Restaurant Deux, Newcastle

Where: 8 Bolton Street, Newcastle

Prices: Entrées all $24, mains all $38, sides all $8, desserts all $16, bread $3; cheese plate $23

Chef/owner: Lesley Taylor

Wines: Hunter Valley, French, NZ and other Australian; 11 by the glass

Hours: Lunch, Friday noon to 2pm; Dinner, Wednesday to Saturday 6pm to 9pm

Vegetarian: one entree on the menu

Bookings: 4929 1233

Bottom line: Entrée, main and dessert, $143 for two without drinks

Many cuisines can rightly claim tasty, versatile sauces, but it is the French who have raised the bar on the art of sauce making. Complexities of flavour and texture are only achieved by long hours of simmering and skimming, and a sure hand when it comes to the seasoning. If French cuisine can be defined by its sauces, then Restaurant Deux must be one of only a handful of restaurants in our region to claim to be truly French. Forget the smears, dribbles and dots so fashionable apres MasterChef. They may make for pretty plating up, but fall short of the flavour in a miniature jug of appropriate elixir accompanying each main course in this dining room.

But the story here is not all about the sauces. The elegant cauliflower bavarois is a homage to spring with its "petit French garden legumes". Two tiny, silky bavarois are framed by an artist's palette of micro herbs and miniature vegetables; purple carrot, white turnip, pink radish, semi-dried cherry tomato halves and a sprinkle of black olive crumble; a smear of carrot puree and green-hued walnut dressing provide accents.

In its home town of Marseille a "veritable [true] bouillabaisse" comes in two parts - the "soup", then the rigidly prescribed fish varieties - and is a full meal in itself. Here, it's modified to make an entree; a miniature and concentrated version of the original. One juicy prawn, a jumble of clams, mussels and scallops and a couple of pieces of white fish swim in a perfectly executed, butter enriched shellfish bisque.

The spring story continues. Peas, asparagus, baby squash, vibrant carrots, purple beetroot and micro herbs support the main acts in various ways. Fillet of Mandadgery Creek venison - pink, meltingly tender slices sit under a blanket of chocolate foam. An accompaniment of pommes sarladaise comes as layers of thinly sliced potatoes flavoured with a hint of truffle and cooked in duck fat, a marriage made in heaven. Asparagus, golden squash and pea puree complete the picture, and waiting to be poured is that tiny jug of perfectly matched and unctuous sauce.

Restaurants of this calibre are all about dishes you wouldn't or couldn't try at home. Here the dilemma of cooking a whole bird with each component perfectly cooked is solved by using the sous vide (under vacuum) technique for a tender, juicy breast, and long, slow cooking, confit style, for a fall-apart leg. Gamey flavours are complemented by sautéed chanterelle and king brown mushrooms, celeriac and green peas, tangy blackberries and another tiny jug of sauce.

The kitchen is obviously having fun with the desserts. A duck eggshell holds duck egg creme brulee, with apple crisps to dip and a pink apple sorbet on the side. Wobbly panna cotta is flavoured with lemon verbena and sits on a yoghurt granita with glazed baby Persian figs on top. Darkly rich chocolate marquise comes with a beetroot sorbet quenelle and raspberry sauce.

But the piece de resistance is left to the end. Lollipops of salted caramel ice-cream are dipped into melted chocolate, then into liquid nitrogen to set. Pure theatre and a fitting finale.