After more than six years of planning and renovations, and a trip that saw the restaurateur behind Chin Chin, Society, Kisume and many other Melbourne restaurants eat his way through Paris, Chris Lucas’s Maison Batard will finally open on Tuesday November 26.

Chef Adam Sanderson (ex-Ten Minutes By Tractor, The Fat Duck) and Lucas Restaurants’ culinary director Damian Snell have developed an extensive French menu that includes everything from a baguette basket to sirloin with sauce au poivre, fruits de mer towers and crème brúlée.

Sanderson talks us through four dishes, including one of Maison Batard’s signatures – a whole Macedon Ranges duck cooked on the Josper woodfired coal rotisserie that takes pride of place in the kitchen.

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Le Cheeseburger

Sanderson: As with many of Masion Batard’s dishes, we took a lot of inspiration from Chris’s travels through France. It’s full of flavour, not too big or messy, and finished with this lovely piquillo pepper remoulade.

We’ve gone with a nice soft milk bread, which is a little lighter than brioche and not quite so heavy on the butter – an approach we’ve stuck with throughout much of the menu. The bread works really well with the patty, the cheese and everything else, and the result is this beautifully light burger that’s absolutely perfect alongside a drink or two up on La Terrasse.

Fruits Rouges

This is the quintessential summer dish and we’ll only be serving it at its very best, at the height of the season. For the opening iteration, we’re using the freshest raspberries and strawberries paired with an impossibly airy Chantilly and mascarpone.

It’s inspired by the punnets of wild berries that adorn Paris’s street markets, which you’ll also find in bistros around the city served with a mountain of freshly whipped cream on the side.

This is a lovely finale to a light meal up on La Terrasse. I’d maybe start with le petit plateau – our small fruits de mer platter of oysters, king prawns and crudo – before moving onto a few shared plates like the steak tartare, parfait maison and pate en croute. Then, wrap things up with the fruits rouges and a small glass of chilled sauternes.

Omelette de Pommes de Terre

Quite a few different ideas were thrown around while developing this dish, but when it came down to it this was the most refined version. It’s a technique I first learnt way back when I was starting out, working breakfast shifts as an apprentice chef at the Marriott. Safe to say I’ve had a lot of practice making it over the years since.

First of all, a nice non-stick pan is crucial! We weigh out the exact amount of egg to ensure the perfect thickness, and then cook the omelette low and slow so it stays a beautiful blond; you don’t want any colour at all, really.

Canard Roti

There were a few different duck dishes considered, but this one was the favourite, even though it’s perhaps not the first one that pops into people’s minds. It’s inspired by a classic French dish served at landmark Paris restaurant La Tour d’Argent, so it’s got a fair bit of history behind it.

The meat is cured with a spiced citrus salt, the legs are removed and cooked confit, and the duck is slow-roasted on the rotisserie until the skin hits that perfect crispiness. We’re serving it with vibrant fresh herbs, crushed green peas and a sauce choron, which is like a tomato-infused take on a classic bearnaise.

You want to ensure the skin is really, really dry before cooking. We also do a glaze before drying, which takes it to a whole other level of crispiness.