The Café Restaurant Français run by Timothée Cheval and John Poehlman may have been the first of its kind but it was by no means the only establishment in Sydney in the latter half of the nineteenth century to boast that it was run as a French restaurant or to promote its Frenchness. The sagas of these businesses suggest a hospitality scene where competition was fierce and margins narrow. Optimism and even skill and competence were not sufficient to ensure success in this environment. Partnerships perhaps formed in haste, or on short acquaintance, and establishments started with inadequate funds inevitably led to closures and bankruptcy. Longevity might depend on good luck as much as good management. The following vignettes provide some idea of the vicissitudes proprietors experienced, and glimpses of the society of the time in particular the interactions between members of the French speaking community.
1. Aux Frères Provençaux
In March 1854 Ernest Budin and François Mellon advertised the opening their business Aux Frères Provençaux Café and Restaurant de Paris at 491 George Street, in the premises which had been the “French Stay Warehouse” run by Budin’s wife, the widow Fanny Protois.[1] They intended the establishment would be kept “in the Parisian style” (Sydney Morning Herald, hereafter SMH, 20 March 1854, p. 2; 25 March 1854, p. 5), offering “dinner always ready at the choice on the bill of fare” and assuring patrons that the “cooking and attendance is at present impossible to be surpassed in Sydney” (Illustrated Sydney News, 29 April 1854, p. 11). In May the café moved to 220 George Street where they could now also offer board and lodging (SMH, 17 May 1854, p. 6). Budin dedicated himself to providing Sydney with “an establishment indispensable to the individual comfort of the inhabitants”.
The details of the arrangement between Budin and Mellon are unknown, but in August 1854 the partnership was dissolved and Budin carried on the business alone, promising the cuisine would be “conducted by French and English cooks of great experience” and “the tout ensemble” would be of a style “hitherto unknown in the colony” (Empire, 5 August 1854, p. 8; SMH, 4 September 1854, p. 8).
Again, the exact details of the fate of Aux Frères Provençaux are not entirely clear but what they do reveal is the closeness of the small French speaking community. For example, when M. Massinot, late of his partnership with Timothée Cheval, was looking for an appointment as a butcher he could be contacted through Ernest Budin at 220 George Street (SMH, 16 October 1854, p. 1).
The proprietors of Aux Frères Provençaux announced in February 1855 that they had “secured the services of a first-rate cook also a glacier both having been attached for years to the most celebrated cafes de Paris” (SMH, 20 February 1855, p. 6). Just who these gentlemen were is not explained, and here the trail becomes somewhat murky. At the quarterly licensing meeting in March 1855 the license for Aux Frères Provençaux transferred from Budin to Mr F. Osmond (Empire, 7 March 1855, p. 7), but at the annual licensing meeting held in April Alphonse Barbier applied for, and was granted the license to Aux Frères Provençaux. (SMH, 17 April 1855, p. 2 applications of publican’s general licenses; granted 27 April see Museums of History NSW, State Archives collection, NRS 14403 [7/1503]; reel 1237). This is the same Alphonse Barbier who had been in business with Alexandre De Mars, Timothée Cheval’s original partner, in Bathurst (Bathurst Free Press, 14 January 1854, p. 4). Barbier may have been the “first rate cook” referred to in the advertising in February.
At around this time Barbier forms a partnership with Guillaume Arzilier who was perhaps the “glacier” who joined Aux Frères Provençaux. Where Osmond fits into the scene is not clear, he may have purchased the premises at 220 George Street from Budin and leased them to Barbier and Co.? Whatever the arrangements “the shop at 220 George Street at present occupied by Barbier and Co. as the Café de Paris” was advertised to let in May 1855 (SMH, 17 May 1855, p. 1).
On 7 June “Barbier and Co. of the Café and restaurant 220 George Street, known as the Frères Provençaux” announce they have taken the premises formerly known as the German Club in O’Connell Street and will open there on 1 July (SMH, 7 June 1855, p. 1). Only ten days later the auction of the furniture and fittings of Aux Frères Provençaux is advertised due to the dissolution of the partnership of Barbier and Co. (SMH, 18 June 1855, p. 6) and the estate of François Barbier and Guillaume Arzilier “restaurant proprietors” was placed under sequestration on 19 July (NSW Government Gazette, 24 July 1855, p. 1968).
Meanwhile, F. Seghers and Co., “the successors to the proprietors” of the “Café Restaurant des freres Provenceaux [sic] Hotel restaurant”, advertised that they have indeed moved to the German Club premises at 18 O’Connell Street, and “retained the services of their celebrated chef de cuisine” (Empire, 12 July 1855, p. 1). François Seghers was a Belgian, late of Duprez and Seghers, tailors, and in September the license of Aux Frères Provençaux transfers to him from Alphonse Barbier (Empire, 5 September 1855, p. 3). Who the other partners were in F. Seghers and Co. is not revealed but perhaps Barbier, if not one of the partners, is “the celebrated chef de cuisine”. No further mention is made of the building in O’Connell Street until it is auctioned in 1857 (SMH, 16 January 1857, p. 7).
To confuse the picture further, in September 1856 Frederick Osmond (to whom Budin transferred his license in 1855) moved on to the Digger’s Arms in Pitt Street (SMH, 12 September 1856, p. 8) where he continued to advertise a menu with a distinctly French flavour – for example, “mutton cutlets, sauce piquante; salmi of teal a la Bigarade; saute of goose aux olives; sweetbread of veal sauce tomate; tripe a la Lyonnaise; kidneys au champagne; sausages aux choux; cold meats: ham, tongues, potted game, partridge aux truffles, pate de fois gras, mayonnaise of lobster” (Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer, 27 September 1856, p. 3) – suggesting he may have taken the “first rate cook” with him.[2]
2. Alphonse Courvoisier and the Hotel de France
Alphonse Courvoisier, who had worked for Timothée Cheval at the Café Restaurant Français for the previous five years, transferred first to the City Wine Vaults in George Street briefly before taking up the license for the Customs House Hotel in Macquarie Place in 1860 (SMH, 3 December, p. 7, 1859; SMH, 4 January, p. 3; SMH, 4 April 1860, p. 2). He was confident that “his long experience in the culinary art and his practical knowledge of the duties of a restaurant” would stand him in good stead (SMH, 3 December, p. 7, 1859). He promised a bill of fare “that might be expected from a first-class professional cook” (SMH, 7 January 1860, p. 1) which included food to please all comers from hodge-podge, roast beef and grilled chops to fish au gratin, epigramme [sic] of lamb with piquante sauce, calves’ liver a la bourgeoise, and milenaise [sic] of veal (SMH, 20 January 1860, p. 1; 31 January, p. 1). His tenure at the Customs House lasted about 12 months – in April 1861 the auction of the whole of his household furniture was advertised and in September the license was transferred to Francis Byrnes (SMH, 19 April 1861, p. 7; Empire, 4 September 1861, p. 7). With the number of hotels providing food in the city it is unlikely Courvoisier’s talents went to waste for long, and he claimed to have spent some time as chef at the Civil Services Club when, in 1868, he announced the opening of his café restaurant at the Hotel de France “King and George Streets opposite the Joint Stock Bank and nearly opposite the City Bank” (SMH, 9 July 1868, p. 1; Illustrated Sydney News, 11 July 1868, p. 16). This was a significant undertaking. The café downstairs was spacious, well-furnished and “lofty and well ventilated to suit the tropical climate”. The “equally vast proportioned chamber upstairs” housed two billiard tables and the hotel also offered accommodation. Among the “numerous other spacious apartments” was a ladies dining room, staffed by female attendants, described as “a great novelty in New South Wales, and an article long wanted” (Newcastle Chronicle, 25 July 1868, p. 3; SMH, 9 July 1868, p. 1). Courvoisier ran his establishment “in quite the Parisian style” and it soon became a popular venue for meetings of clubs and associations and formal, celebratory dinners.
How prominent Courvoisier was in the French community is not known. His wife, Louise/Louisa, spoke French having been born in the Channel Islands (Dutton, p. 21) but was technically a British subject. How they met and why they came to Australia is also unknown but they were not alone in Sydney. Louise’s brother, Charles Martel, worked as a waiter at Petty’s Hotel, and a sister, Ellen Marie, also lived in Sydney. It is possible Louise and Alphonse were the guardians of Louise’s nephew, Ernest Grasset, the orphaned son of another of her sisters (see death of Ernest, Evening News, 18 June 1875, p. 2).[3]
By 1869 Alphonse felt settled enough in Sydney with his successful business and extended family ties to become naturalized.[4] Subsequent happenings suggest that he may also have had political leanings which could have prompted him to leave France in the first place (rather than the quest for gold, see Dutton p. 21) and he saw little prospect of returning to France. There is also some evidence that he had links to New Caledonia. Reports of shipping departures and arrivals indicate that a Monsieur Courvoisier visited New Caledonia in March 1873 (Australian Town and Country Journal, 1 March 1873, p. 27; SMH, 14 March 1873 p. 4) and again in June (Sydney Mail, 14 June 1873, p. 751) and December (SMH, 11 December 1873, p. 4).
That his establishment in Sydney was both well-known, referred to simply as “Courvoisier’s”, and well-respected is attested by his clientele. Monsieur Pouzolz was on his way to Noumea to take up his position as president of the supreme court and chief justice of New Caledonia, when he died there in June 1873 (SMH, 25 June 1873, p. 4). The following year Courvoisier played host to more notorious guests. Henri Rochefort and his companions were political prisoners, Communards, members and supporters of the Paris Commune, the short-lived revolutionary socialist government which ruled France from 18 March to 28 May 1871. They had been exiled to New Caledonia, and escaped from detention in March 1874, Rochefort himself only having arrived there in December 1873.[5] Rochefort, Pascal Grousset, Francis Jourde, Olivier Pain, Achille Baillière and Bastian Granthille arrived in Newcastle on 27 March and by 1 April Rochefort, Grousset and Baillière were in Sydney, ensconced at Courvoisier’s hotel.
Their arrival was the subject of much interest with commentary both for and against the rebels from both the local community and the French establishment appearing in the newspapers. According to Rochefort’s account of his time in Sydney it was M. Bonnard, the French Consular Agent in Newcastle who recommended Courvoisier’s hotel, but Rochefort also claimed that he had prior knowledge of Courvoisier. Apparently, the tutor of his (Rochefort’s) children had met Courvoisier’s brother in La Rochelle and had mentioned that Alphonse was in Australia (Dutton, p. 21). It is hard to judge how true this statement is, particularly in the light of the barely plausible story Rochefort and friends concocted to explain how they had managed to escape from New Caledonia (see SMH, 30 March 1874, p. 4), but it does lend weight to the idea that Courvoisier sympathised with the radicals. It is Rochefort who also claims that Courvoisier had land holdings in New Caledonia and would in future be regarded as a criminal there for having helped the escapees (Dutton, p. 24). Although in all his interviews with the press Rochefort was careful not to implicate anyone in the planning of the escape, a M. Courvoisier was in New Caledonia in December 1873, leaving Noumea four days before Rochefort arrived which could be taken to suggest a tenuous connection between Courvoisier and the planning of the escape.[6]
Courvoisier’s guests stayed only a few days, leaving Sydney on 11 April (Evening News, 11 April 1874, p. 2) but what of the aftermath? How Courvoisier’s role in offering them accommodation was regarded by French officialdom is not recorded. The French Consul General in Sydney, Eugène Simon, made it clear, in a letter addressed to the public, that the truth of the matter was Rochefort and his friends were convicts, perpetrators of plunder, arson and murder and tried as criminals. They should not be romanticised as political prisoners. Sympathisers might well be well-meaning but they were “manifestly thoughtless” (Evening News, 4 April 1874, p. 2). Although the publicity surrounding Rochefort’s presence may have been good for business by attracting the curious, his association with the “communist” cause may not have been so good for Courvoisier’s personal standing in the French community.
The new year, 1875, began with Courvoisier announcing he was selling up - all the effects, goodwill, lease license, furniture and the four billiard tables of Courvoisier’s Café and Hotel de France were for sale by private contract. The net profits of the establishment were claimed to be £2000 per annum so that “to any person with sufficient means and a knowledge of the business’, this offered “an opportunity of realising a fortune in a few years.” (SMH, 16 February 1875, p. 6). Courvoisier was giving up this lucrative business because he had “realized a competency” and was about to retire and return to France. There is no reason to doubt the veracity of this claim that Courvoisier was in a financial position to retire, similar explanations were often proffered to counteract any suggestion that the business was in trouble and the owner staving off bankruptcy.
In April, Mrs Courvoisier left Sydney for Noumea (SMH, 16 April 1875, p. 6) which raises the suspicion that the Courvoisiers were not necessarily planning to return to France, but just what their connection was to New Caledonia is not known. Whatever their plans they did not come to fruition – François Alphonse Courvoisier died on May 5 (SMH, 6 May 1875, p. 1), he was 50 years old and did not leave a will.[7] Louise was described by Rochefort as “the life and soul of the establishment” (Dutton, p. 21) but now she was faced with the prospect of running the place on her own. She was granted the license for the hotel (SMH, 31 May 1875, p. 2) and applied for, and was granted, administration of her husband’s estate with help from Hippolyte Felix Delarue (watchmaker and jeweller) and her brother Charles Martel. In the meantime, she dealt with the tragic death of her nephew Ernest (see note 2). Louise may have been very competent but she nonetheless took her brother on as a managing partner in the business (SMH, 28 October 1875, p. 2) before deciding to sell out in June 1876 (SMH, 5 June 1876, p. 7). Courvoisier’s Hotel was taken over by Mr George Frazer/Fraser, late of the Scott’s Hotel in Melbourne, who purchased the lease and furniture for £1500 (SMH 15 June 1876, p. 5; 21 June 1876, p. 2).
What happened to Louise’s siblings is not known. Whether Frazier’s £1500 made Louise a wealthy widow or only went to covering her debts is also a mystery. In either case this story does not end happily. It seems that Louise subsequently went back to New Caledonia and was murdered there in “The Great Kanak Revolt” of 1878 (SMH, 25 July 1878, p. 4).[8]
Over 15 years Courvoisier had set a standard for Sydney which would not be matched until Paris House opened in 1890. His “his long experience in the culinary art and his practical knowledge of the duties of a restaurant” had stood him in good stead. The restaurant dining public had responded positively to his professionalism and appreciated the sophisticated ambience, disciplined service, and good food at the Hotel de France. But not all successful eating establishments boasting French flair were restaurants for the wealthy and well-connected or big hotels with lavish dining rooms. One of the longest running businesses with French credentials in Sydney in the nineteenth century was A La Flore Australienne.
3. Henri de Josselin and A La Flore Australienne
A La Flore Australienne opened in August 1861 as a “French confectionery and pastry establishment” which also sold wines and spirits imported from Europe. The business was originally a partnership between Henri de Josselin and Louis Saclier. Louis Saclier had previously been in business as a house decorator selling imported wallpaper and more recently had set himself up as an agent for French wines and spirits.[9] Henri de Josselin had been in the colony since 1855.[10] A la Flore Australienne promised an entirely new establishment “without rival in Sydney or even Australia” providing French confectionery and pastry, along with an unrivalled stock of liqueurs, wines and spirits imported from Europe. Advertising made a point of the accommodation provided for “ladies requiring lunch or refreshments” in a room “furnished with elegance” where they were assured of “every convenience and politeness” (SMH, 30 July 1861, p. 1; 24 August 1861, p. 5).
The business faltered before the end of the year and the partnership was dissolved, effective 1 January 1862 with Henri de Josselin continuing the business alone (SMH, 8 January 1862, p. 1; 12 February 1862, p. 1). A La Flore Australienne continued to sell imported confectionery, to supply lunches, cater for functions, picnics, and weddings, and provide seasonal delicacies along with iced drinks, jellies, and ice cream. By 1867 de Josselin could boast he now had “one of the largest, coolest, best and most comfortable dining rooms in New South Wales” where he paid strict attention to politeness and cleanliness, coupled with moderate charges and cuisine arrangements second to none (SMH, 3 April 1867, p. 8). For all his claim de Jossselin’s business was probably only modest but well enough known and patronised to prosper, at least until the early 1870s. Early in 1872 he downsized, relinquishing his lease on 319 George Street, and selling off household furniture, ivory handled cutlery, restaurant tables and chairs, bed steads, bedding and a “magnificent French billiard table” to concentrate his operations at the adjoining 317 George Street (SMH, 29 April 1872, p. 7). In June 1873 he advertised A la Flore Australienne for sale (SMH, 7 June 1873, p. 3) and presumably failing to attract a favourable buyer then moved to 307 George Street (SMH, May 13 1874, p. 10).
Throughout 1875 and 1876 he continued to advertise his private dining and ladies’ rooms, his French confectionery and pastry of all kinds and the availability of wines and spirits, for both wholesale and retail customers. In 1877 he did not renew the lease for 307 George Street (SMH, 30 April 1877, p. 1) and moved again this time to 9 Bond Street where he stayed until August 1878 (SMH, 15 August 1878, p. 12) when the address for A La Flore Australienne changed again to 12 Charlotte Place (SMH, 26 September 1878, p. 1). Here he claimed to have made extensive alterations to provide large airy luncheon rooms and an elegant ladies’ room, suitable for ladies and families, “not to be equalled in the colony” (SMH, 2 October 1878, p. 2; 9 November 1878, p. 15).
Perhaps de Josselin had over capitalised on his new premises or maybe business was falling off, but in January 1880 he was declared insolvent (NSW Gov. Gaz., 9 January 1880, p. 127). Bankruptcy was a common fate for restaurateurs and caterers but most seemed to bounce back and de Josselin was no exception. By November A La Flore Australienne was back in business at 409 George Street (SMH, 12 November 1880, p. 12). His advertising rarely specified items he offered on the menu, but it would appear de Josselin had, over his nearly twenty years in business, established a reputation for his meat pies and “celebrated veal and ham pates of old time renown” which he now made available on Wednesday and Saturday (SMH, 11 January 1881, p. 1).
Henri de Josselin had had a good run, but he was now 65 and no doubt ready to retire. In May the newspapers carried advertisements for the sale by auction of the equipment associated with A La Flore Australienne – the china, earthenware, glassware, furniture, and copper moulds, the ice cream machine, the coffee fountain, and the remaining candid fruits, syrups, and jams. Henri and his wife Rosa then rented Wascoe House, in what is today Blaxland in the lower Blue Mountains, from William Deane where they provided accommodation for gentlemen and families seeking a change of air in this “charming mountain retreat”, promising moderate terms and “a good table” (SMH, 20 August 1881, p. 16 and 1 October 1881, p. 18; 22 December 1882, p. 10).[11] But Henri’s time enjoying the fresh air of the mountains did not last long. Henri Etienne de Josselin, native of “Mentzac, Department de la Haute Vienne”, died suddenly on 22 May 1883 (SMH, 26 May 1883, p. 1).
[1] Budin claimed, on his application for naturalisation, to have arrived in Australia via Gypsy Queen in 1852 (Museums of History NSW, State Archives Collection, Naturalization Index 1834–1903 [4/1200], reel no. 129, p. 518). Other evidence suggests he may have arrived in January 1853 (SMH, 8 January 1853, p. 4) on a boat from the “south seas” sponsored by Didier Joubert. Louis Victor Protois died in January 1852 (Shipping Gazette, 10 January 1852, p. 15). Budin and Fanny Protois were married by May 1853 (see SMH, 21 May 1853, p. 5)
[2] Alphonse Barbier tried his luck in his own business again in Melbourne (Argus, 21 November 1857, p. 5), but was again unsuccessful (The Age, 18 June 1858, p.2). He died in Melbourne in 1886 (Australasian, 20 March, 1886, p. 3). François Seghers returned to tailoring (SMH, 1 January 1862, p. 6).
[3] Ernest’s death was due to unintentional poisoning with carbolic acid. At the trial it was noted that he was entitled to property under Alphonse’s will, but this was not the case. François Alphonse Courvoisier died intestate, Museums of History NSW, State Archives Collection, NRS-13660-2-[17/1779] series 2, Probate Packets. Ernest, the son of Auguste Theodore Grasset and Elizabeth Martel/Mortel, who married in Sydney in 1857, was born in Forbes in 1865. Auguste mined for gold in Forbes and died there in 1866. When Elizabeth died has not been established. Ellen Martel/Martet married Edmund E. Marie in Sydney in 1866. Edmund’s death has not been established.
[4] Museums of History NSW, State Archives Collection, Naturalization Index 1843–1903, [4/1202],reel no. 130, p. 96.
[5] For Rochefort and the Communards in Sydney, see https://www.isfar.org.au/bio/rochefort-henri-1831-1913/ and K. R. Dutton, “Henri Rochefort and his companions in Australia.” Explorations 32 (June 2002), pp. 3–39, https://www.isfar.org.au/article/32-1/. For Rochefort ‘s arrival in Noumea see Empire, 4 February 1874, p. 3.
[6] Courvoisier left Noumea on 4 December (SMH, 11 December 1873, p. 4), Rochefort arrived on 8 December (Empire, 4 February 1874, p. 3).
[7] Travel to and from Noumea by steamer took approximately seven days. Madame Courvoisier returned to Sydney on 3 May, just in time for her husband’s death (Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser, 8 May 1875, p. 590).
[8] For the uprising see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1878_Kanak_revolt
[9] For Saclier see SMH, 9 April 1855, p. 6; Museums of History NSW, State Archives Collection, NRS-13654-1-[2/8917]-3704; agent for French wines and spirits Empire, 27 May 1859, p. 8.
[10] Henri de Josselin arrived as an unassisted immigrant on the Mercedes, birthplace Bordeaux.
[11] Henri de Josselin married Rosa Ann Wilson in 1862. Wascoe House was originally the Pilgrim Inn, situated at what was then Wascoe Junction. The remains are in the McDonald’s car park at Blaxland. The main property consisted of 13 rooms with an additional cottage of 5 rooms, situated on 56 acres with garden and orchard. Trains stopped at Wascoe’s platform on every trip. Advertised for sale SMH, 28 April 1873, p. 2, and William Deane offered it to let fully furnished SMH, 23 March 1881, p. 14.