Croque-monsieur, the classic French ham and cheese sandwich. Photos: Sophia Brady.
While I do not envy being in the current heatwave in Europe, those Euro summer holiday snaps are all over my social media feed and are doing something to me.
Anything featuring Paris and buttery, flaky croissants is hard to ignore. I have been torturing myself further, streaming Eva Longoria’s show Searching for France. By the third episode, I had to go on my own search for France in Canberra.
Savoir French is tucked away on the Australian National University campus right near the Canberra Rep theatre. There is not much signage, and it is genuinely a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it situation.
Inside, the set-up is simple. It is a cafeteria-style French bakery with a large counter running across the space.
Behind the glass cabinets, there is everything carby, buttery and good in this world: quiches, pastries, cakes, and a full display of fresh rolls made on baguettes. There is a lot to take in, and I found myself looking at one thing, then immediately distracted by something else. Above the counter, blackboards list the soup du jour, the plat du jour and, on my visit, a hot apple cider.
It is all very egalitarian. You stand in line, order, get a tray full of whatever you chose, and then find somewhere to sit.
Eating the Plat du jour felt like la belle vie.
My head was swinging from side to side, and I opted for a croque-monsieur, the classic French ham-and-cheese sandwich. This one arrives on generous, thick slices of bread. Cutting it in half reveals the ham and layers of béchamel sauce on either side, with grilled cheese across the top. It simply made me happy. It had cooled down slightly in the display cabinet by the time I ordered and would have been sublime piping hot. I washed it down with hot apple cider, which hit the spot on a cold, rainy day.
That first lunch satisfied my French food craving to the point that I came back the next day, this time to try the plat du jour, the dish of the day, you see advertised across bistros and restaurants throughout Paris (well, at least on my trips), which here is served from noon. I arrived just before, ordered it, and was told it would be brought out at 12.00, which it was.
While I was waiting, I did some people watching and took in what was going on around me. This place is not a secret. Uni students were in line, academics mid-conversation, someone nearby writing in a journal, and the table next to me talking about how they had been coming here for years. The line was around 20 people deep at one point.
At noon, my plat du jour arrived: a chicken-and-rice bake with capsicum, onion, corn, black beans, garlic, and spices. It was exactly what I wanted in that moment, warm, generous and deeply satisfying. Sitting there with it and another hot apple cider, it felt like la belle vie. A beautiful lunch, simple and good.
Both lunches filled my Paris-seeking soul and my stomach, leaving me no room to work my way through the pastries or tarts in the cabinet.
Takeaway quiche from Savoir French was Magnifique.
What I did do, with no plans for dinner, was ask what I could take home and heat later. I smugly left with a ham quiche, reheating instructions written on the box. I continued living très bien at home that night, with a glass of wine, the reheated quiche with its buttery crust and creamy filling. It was magnifique.
My only complaint is that they are not open on weekends, which means no Saturday morning croissant. If you want a table and the pick of what is on offer, you need to arrive early, because they do sell out.
Savoir French is located at 105 Ellery Crescent, Acton. They are open Monday to Friday from 8 am to 3 pm.