Guillaume Brahimi
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Guillaume Brahimi (born 11 August 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born chef based in Sydney, Australia. He is currently head chef of Bistro Guillaume Sydney.


Career

French-born Guillaume Brahimi is one of Australia's most popular and acclaimed chefs. He trained under Michelin-starred chef
Joël Robuchon Joël Robuchon (, 7 April 1945 – 6 August 2018) was a French chef and restaurateur. He was named "Chef of the Century" by the guide Gault Millau in 1989, and awarded the ''Meilleur Ouvrier de France'' (France's best worker) in cuisine in 197 ...
in Paris before moving to Sydney in the 1990s. In 2001, Brahimi secured the contract to run the Bennelong restaurant at the
Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...
. The restaurant underwent extensive refurbishment and opened later that year, renamed Guillaume at Bennelong, awarded by ''
Condé Nast Traveler ''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards. The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club me ...
'' and ''
Gourmet Traveller ''Australian Gourmet Traveller'' is a monthly magazine owned by the Australian media company Are Media Are Media is an Australian media company. It was formed after the 2020 purchase of the assets of Bauer Media Australia, which had in tu ...
''. The restaurant was also awarded Two Hats in the 2004 and 2005 editions of ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
''s ''Good Food Guide'', and eventually Three Hats in 2006 and 2007. The restaurant fell back to Two Hat status in 2008 before regaining Three Hats during 2013, awarded in the 2014 Guide. The restaurant closed at the end of 2013 having lost the contract to run the venue. In 2008, Brahimi launched Bistro Guillaume at Melbourne's Crown Casino. The restaurant is styled on the classic French
bistro A bistro or bistrot (), in its original Parisian form, is a small restaurant serving moderately priced, simple meals in a modest setting. In more recent years, the term has become used by restaurants considered, by some, to be pretentious. Style ...
, and serves traditional bistro fare. In 2009, Brahimi published his first book, ''Guillaume: Food for Friends'', the proceeds being donated to a cancer research organisation named after a late friend, the Chris O'Brien LifeHouse at the
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (abbreviated RPAH or RPA) is a large teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located on Missenden Road in Camperdown. It is a teaching hospital of the Central Clinical School of the Sydney Medical School at the ...
in Sydney. His second book, ''French Food Safari'', was co-authored with Maeve O'Mara in 2012. The book was made into a television series on SBS. In 2015 he published ''Guillaume: Food for Family'', in which he shared his own family's favourite recipes. Royalties from that book were donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. In 2012 Brahimi launched Bistro Guillaume at
Crown Perth Crown Perth (formerly Burswood Island Casino, Burswood Island Complex and Burswood Entertainment Complex) is a resort and casino located in Burswood, Western Australia, near the Swan River. The resort consists of a casino, a convention centre ...
. The restaurant is also styled in the same vein as the Crown Casino in Melbourne. In December 2013, Brahimi was a crew member aboard racing supermaxi yacht '' Perpetual Loyal'' in the 2013
Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race The Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race is an annual oceanic yacht racing event hosted by the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, starting in Sydney, New South Wales, on Boxing Day and finishing in Hobart, Tasmania. The race distance is approximately ...
, with his other celebrity crew members,
Karl Stefanovic Karl Stefanovic ( sr-Cyrl, Карл Стефановић; born 12 August 1974), also spelt Karl Stefanović, is an Australian television presenter and journalist for the Nine Network. Stefanovic is currently a co-host of the Nine Network's br ...
,
Larry Emdur Larry Emdur (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian Gold Logie award winning television presenter. Emdur is currently co-host of '' The Morning Show'' alongside Kylie Gillies, and host of '' The Chase Australia''. The duo also hosted the A ...
,
Tom Slingsby Tom Slingsby (born 5 September 1984) is an Australian competitive sailor. Slingsby's first successes came sailing Laser dinghy, Laser dinghies, where he won three consecutive world championships and the 2012 Olympic gold medal. Slingsby was t ...
,
Phil Waugh Phillip Waugh (born 22 September 1979) is the chief executive of Rugby Australia and a former rugby union footballer who played 136 matches in Super Rugby for the NSW Waratahs, and in 79 Test matches for the Wallabies. His usual position was op ...
and Jude Bolton. In 2014 Brahimi opened Guillaume in
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
, Sydney, following the closure of Guillaume at Bennelong. In November 2014, Brahimi received the Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Merite (Knight of the National Order of Merit) from the French government. In 2016, Brahimi launched Bistro Guillaume Sydney. In January 2021 Brahimi was appointed by Crown Sydney as its culinary ambassador helping to promote its dining precinct and the city more broadly as a food destination. Brahimi is the host of SBS's food series, ''Plat du Tour'' which airs during the coverage of the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...
. Brahimi takes viewers on a tour of great French cooking during the 21 recipes that originate from different
regions of France France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which ha ...
and correlate to the different Tour de France stages.


Food

Brahimi's food has been described as "contemporary Australian cuisine with French influences". His dishes seek to celebrate Australian produce, articulated in modern style through French technique. The dishes might range from his signature East-meets-West entrée,
basil Basil (, ; , ; ''Ocimum basilicum'' (, )), also called great basil, is a culinary herb of the family Lamiaceae (mints). It is a hardiness (plants), tender plant, and is used in cuisines worldwide. In Western cuisine, the generic term "basil" r ...
infused tuna with mustard seed and soy
vinaigrette Vinaigrette ( , ) is made by mixing an edible oil with a mild acid such as vinegar (acetic acid) or lemon juice ( citric acid). The mixture can be enhanced with salt, herbs and/or spices. It is used most commonly as a salad dressing, but can ...
, to Italian-inspired roasted marron wrapped in
prosciutto Prosciutto ( ; ), also known as ''prosciutto crudo'', is an uncooked, unsmoked, and dry-cured ham. It is usually served thinly sliced. Several regions in Italy have their own variations of ''prosciutto crudo'', each with degrees of protected ...
with
risotto Risotto ( , ; from , 'rice') is an Italian cuisine, Italian rice dish cooked with broth until it reaches a creamy consistency. The broth can be derived from meat, fish or vegetables. Many types of risotto contain butter, onion, white wine, a ...
, veal jus and
truffle A truffle is the Sporocarp (fungi), fruiting body of a subterranean ascomycete fungus, one of the species of the genus ''Tuber (fungus), Tuber''. More than one hundred other genera of fungi are classified as truffles including ''Geopora'', ''P ...
, to dishes closer to the classical French repertoire such as his duck confit with pommes Pont Neuf,
foie gras ; (, ) is a specialty food product made of the liver of a Domestic duck, duck or Domestic goose, goose. According to French law, ''foie gras'' is defined as the liver of a duck or goose fattened by ''gavage'' (force feeding). ''Foie gras'' i ...
and truffle.


Television

Brahimi has been an in-house chef on the Australian version of ''
Iron Chef is a Japanese television cooking show produced by Fuji Television. The series, which premiered on October 10, 1993, is a stylized cook-off featuring guest chefs challenging one of the show's resident "Iron Chefs" in a timed cooking battle buil ...
'' on Channel Seven, specialising in French cooking. He has also been featured as one of the presenters of '' French Food Safari'' alongside Maeve O'Meara on the SBS Australia Network, and has appeared as a guest on both ''
MasterChef Australia ''MasterChef Australia'' is an Australian competitive cooking reality show based on the original British ''MasterChef (British TV series), MasterChef''. It is produced by Endemol Shine Australia and screens on Network 10. Restaurateur and ch ...
'' and ''
Junior MasterChef Australia ''Junior MasterChef Australia'' (known colloquially as MasterChef Kids) is an Australian competitive cooking game show. It is a spin-off of ''MasterChef Australia'', itself an adaptation of the British show ''MasterChef'', and featured contestant ...
''. In the fourth series of ''MasterChef Australia'' in 2012, the last six contestants worked under him for one day at his restaurant Guillaume at Bennelong, cooking a meal for 60 people as part of the competition. In 2020, Brahimi took over from
Gabriel Gaté Gabriel Gaté (born 1955 in the Loire Valley) is a French chef and cookbook author living in Australia. He has appeared on a number of Australian television shows. Gabriel was awarded La Croix de Chevalier ( Knight's Cross) in L'ordre du méri ...
as host of a French gastronomy show during the broadcast of the Tour de France on SBS, renamed from ''Taste Le Tour'' to ''Plat du Tour''. Brahimi's show is different in that he explores local Australian produce alongside French fare related to the town of each stage location, whereas Gaté would physically visit each stage location to explore local food and wine.


Charity work

Brahimi is a supporter of the Bestest Foundation and its Gala Dinner. Bestest raises funds for children who fall outside the standard boundaries of the larger established charities and helps get these children support to battle an illness, obtain equipment for disabilities, gain access to education or provide urgent assistance to children at risk. All funds raised go directly to children in need. In 2008, more than 50 chefs from Australia's best restaurants participated with teams from Matt Moran (Aria),
Neil Perry Neil Arthur Perry Order of Australia, AM is an Australian chef, restaurateur, author and television presenter. He also is the co-ordinator for Qantas Flight Catering under his company Rockpool Consulting. Early life and education Perry was b ...
(Rockpool), Philip Johnson (E'cco),
Shannon Bennett Shannon Bennett (born 23 November 1975) is an Australian chef and author. He is best known as the head chef of restaurant Vue de Monde at Melbourne's Rialto Tower. Bennett currently serves as the creative director at the restaurant and its pare ...
(
Vue de Monde Vue de Monde is a French bistro restaurant in Melbourne, Australia. Description The restaurant is located in the observation deck on the 55th floor of the Rialto Towers. The interior of the venue contains "fluffy kangaroo chairs, and table dre ...
) and Scott Hallsworth ( Nobu).


See also

*
French Australians French Australians (), some of whom refer to themselves as Huguenots, are Australian citizens or residents of French ancestry, or French-born people who reside in Australia. According to the 2021 Census, there were 148,922 people of French de ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brahimi, Guillaume Australian male chefs Chefs from Paris French emigrants to Australia Living people 1967 births Chefs from Sydney Knights of the Ordre national du Mérite