Le Cordon Vert makes its Tasting Australia debut in 2025, bringing a bold blend of French tradition and festival spirit. Founded by three chefs, including one trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, this exciting new food vendor offers authentic French flavours with a fresh, local twist at the festival’s at Town Square. We spoke to Jimmy, one of Le Cordon Vert chefs, about what to expect.
Bonjour Jimmy, Le Cordon Vert is making its debut at the Tasting Australia festival this year with a very French menu. Why did you decide to create a French food stand?
We decided Tasting Australia Town Square needed something different this year, and we hadn’t seen any French food offerings in the square for the last few years. Given our passion for French cuisine, this seemed like the perfect opportunity for us to apply with a French bistro- themed food stand.
Why the name Le Cordon Vert?
Obviously, it’s a play on the name “Le Cordon Bleu”, but we decided to go for green as it’s our favourite colour, and colour of our main food brand (Chefs on Wheels), plus the signature dish this year is steak frites with sauce verte, so it seemed to fit so well!
Annabelle has French heritage and studied at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. What is her French heritage? Where in France is her family from?
She studied at Le Cordon Bleu Paris straight after school for three years and earned Le Grand Diplôme while she was staying with her grandmother who lives in Paris during that time.
How has Annabelle’s Paris training influenced the way you approach cooking and menu development?
She came up with the menu for Le Cordon Vert from her training, time spent in France (both all that time ago and within the last year), as well as some current trends coming out of France. We wanted to offer a menu that’s part classic and part innovative – but all delicious!
What is something that Annabelle learned in Paris that still influences the way you all cook today?
We’ve tried to stick to classic French cookery methods as much as possible, for example with our French onion soup using stock that we’ve made from overnight roasted beef bones, and slow cooked onions, deglazed with brandy. The secret to our aioli is 24-hour confit garlic – so doing things simply but properly without taking any shortcuts!
French cuisine is not often something we see outside of restaurants and bistros—especially for delivery. It’s a delicate cuisine that takes time – how do you balance that with operating a stand at a festival?
We are lucky to be able to take advantage of our full commercial kitchen and storage facilities and our food factory. This means we can take the time to do everything properly and have everything prepared ready for a speedy service during lunch and dinner at Town Square.
Because you can’t have good French food without great wine, can you suggest wine pairings for each of the dishes Le Cordon Vert is bringing to Tasting Australia?
Of course any of South Australia’s amazing red wines with pair beautifully with our steak frites, but something lighter like a Pinot Noir, Grenache or Chardonnay goes perfectly with the Cordon Bleu goujons … but for a bit of a departure, a glass of cider is also the perfect match!
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We thank Jimmy from Le Cordon Vert for this interview and can’t wait to taste everything that Le Cordon Vert is serving at Tasting Australia 2025.
KEY INFO FOR LE CORDON VERT AT TASTING AUSTRALIA 2025
WHAT: Le Cordon Vert, a French food stall at Tasting Australia 2025
WHEN: until 11 May 2025
Tuesday 6 May: 11AM – 9PM
Wednesday 7 May: 11AM – 9PM
Thursday 8 May: 11AM – 11PM
Friday 9 May: 11AM – midnight
Saturday 10 May: 11AM – midnight
Sunday 11 May: 11AM – 8PM
WHERE: Town Square, Victoria Square, ADELAIDE
HOW: Just go!
HOW MUCH: Entry is free. Drinks and food prices will vary. Check out Le Cordon Vert’s menu here
For more events with links to France and the Francophonie happening in Australia this month, check out our What’s on in May
