Paris that culinary capital of the world. Or is it? Pride in cuisine has always been a national past time in France, but recently criticism the nation's famous foodie reputation has wilted. Enter a new generation of chefs hailing from Down Under.
SEBBIE KENYON, FRENCHIE TO GO: Hey, guys welcome to Frenchie, Frenchie to Go and Frenchie Wine Bar on Rue Du Nil.
SHAUN KELLY, YARD RESTAURANT: They say, you mean you're not French, a Frenchman didn't cook this food?
ALEXANDRE CAMMAS, FOOD CRITIC (Translation): They're restaurants where the chefs do what they want without trying to appeal to the Guide Michelin or traditional food critics. They're liberated, they're free.
It's a culinary revolution pioneered by Aussies.
SEBBIE KENYON: And I'm doing something really Australian, I'm just making a bacon and egg sandwich. By far one of our biggest sellers and one of our biggest favourites.
A wave of young talented and internationally acclaimed Australian chefs are taking the Paris cuisine scene by storm, among them Shaun Kelly who heads up Yard on 11th arrondissement.
REPORTER: I'm intrigued, Shaun tell me how a young chef from Eumundi on the Sunshine Coast ends up cooking in some of Paris's best restaurants.
SHAUN KELLY: I came to visit a friend and ended up staying. I didn't move here intentionally to work.
30-year-old Shaun did his apprenticeship at the renowned Spirit House restaurant in Queensland, further training at Cumulus in Melbourne and St John in London saw him further hone his craft. He's been dubbed a rising star by critics, the high demand for tables suggest the public agrees.
WAITRESS: Can I get another one? Can I get more green leaves in a second.
Tuck shop is not a term the French were familiar with 18 months ago, but it's now well and truly on their radar. The vegetarian cafe is the brain child of three Aussie women. It all started when they became home sick for quality home-cooked food.
RAIN LAURENT, TUCK SHOP: When I came here, I was a bit shocked because it was just one dimensional kind of food, Bistro food, heavy French food with lot of meat.
So, Brisbane sisters, Anna and Stella along with friend Rain opened the type of cafe they missed. Healthy fresh salads graced the menu and also the Anzac biscuit and they have even introduced Parisians to the novel Aussie concept of avocado and Vegemite on toast.
REPORTER: What you're cooking is not really gourmet, it's not...
ANNA RICE, TUCK SHOP: No, none of us are trained chefs or anything. It's really the principle is really simple things that you would make at home if you had the time and weren't living your busy Parisian life.
That simplicity has proved popular with the loyal clientele.
CUSTOMER: I think what I like the most is the home-made touch, you can feel it in the food and see in the food, like the sandwiches and the cakes are not perfect. You can feel that someone made it for you.
ANNA RICE: I think people when they come here, they say they feel at home so I think that's something that we have managed to create, is a kind of, yeah, less uptight than some places in Paris.
At the Aussie ventures are a lot less expensive too.
ALEXANDRE CAMMAS (Translation): No-frills, the opposite of superficial restaurants with fancy service and silverware.
REPORTER: Let's be honest, a few years ago, it was impossible to find a good cup of coffee in Paris. How bad was the coffee?
TOM CLARK, CAFÉ COUTUME: It was pretty bad from all angles. There was no way of seeing any positive life.
Law graduate Tom Clark is happy he helped to turn that around.
REPORTER: Were the Parisians resistant at first, were they sceptical how this Canberran could tell a Parisian how to make a cappuccino.
TOM CLARK: Yes, there was quite a bit of resistance. You used a lot of diplomacy and a lot of persistence.
He first opened a single coffee cart which quickly morphed into thee cafes and a wholesale coffee business.
TOM CLARK: I think we have got a little roll in a big revolution.
A revolution reaching even Le Cordon Bleu, one of the most elite cooking schools in the world, even this famous cooking institution is taking on board a little of what the Aussie approach to food can teach the world's best chefs.
MARC AURELE VACA, LE CORDON BLEU: As soon as the potatoes are cut, you put them in cold water.
REPORTER: 20 years ago, could you have imagined Australian chefs working in some of the top restaurants here in Paris? It wouldn't have happened, would it?
MARC AURELE VACA: Probably not, actually, probably not.
REPORTER: So, why has that changed. Why is France now welcoming Australian chefs into their kitchens?
MARC AURELE VACA: Because I think you cannot stand in the top of the pyramid forever and you have to be smart enough to open yourself to other countries.
Ultimately, the thousands of foodies who flock here are the real winners. And even if lunch in Paris is a bit of a stretch, you might be able to taste some of these Aussie success stories back home eventually.
STELLA RICE, TUCK SHOP: I do miss Australia a lot sometimes. Maybe another 10 years and then maybe I'll go back home and open a French bakery in Brisbane.
Reporter/Camera
BRETT MASON
Producer
MEGGIE PALMER
Fixer
KAREN KISSANE
Editor
DAVID POTTS
Translations/Subtitling
ODILE BLANDEU