been busy. It produces 50 covers for lunch and 150 for dinner every night. L\u2019Hotel Gitan is certainly on the path to a bright future \u2026and we don\u2019t need the tea leaves or a crystal ball to tell us that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n[\/spb_text_block] [spb_image_banner image=”252″ image_size=”full” content_pos=”left” content_textalign=”left” animation=”none” animation_delay=”200″ link_target=”_self” width=”1\/2″ el_position=”last”][\/spb_image_banner] [spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”]\n

IN THE KITCHEN<\/h1>\n

When it came to the kitchen fit-out Reymond installed a custom-built stove and used the sleek aesthetics of the Waldorf Bold<\/a> range for the open commercial kitchen.<\/p>\n

He knew when to stick with a good thing, saying, \u201cI\u2019ve installed Waldorf many times: at my first restaurant in Richmond, at Jacques Reymond Restaurant, at Arintji in Federation Square and even at the two resorts I consult for in Fiji\u201d.<\/p>\n

Reymond also invested in deep fryers for the back kitchen, stoves for the preparation kitchen, some Blue Seal S Line combi ovens<\/a> and a Turbofan oven<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He couldn\u2019t be happier. \u201cI have always been very satisfied with the equipment quality and the after-service I have received,\u201d he says. \u201cMoffat is a great brand.\u201d<\/p>\n[\/spb_text_block]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[spb_text_block animation=”none” animation_delay=”0″ padding_vertical=”0″ padding_horizontal=”0″ width=”1\/1″ el_position=”first last”] While Gitan actually means \u2018gypsy\u2019 in French this is one restaurant that we can\u2019t imagine will be going anywhere, anytime soon. While renowned chef Jacques Reymond epitomises authentic French style he is very much a passionate Australian \u2013 having lived here for 32 years. In his latest venture, L\u2019Hotel Gitan, which opened […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,41],"tags":[32,34,29,19,33,31,30],"class_list":["post-243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-restaurant-and-cafe","category-vic","tag-blue-seal-s-line","tag-jacques-reymond","tag-melbourne","tag-moffat","tag-restaurant","tag-turbofan","tag-waldorf-bold"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":258,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243\/revisions\/258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.moffat.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}