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Kings of Lyon

Words | Rosa JAckson

Think you know French food? Well think again – because in the kitchens of Lyon they’re talking about a culinary revolution

Top chef Nicolas Le Bec has introduced a new era of modern dining to Lyon Should you find yourself in Lyon Saint-Exupéry airport in the next couple of months, you are in for a very pleasant surprise. For it is here that Nicolas Le Bec, the Lyon-based culinary whizkid and proud possessor of two Michelin stars, is just about to unveil an exciting new project. The Breton-born chef is following up the success of his eponymous establishment, generally regarded as the best contemporary restaurant in Lyon, with a modern bistro, Espace Le Bec, that is set to open this April.

If you’re surprised that such a treat should be based in France’s third largest city – if, in other words, you still think of Paris as the gastronomic capital of France – then chances are you haven’t been to Lyon lately. The gateway between north and south – thanks to its position between Burgundy and the Rhône Valley – this apparently sedate city is renewing its long-standing love affair with food. Lyon not only has more restaurants per capita than anywhere else in France, but the locals will tell you that it’s nearly impossible to have a bad meal here. And they’re right.

Many have heard of Paul Bocuse, the legendary Lyonnais chef who is still going strong at over 80, and the elbowto- elbow bistros known as bouchons. But between these extremes of elegance and informality comes a new breed of restaurant, whose chefs politely snub local tradition to make the most of stunning produce from the region and beyond.

Bistrot de Lyon is part of the old-school cooking style that the city is famed for Any food experience in Lyon must begin with a visit to a bouchon, one of the rustic inns created in the 17th and 18th centuries to nourish the tradesmen who rested here as they crossed the country. The word itself refers to the tradition of hanging a cork-shaped bunch of straw or pine cones outside to show that wine was served. If the bouchon’s aims and atmosphere were modest, the food was not: the best cooks came from bourgeois households that were forced to dismiss their staff when they met hard times in the mid-19th century. These women, known affectionately as the mères Lyonnaises for their motherly cooking, turned out such culinary marvels as quenelles de brochet sauce Nantua (fluffy pike-perch dumplings in crayfish sauce) and poulet en vessie (fattened hen cooked in a pig’s bladder). As the second dish suggests, the Lyonnais don’t shy away from innards: andouillette (tripe sausage) and tablier de sapeur (breaded and fried tripe, a dish whose name translates as “fireman’s apron”) remain bouchon classics.

Pike quenelles, a signature local dish Intrepid visitors can sample these at the Café des Fédérations, whose working-class history goes back to the 19th century when the first trade unionists gathered here. The zinc bar, wood panelling, red-and-white checked tablecloths and vintage tiles are authentic to the point of being clichéd. But unlike so many similar bouchons, the Fédérations still attracts more locals than tourists – no doubt because its menu makes few concessions to the squeamish. Dig into the compulsory saladiers Lyonnaise, giant bowls filled with beetroot, lentils or perhaps pigs’ snout, and follow with a hearty main course such as sabodet (a sausage made from pig’s head) or poulet au vinaigre, chicken in vinegar sauce.

A street in Lyon, lined with bouchons If all this sounds a trifle intimidating, head instead for one of the updated bouchons that plays down rustic offal dishes in favour of lighter, artfully presented takes on Lyonnais classics. Christian Têtedoie, chef at the ambitious contemporary restaurant Têtedoie, on the banks of the Saône, also runs the friendly bistro Le Contretête next door. The dining room, lined with lemonade jugs and jars of homemade preserves, is a convincing recreation of a typical bouchon and the kitchen turns out impeccable dishes like smoked haddock with potato salad and herb vinaigrette, and beef fillet with green peppercorns and polenta gratin. Another favourite of locals and visiting French celebrities is the Bistrot de Lyon, an offshoot of the upmarket Léon de Lyon that serves polished bistro cooking in a buzzy Art Deco setting. This is the place to try expertly made quenelles de brochet, followed by crisp profiteroles doused in melted chocolate.

Attached as the Lyonnais are to their local specialities, a growing number of young chefs feel no need to pay tribute to the mères Lyonnaises. Nicolas Le Bec’s stunning contemporary restaurant on the Presqu’île, the chic strip of land between the Rhône and Saône rivers, in the centre of town is a perfect example. Here he borrows from all over France and beyond to put together dishes such as seared foie gras with quince poached in hibiscus juice, and Atlantic John Dory with a sweet-tart-crisp combination of reduced cider, green apple and raw cucumber.

Restaurant Raphaël Béringer serves French fare with an Austrian twist The popularity of L’Ourson Qui Boit, a modern bistro opened by Akira Nishigaki in late 2007, offers yet more evidence of the adventurous tastes being nurtured here. This young Japanese chef, who worked in a French restaurant in Kyoto before embarking on his culinary apprenticeship in Lyon, boldly combines Eastern and Western flavours in dishes such as a salad of cured ham with miso vinaigrette and mango, duck breast with girolle mushrooms in a marsala-yuzu sauce, and black sesame crème brûlée or green tea tiramisu.

Nishigaki is not the only Japanese chef to make Lyon his adoptive home. Katsumi Ishida has worked in the open kitchen of the quirky chalet-style bistro En Mets Fais Ce Qu’il Te Plaît (which loosely translates as: “Cook to please yourself”) for more than 10 years. The Japanese touches are subtler in his cooking, which aims to be classically French, though his personality shines through in unusual combinations (as in chicken with grapefruit) and precise presentations. His fans happily cross town – or even the English Channel – for a meal in his haphazardly decorated dining room near the university.

The revered chef Paul Bocuse, who has six restaurants in Lyon Typical of the young chefs who are making their names in Lyon today is Thomas Ponson of Restaurant Thomas. He insists on using only the best ingredients – from La Mère Richard’s runny Saint Marcellin cheese to Valrhona chocolate – in his seasonal menus. Because value is important to the Lyonnais, he keeps his prices reasonable at €17 (£12) for a three-course lunch and €39 (£28) for a more complex set menu at dinner that might include game in season, red mullet with Provençal vegetables and veal from the Périgord prepared osso-bucco style. Equally appealing is the warm red-and-ochre décor and the fact that many of the dishes are served in colourful Emile Henry casseroles, which are produced nearby in Burgundy.

Just as welcoming is Restaurant Raphaël Béringer, which despite being housed in the former premises of the Lyonnaise gastronomic institution Tante Alice, has developed a distinct personality all its own. The three-course dinner menu costs €38 (£27) for dishes such as pan-fried foie gras with a fig tarte Tatin, goose breast accompanied by a potato and Beaufort cheese mash, and pear streusel tart.

Austrian Martin Schmied is yet another chef to have chosen Lyon over a more flamboyant capital city. After working in top Paris restaurants, including Ledoyen and Taillevent, he opened the two-level, wood-beamed bistro Magali et Martin on the Presqu’île with his Lyonnaise wife. Magali, who worked front-of-house at the wildly popular L’Astrance in Paris, handles the packed dining room with aplomb, while Martin turns out bistro dishes with an occasional Austrian touch: potted smoked haddock with creamed lettuce, knudel (a sweet dumpling) with plum compote. Book well in advance.

But the ultimate experience in Lyon is a meal at Paul Bocuse’s pink, praline and pistachio manor 20 minutes outside the city in Collonges, where this living legend serves – what else? – a refined take on the cooking of the mères Lyonnaises. His attachment to these classics is understandable when you learn that he is the son of one of these mères. If you can’t make it to his main restaurant, any of his five brasseries in Lyon offers a tantalising taste of the cooking that has influenced so many French-trained chefs – even those who have gone on to invent their own styles.