Escargot in Sydney, the French Way

Escargot in Sydney is served the traditional way at Ananas: snails baked in red wine and bone marrow butter, the dish the French have eaten for centuries. Ananas is a genuine restaurant français, housed in an 1881 sandstone building in The Rocks, built around classic brasserie cooking.

From Peasant Food to French Icon

Snails were a Lenten staple in France for centuries. Meat from warm-blooded animals was off the table during the forty days before Easter, and snails were free to gather, plentiful, and rich in protein and iron.

That changed in the early 1800s, when chef Marie-Antoine Carême began serving escargot to aristocratic tables. Carême is widely credited as the father of French haute cuisine. Ordering escargot today is still something of a rite of passage for anyone getting to know French cooking.

Escargots à la Bordelaise at Ananas

Most escargot served outside France comes à la Bourguignonne: garlic and parsley butter, the version most people have actually tried. Ananas serves it à la Bordelaise, the Bordeaux preparation, built on red wine and bone marrow butter, with parsley and an espelette crumb for a little heat. It’s rich and deeply savoury, good with bread to mop up the sauce and a glass from the 40-plus wines Ananas pours by the glass. Order it as the first plate of the night.

Save Room for the Rest of the Menu

Escargot is one plate on a menu built around the same brasserie repertoire: Soupe à l’Oignon, Steak Frites, Canard Confit, and a Profiterole Géante to finish. It’s the classics, done properly, with a dedicated Champagne bar at the door, worth arriving early for.

Book a table at Ananas in The Rocks and start with the escargot.

Ananas practices the responsible service of alcohol. Drink responsibly.