The nice bar takes a lot of the space and it is nice to look into the kitchen and watch Antoine plating your order

theI have been willing to try this place for months on the recommendation of a trusted Chef, Daniel Blockley whose food I have enjoyed for a few years when he was cooking at Di Bella Roasting Warehouse in Surry Hills. 
It was my wife's birthday and we are in the heat of promoting our tours to Provence, so it was an appropriate choice, I guess...
Antoine Moscovitz started Antoine's Grill in Concord village nearby three years ago, and it was a hit with the locals. So a year ago, he decided to try a new more upmarket restaurant and Provence by Antoine was born!.
With an impressive culinary background that includes cooking under world renowned chef Alain Ducasse at La Cour Jardin, Paris, and being appointed private chef to the House of Roederer Cristal Champagne, Antoine has also worked a little closer to home at Salt restaurant with Luke Mangan and Bather’s Pavilion at Balmoral Beach with Serge Dansereau.
Following several years as a high profile private chef in the USA, Moscovitz decided to return with his Australian family to Sydney, to settle in Concord, where partner Sam grew up.
The menu is more South of France than Provençal, as cassoulet can hardly qualify, but bouillabaisse can! Obviously, you will also find the quintessential "assiette de charcuterie" and various steaks, which were our choices last night.

Amuse bouche to start with served on a dark stone

Saucisson, prosciutto and rabbit terrine for starters

Apparently, you can order the rabbit terrine on its own, and I would recommend you do just that, as it is the star of the show! I have to say, it rivals my paternal grandmother own terrine - by the way, she was also making her own cornichons, the best I have ever tasted - sorry Maille... It was tasty, meaty, but also refined and complex, and you could really taste the care in making it!
It is served with a beautiful aromatic mustard and an amazing onion jam and some pain grillé. Perfect!
My wife chose the wine - well, it was her birthday after all, and she is very good at it too - and we had a Saumur Champigny from Chateau du Hureau cuvée Tuffe 2010. Made entirely from Cabernet Franc, this wine is very refined and complex and was the perfect match with our steaks in particular. Coming from 15 parcels of old and young Cabernet Franc vines, Tuffe is a blend from different “terroirs”, scattered around Saumur and Dampierre/Loire. Here the common denominator is the tuffeau (around Saumur, we would say “la Tuffe”), the stone of the region which can be found at anything from 1 foot to a couple of yards underneath the surface. The tuffe is the building material of choice of most Loire castles. "Aromatic, violets, pure raspberry and redcurrant, with light chalky tannin at the front palate, say Sally Easton MW

Our main course was the Fillet for my wife and the Rib eye for me, both plated with some Paris mash à la Joel Robuchon and we ordered a side salad, which was simple and delicious. The steaks were slightly more cooked than I would have liked, but still retaining all the required juicyness.

Our steaks being plated....

The filet

And the rib eye

And some more of this lovely wine

Finally, could not resist the temptation of a "Café Gourmand" in the form of a micro selection of the desserts on the menu...Quite an indulgence and also a special mention for a very good cup of coffee, more often than not, not a match to the meal, but not Chez Antoine! And a last note to pay tribute to the crew, head up by David and with mostly French people to serve. Quite a treat!

So, in conclusion, a very nice evening of good food, outstanding wine, great service, quite unexpected in such a suburban place.

Café Gourmand, the "point d'orgue" of a very enjoyable and traditional French dinner