Former Eiffel Tower restaurant chef Antoine Lardin has relocated his eatery French Accent from the Swan Valley to the long-vacant Measure Bar site in Mt Lawley.
The two-year-old restaurant moved from its shared Caversham location with Maison Saint-Honore, to the location of former MasterChef contestant Karmen Lu’s old dessert bar at 642 Beaufort Street last month.
Measure Bar closed in November after the business went into liquidation and the site has been vacant for about 10 months.
Since the closure of the Caversham restaurant in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lardin has been working on a new menu and the move to Mt Lawley.
The Caversham site is still operating as Maison Saint-Honore during the day.
Lardin, who worked at Le Jules Verne on top of the Eiffel Tower, said the move came about when he felt “bored” at home and had withdrawals from not being in the restaurant during the pandemic.
“I even started to explore new ways to make the authentic ingredients of other cuisine with my girlfriend out of boredom and of course it involved fire,” he said.
“I am pumped and anxious to start French Accent in the heart of Mt Lawley as the type of crowd I would get will definitely be different to the crowd I get in Swan Valley.
“We love the vibe in Swan Valley but as we were sharing the same space as the cafe Maison Saint-Honore, we couldn’t make many changes with the space.
“I started scouting for vacant places near the city without any specific target, but when I saw the interior of former Measure Bar I just fell in love with it instantly.
“The owner and agent of the place was very kind and supportive to help me setting up my business in this new place.”
Mr Lardin said his girlfriend helped with starting the business again and looked after most of the decoration.
He hoped to add some feminism into French Accent’s food.
“The first week of opening, I felt the enthusiasm of people who walked along Beaufort Street,” he said.
“I felt the ambience is different in Beaufort Street and it made me wanting to be a part of the street…not only being part of the street, I also wanted to be part of the story.”
His goals as a chef was to share the French Accent concept, which was “fun dining” with Perth.
“In the very near future, I wish to open a new restaurant with some interesting ideas for dining in,” he said.
